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President Trump will host Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, who oversees a major construction project that is in talks with the Trump family business.
Nov. 18, 2025Updated 12:45 p.m. ET
The leveraging of political relationships for personal profit is ordinary in the Persian Gulf, where hereditary ruling families hold near-total power and the term “conflict of interest” carries little weight.
But the mixing of politics and profitmaking during President Trump’s second term has shattered American norms, shocking scholars who study ethics and corruption. On Tuesday, Mr. Trump will meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, engaging in sensitive national security talks with a foreign leader who also oversees a major construction project, known as Diriyah, that is in talks over a potential deal with the Trump family business.
Even if that deal never comes to fruition, the Trump family’s real estate and other business interests in Saudi Arabia have flourished during his second term.
Since Mr. Trump’s election a year ago, Dar Global, a business partner of the Trump Organization that has close ties to the Saudi government, has announced at least four Trump-branded developments in Saudi Arabia. Other business deals involving Mr. Trump’s family and the Saudi government predate the election.
In response to a request for comment, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said, “Neither the President nor his family have ever engaged, or will ever engage, in conflicts of interest.”
Asked about conflicts of interest in the Oval Office on Tuesday, President Trump said that he had “nothing to do with the family business.”
