Trade war leverage? Trump’s property empire eyes Vietnam for mega-projects

Critics question the long-term economic benefit of luxury towers and golf courses for Vietnam, fuelling speculation about a quid pro quo

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Trump Tower in New York. The Trump Organisation plans to build a similar edifice in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: AP

Govi Snellin Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Published: 8:00am, 22 Jun 2025Updated: 8:37am, 22 Jun 2025

The occasional water buffalo still wanders across the vacant plots of Thu Thiem, an area of Vietnam’s most populous city long promised redevelopment that is now poised for transformation on a grand, possibly Trumpian, scale.

Set along the Saigon River, with the glassy skyline of downtown Ho Chi Minh City rising just 3km (1.9 miles) away, Thu Thiem could soon be home to a new Trump Tower after the US president’s middle son Eric, executive vice-president of the family’s real estate empire, scouted out the site last month.

No official approval has yet been announced, but Reuters puts the projected investment in the high-rise at US$1 billion, with hopes that Vietnam’s famously tangled bureaucracy will, for once, fail to be an obstacle. Should all go according to plan, construction on the 60-storey tower could begin as early as next year.

Yet the Trump family’s ambitions in Vietnam stretch far beyond Thu Thiem.

Eric Trump’s itinerary also included breaking ground on a US$1.5 billion 18-hole golf course, resort and residential complex in northern Hung Yen – the home province of Communist Party chief To Lam.

Eric Trump speaks at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Trump International Hung Yen golf project in Vietnam on May 21. Photo: VNA via AP

While in Vietnam, the Trump scion also met local officials in Ho Chi Minh City.

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