Trump Sells Himself Outside the U.S.
Donald Trump, who first found fame as a real-estate developer, has put his name on mens’ fragrance, mattresses and neckties in recent years. But there is one type of product he hasn’t licensed his name to since the beginning of the financial downturn: a U.S. building.
The last time Mr. Trump signed a deal licensing his name to a U.S. real-estate project was in 2007, when he agreed to put it on the Trump Soho, a hotel-condo project in downtown Manhattan. He also sold his name to a golf resort in Puerto Rico in 2008.
Donald Trump’s name is everywhere — but not on a major real-estate project in the U.S. since 2008. Mr. Trump says he invests only in projects that he really believes in, licensing the use of his name to more than a dozen real-estate developers world-wide.
It isn’t that Mr. Trump has lost his taste for seeing his name stamped in capital letters on other developers’ undertakings. He is just doing it overseas instead. In recent years, Mr. Trump has licensed his name to more than a dozen real-estate developers in Turkey, the Caucuses, Brazil and other corners of the globe.
On Wednesday, Mr. Trump is expected to unveil plans for a Trump-branded hotel and condominium tower in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, according to executives familiar with the project.
Plans for Trump-branded condominiums, resorts and commercial centers also are under way in the Philippines and Azerbaijan. In March, Trump Organization opened an office in Shanghai to identify Chinese branding deals for the company.
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