Trump’s business partners include controversial foreign developers

Watch CNN Investigations’ look into Trump’s international business partners on CNN’s “OutFront with Erin Burnett” at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday.

Most of Trump’s overseas real estate ventures are licensing agreements: Trump is paid by foreign developers to use the Trump name and his company works with the developers on the project. To date, Trump has signed at least 14 licensing deals with developers in foreign countries, earning millions of dollars in the process.

But as the President-elect prepares to hand over his company to his sons, Trump’s international partnerships are now coming under increased scrutiny.

A CNN analysis of Trump’s overseas businesses shows many of his partners have political ties, and some have been followed by controversy and even allegations of criminal activity. The extent to which Trump will distance himself from these business relationships remains to be seen.

Although Trump listed about 150 companies that have had dealings in at least 25 countries in his recent financial disclosures, it’s these real estate deals that have generated much of his foreign income. To date, Trump has signed at least 14 licensing deals with developers in foreign countries, earning millions of dollars in the process.

Like Trump, Tanoesoedibjo has jumped into politics, forming his own political party. In an interview with the Financial Times, Tanoesoedibjo said that the politician he admires most is Vladimir Putin, an elected official Trump has praised as a “leader” and someone who is “highly respected within his own country and beyond.”

‘Housekeeping’

Trump has already begun to cut ties with some of his international business partners.

Alan Garten, an attorney for the Trump Organization, confirmed to CNN Thursday that Trump has recently terminated his licensing deal for a hotel in Azerbaijan, a country identified by the US government as having a history of human rights abuses and corruption.

Trump’s business partner on the project was billionaire Anar Mammadov, whose father is the country’s transportation minister.

Garten also confirmed additional licensing deals for a Trump-branded hotel as well as five office buildings in Rio de Janeiro have been terminated.

“These deals are terminated under the applicable agreements” in which they were originally licensed under, Garten told CNN.

Garten referred to the recent scrubbing of these three projects from the Trump portfolio as “house cleaning.”

James Jeffrey, a former ambassador and current fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, views Trump’s foreign business deals as a potential liability, especially if Trump does not take steps to draw clear lines between his business and political office before inauguration.

“If you do not divest yourself of all foreign holdings and for that matter domestic holdings, put them in a true blind trust, you open yourself up obviously to these kinds of questions,” Jeffrey, who served as deputy national security adviser in the George W. Bush administration, told CNN.

Jeffrey said Trump’s international business experience could help him to navigate some foreign policy issues, but he added that some foreign governments could try to use his business interests as leverage over his decision-making.

“A president can do what he or she wants to do, can have the assets, can have the relationships, and it’s up to the American people, the media, and the Congress in the end to pass judgment,” Jeffrey said.