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| Donald Trump's relations with the Saudi Kingdom are extensive |
Donald Trump claimed on Twitter recently that he has no “financial interests in Saudi Arabia.” But his financial ties to the kingdom go back a very long way.
In
1991, Donald J. Trump was a mid-tier real estate developer with $900
million in debt, a collapsing casino business, and a name perhaps best
known for a headline-dominating split with his wife Ivana.
With his empire at risk of falling apart, Trump was searching for cash everywhere; his father even illegally bought $3.35 million worth of casino chips and never gambled them, to help Trump make a massive bond payment a year earlier.
A
helpful burst of cash from a Saudi prince eased some tension with his
creditors. Alwaleed bin Talal bought Trump’s yacht for somewhere between
$18 million and $20 million
(reports vary).
It wasn’t a great bit of business for Trump—he had
bought it from the Sultan of Brunei three years earlier for a reported $29 million.
In 1995, Trump was still in deep trouble—and Alwaleed swooped in again. The prince, who calls himself
the “Warren Buffett of Saudi Arabia,” took over Trump’s 51% stake in
his beloved New York Plaza hotel. As a result, Trump’s creditors forgave
$125 million of his debt.
Alwaleed, who was one of several royals to be detained by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman in 2017, is deemed the world’s 74th richest man by Bloomberg, and owns stakes in companies like Apple, Snapchat, Twitter and Citigroup.
As late as 2015, Trump was still happy to boast about his connections with Saudi Arabia. Speaking at a rally in Alabama, he bragged: “Saudi
Arabia, I get along with all of them. They buy apartments from me. They
spend $40 million, $50 million. Am I supposed to dislike them? I like
them very much.”
