With Trump in the White House, the Family Business Takes It Down a Notch
The Trump Organization pledged before Mr. Trump’s inauguration
that it would not negotiate new overseas deals during his presidency, but it has proceeded with previously negotiated licensed developments in India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Dubai and elsewhere, projects that Eric Trump noted are of a much bigger scale than the Mississippi hotel
In addition to the Scion hotel in Cleveland, the Chawlas plan to convert three of their hotels into the first American Idea properties,
but little has been said publicly about those plans, and the Chawlas declined to give an estimated completion date.
The company pledged not to pursue new foreign ventures, and it is vetting potential domestic deals to avoid controversy, retaining Bobby Burchfield, a Washington lawyer, to protect the Trumps from doing business with partners
that might have conflicts of interest or checkered pasts.
Since the sons took control of the company, the biggest new initiative has been the rollout of two domestic hotel brands, Scion Hotels
and Resorts, a four-star line, and American Idea Hotels, a budget-friendly chain.
The Trumps have also been cautious about sending potential deals to Mr. Burchfield until all of the lenders
and investors are lined up, the people briefed on the matter said.
It does not look like much, but the unfinished development in this small Mississippi Delta town stands
as the only major new deal by the Trump family business since President Trump took office in January.
