Foreign Developers Spent Millions Licensing Trump’s Name. The White House Says There’s No Conflict.

International developers paid $59.5 million to license President Trump's name for a variety of projects in 2025.

CNBC reported that the international business interests paid to brand a variety of real estate projects, including golf courses and resorts. Based on the numbers, it appears that interest in using the Trump brand name increased dramatically after he returned to the Oval Office, with revenue rising 71 percent from 2024 to 2025, according to the network.

The network added that the majority of the licensing dollars - 60 percent - came to the Trump Organization from projects in Gulf countries. The Trump Organization has said that the company is now structured in a way to separate the President from the company's business dealings.

The company laid out its plan to avoid any appearance of conflict of interest after Trump took office, stating that the President's financial interests would be managed by outside firms and appointing William A. Burck, Global Co-Chair of the law firm Quinn Emanuel LLP, to serve as outside Ethics Advisor.

"President Trump, other than regarding his personal residence, will not sit on or be appointed to any boards or other official corporate positions and will be sequestered from and have no role in any of the day-to-day decision making concerning or involving the Company," the document states.

The White House told CNBC that "the only special interest guiding" Trump is "the best interest of the American people."

However, critics contend that the structure is not enough.

"Foreign governments and politically connected businesses now have a direct, incredibly visible way to put money into the sitting president's pocket," Scott Greytak, deputy executive director of Transparency International U.S., an anti-corruption nonprofit, told CNBC. "The conflict is already in plain sight right now. We don't need to wait for some kind of smoking gun to see a quid pro quo."

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has been tracking the visits of foreign and domestic officials to Trump-owned properties since he returned to office. For example, the organization noted that foreign officials have visited Mar-a-Lago 53 times and Trump National Doral 52 times.

"Trump's properties were hardly a destination for the political set before he became president, but once he stepped into office, special interests, political groups and foreign governments began to flock to his properties," CREW stated.