FEB 24 – US President Donald Trump’s company has announced plans for a skyscraper in Australia, which according to his son Eric, will be the country’s tallest building.
The tower will be built on Queensland’s Gold Coast and be 335 metres (1,100ft) high, taller than the Shard in London.
The firm’s first official project in Australia will bring “the prestige and allure of a world-class luxury brand” to the country, the Trump Organization’s executive vice president Eric Trump said.
Donald Trump has faced criticism that the company profits unfairly due to his influence as president despite his pledge before starting his second term to have no involvement with the management of the business while in office.
The Trump International Hotel & Tower, Gold Coast is expected to cost at least $1bn (£740m).
The construction of the 91-storey Trump International Hotel & Tower, Gold Coast is set to begin in August, according to the hotel’s developer, Altus Property Group.
The building will have 285 hotel rooms as well 272 luxury residential apartments, the Trump Organization said. It will also include space for high-end retailers and restaurants, along with an exclusive beach club located along the world famous beachfront.
But it already faces competition as Australia’s tallest building.
There is a proposal for a twin-tower project on the same stretch of beach that would be 50 metres taller.
Work on the 101-storey One Park Lane project is also expected to get underway later this year.
The Trump Organization brand is used in more than a 20 locations worldwide, including the UK, Middle East, Asia and major cities in the US.
It is focused on high-end property development and luxury hospitality.
As well as running its own businesses, the company licenses the Trump brand to developers around the world for residential buildings, hotels and golf courses.
Forbes, which tracks the fortunes of billionaires, estimated that Donald Trump’s net worth has nearly doubled since 2023.
The Trump Organization has attracted controversy, with allegations that it poses potential conflicts of interest for a president in office.
In 2021, a congressional committee investigation said Trump had “grossly exaggerated” profits at his Washington DC hotel.
The report said the hotel lost more than $70m during Trump’s first term in the White House, even though he had previously claimed it earned at least $150m during that time.
The report also found Trump seemed to have “concealed potential conflicts of interest” related to his ownership of the hotel and his roles as its lender and the guarantor of third-party loans.
The Trump Organization denied wrongdoing and called the report “misleading”.
By BBC
