When President-elect Donald J. Trump called Hussein Sajwani to the podium at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday and pledged $20 billion in investments in the United States, it was a moment to savor for Dubai developers. For more than a decade, his company, DAMAC Properties, has helped generate millions of dollars for the Trump Organization through partnerships in the Middle East.
These connections will help open a wide range of opportunities for Sajwani as he seeks to diversify his empire into the multibillion-dollar market of building data centers needed to meet rapidly growing demand for cloud computing and artificial intelligence. It seems like it was.
“For the past four years, we have been waiting for this moment,” Sajwani said on stage. “We are now very excited about his leadership and his open strategy and policies to encourage companies to come to the United States.”
This announcement further deepens the relationship between Trump and Sajwani. But it also highlights what critics say is a conflict of interest as Trump continues to maintain his real estate business as he prepares for a second term in the White House.
What does Damac do?
DAMAC Properties is part of the DAMAC Group, one of the largest developers in Dubai, a city in the United Arab Emirates known for larger-than-life real estate projects such as the palm tree-shaped island and Burj Khalifa. The world's tallest skyscraper.
Sajwani, also known as the Donald of Dubai, has built his company into a major player in the Middle East's luxury real estate market, starting with acquisitions and projects in the mid-1990s, when Dubai began allowing foreigners to buy property.
In 2002, he founded DAMAC Properties to build luxury towers along Dubai's waterfront, which quickly sold out. Sajwani has signed branding deals with Versace, Fendi and other fashion houses for his properties.
However, the company also faced lawsuits in 2010, including one by a German investor who claimed that certain properties were not delivered on time. The case was dismissed by a Dubai court. In 2011, DAMAC settled three disputes with Egypt over investments in the country, including one in which a Cairo court sentenced Mr. Sajwani to prison in absentia.
The company advertises luxury villas, apartments and hotels from Saudi Arabia to London on its website. In remarks at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday, Sajwani said DAMAC has delivered 47,000 homes and 33,000 more are in the pipeline.
DAMAC said in a news release Tuesday that it also plans an estimated $1 billion worth of condominium projects in Miami and “continues to seek strategic real estate opportunities in the United States.”
What is the connection between DAMAC and Mr. Trump?
In 2013, Sajwani worked with the Trump family to build the first Trump-branded golf course in the Middle East. Trump agreed to manage the golf course as part of the DAMAC development.
Under the agreement, the Trump Organization licenses the Trump name to DAMAC, according to financial disclosure documents filed in May 2016. He reportedly paid Trump between $2 million and $10 million even before the golf course was built. Financial disclosures for the year said it included management fees from the deal.
Trump International Golf Club opened in 2017 during Mr. Trump's first term and is the centerpiece of Damac Hills, a gated complex of luxury homes selling for up to $4 million.
A second Trump-related golf course that DAMAC planned to build at the resort has been postponed. The project gained attention in 2018 when DAMAC commissioned a company controlled by the Chinese government to carry out part of the construction.
Mr. Trump's sons Donald Jr. and Eric attended Mr. Sajwani's daughter's wedding in 2018, and Mr. Sajwani was a familiar face at Mar-a-Lago during Mr. Trump's first term. Last week, he attended a New Year's Eve celebration and posted a photo of himself next to Trump and Elon Musk on X.
Why is DAMAC investing in US data centers?
If Mr. Trump profited handsomely from the DAMAC deal, Mr. Sajwani will benefit from years of investment in the next president.
In 2021, Mr. Sajwani established Edgnex Data Centers, a digital arm of DAMAC, to meet the surge in global demand for data centers.
Edgnex aims to rapidly expand across the Middle East, Asia and Europe, with operations in 10 countries including Saudi Arabia, where it aims to become a leading player in AI.
North America was a blank slate in Edgenex's portfolio until Trump announced that Sajwani would pump “at least” $20 billion into the United States.
Edgenex said it is developing data centers in eight states, including Texas and Indiana, and aims to build data processing capacity that could surpass projects built by Microsoft and Amazon.
Trump has said that once he takes office, he will use his executive powers to grant DAMAC an “expedited review” of federal environmental issues as they arise, and plans to invest $1 billion in the United States. Businesses will benefit from that, Trump added. state.
