Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh expressed support for expediting the development of a Trump Organization project in the country’s Hung Yen province during a meeting with the head of a firm that represents President Trump’s namesake private company in Vietnam last week, according to reports from Vietnamese news publications. The move illustrates how Trump Organization projects being developed abroad offer foreign governments avenues to give special treatment to President Trump’s businesses, which the president still owns and profits from. 

The meeting, and the plan to expedite the development, is a stark example of the president’s conflicted interests: the Trump Organization’s business ventures abroad give foreign leaders leverage over Trump’s finances, while Trump can reward or punish them through America’s foreign policy. 

The Trump Organization announced in October that it had entered into an agreement with Hung Yen Hospitality, a subsidiary of Kinh Bac City Development Holding Corporation, to build a $1.5 billion development in Vietnam, to include golf courses, hotels, resorts and residences. The project will be the Trump Organization’s first in the country. 

At the March 18 meeting in Hanoi, Charles James Boyd Bowman, an investment fund executive representing the Trump Organization, said the company wants to complete the development by March 2027, in time to serve the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation’s (APEC) Economic Leaders gathering taking place in Vietnam, according to a news report about the meeting. APEC’s annual meeting convenes leaders of 21 member countries, including the United States. Seeking business from the conference poses additional conflict concerns. 

Bowman also reportedly said that Trump Organization executives were planning to visit Vietnam. He may have also linked the development to gaining the favor of the Trump administration during the meeting. According to a report on the meeting, “The Trump Organization plans upcoming visits by its leaders to Vietnam, contributing to bolstering bilateral relations between the two nations as well as elevating Vietnam’s high-quality image in the eyes of the U.S. administration and the global community, Bowman stated.”

Prime Minister Chinh reportedly encouraged the Trump Organization to expand investment in Vietnam. The meeting coincides with the Vietnamese government trying to avoid tariffs from the Trump administration.

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