Topline

A new Trump Tower in Tbilisi, Georgia, continues to take shape, as developers released a new rendering of the planned skyscraper this week, with the new Trump-licensed property likely to make President Donald Trump millions as the president’s company makes controversial lucrative foreign deals while he’s in office.

Key Facts

Trump Tower Tbilisi will be a 70-story mixed-use skyscraper overlooking the city’s Central Park, part of a broader $2 billion “The Tbilisi Downtown” development project set to include shopping, hotel, dining and business properties.

The tower would be Georgia’s tallest building when completed, according to the Trump Organization, which says it’s working in “collaboration” on the property with several other real estate development firms.

The Tbilisi property is the latest in a string of foreign licensing and branding deals the Trump Organization has signed since Trump’s reelection, with his foreign licensing income exploding by 650% in 2024 and only continuing to grow.

While it’s still unclear how the Tbilisi property will benefit the president, if recent deals are a guide, Trump could easily make more than $5 million from the development.

The foreign deals have raised widespread concerns among ethics experts about a conflict of interest for Trump, with former Office of Government Ethics chief Walter Shaub telling Forbes last year, “It’s gone so far as to be whatever is the direct opposite of government ethics—I suppose we’d call that corruption.”

The White House and Trump Organization have not yet responded to requests for comment about the Tbilisi project, but the Trump administration and Eric Trump—the president’s son who now runs the family business—has previously denied the foreign deals present any conflict of interest with his father’s presidency, because Trump’s assets are in a trust controlled by his children.

Forbes Valuation

Forbes estimates Trump’s net worth at $6.2 billion as of Wednesday afternoon, with his income from his licensing and management deals—including foreign properties—accounting for some $533 million of his fortune.

Surprising Fact

Trump has a lengthy history with Georgia: The now-president and his company first started looking at developing a property there in 2009, when businessman Giorgi Rtskhiladze first approached Trump’s ex-wife Ivana Trump and former “fixer” Michael Cohen about developing a property in the country. Plans for a Georgia-based Trump Tower moved forward, but ultimately fell apart during Trump’s first presidency.

Key Background

The slew of foreign Trump deals in the president’s second term stands in stark contrast to his first presidency, when the Trump Organization backed off foreign investments to avoid an appearance of impropriety. Trump controversially did not divest from his company, however, and while he stepped back from running his business empire, he still attracted controversy for business efforts that could benefit from his presidency, like the Trump Organization’s now-defunct Washington, D.C. hotel. Presidents and other federal officials are broadly prohibited from profiting off their office under what’s known as the “Emoluments Clause,” which blocks them from receiving gifts or other benefits from the U.S., state or foreign governments. While lawsuits were filed during Trump’s first administration alleging violations of the Emoluments Clause, none were effective in blocking Trump’s business activities, however. When Trump won in 2024, Eric Trump publicly said the Trump Organization’s playbooks for foreign deals would be “no different” than the president’s first term—but numerous foreign deals nevertheless quickly followed, particularly in the Middle East.