How much did it cost to build the Puerto Rico golf resort?
In 2000 and 2004, Puerto Rico’s Industrial, Tourist, Educational, Medical and Environmental Control Facilities Financing Authority (AFICA) issued the owners of the club a total of $25,497,854 in bonds to help build and launch the resort.
What happened to Puerto Rico's Trump Golf Club?
Puerto Rico had been hard hit by a recession, and the club had taken on substantial debt and was suffering annual losses for years before Trump's company intervened.
How profitable are Donald Trump’s golf courses?
In fairness, Trump’s more established courses are likely to be more profitable than his newer Scottish ones, but even if his golf courses are well run, they’d be lucky to pull in net earnings of 10-15 percent. If Trump paid too much for them and has run them poorly—which seems likely—his golf earnings might be more like 3-4 percent.
What is the Puerto Rico Open prize money payout breakdown?
The winner's share of Puerto Rico Open prize pool is at $666,000, with the second-place finisher taking home $403,300. Puerto Rico Open prize money payout breakdown shows a payout of 18 percent of the purse to the winner, and how much each PGA Tour player earns is guaranteed down to the last-place player, who gets $7,585.
When did Trump buy the golf club?
The reality TV mogul signed two deals with the club in 2008, one a licensing agreement to name it Trump International Golf Club Puerto Rico, and a management agreement which gave Mr Trump control of the club in exchange for a slice of the profit.
Does Donald Trump's son own a golf course?
Mr Trump's son Eric told Bloomberg News in 2015 that the family had "zero financial investment" in the golf course. "This has absolutely nothing to do with Trump. This is a separate owner. We purely manage the golf course," he said.
How many times has Trump played golf?
We have chronicled all of the days President Donald Trump has spent at his golf clubs since becoming Commander-in-Chief, and we’ve done that as a relative means of accountability since Trump so frequently criticized President Barack Obama for how often he played golf (333 times, by estimate) in office.
How did Trump help golf clubs?
In 2008, Trump came along in two ways, signing a licensing deal to put his name on the club for marketing purposes and signing a management deal to help the club run more efficiently and effectively. As most of these deals go in the golf industry, the management deal compelled the owners to pay Trump a fee to run the property and an incentive based on the profits of running the club.
When did the Puerto Rico Open start?
In 2008, the PGA Tour created the Puerto Rico Open and brought it to the golf club. It was played opposite the WGC-Cadillac Championship, which was played until 2016 at Trump National Doral in Florida. However, the notoriety of being a PGA Tour stop and having Trump's name on the club couldn't help the owners overcome the initial debt problem, so they sought private bonds in 2011 to pay off the original debt from the Tourism Development Fund, touting Trump's involvement and turnaround plan in offering documents. The turnaround plan didn't work, and the club quickly began defaulting on the new bonds as the Trump miracle the owners apparently expected (unreasonably so) never manifested itself.
Who is the largest creditor in Puerto Rico?
Bankruptcy court records show that the Puerto Rico Tourism Development Fund, the largest creditor, filed a claim for $32.67 million for the real estate mortgage in 2015.
How is tourism development fund paid?
The tourism development fund is paid for by tax dollars. If a private entity defaults on its obligations -- as the golf resort did in this case -- the fund has to make good on the principal and interest.
Why was the resort going bankrupt?
McCann said that even if Trump had not gotten involved, the resort was headed toward bankruptcy because the 2000 and 2004 bonds were about to default.
Why did Puerto Rico go into recession?
The recession in Puerto Rico was much worse than the mainland and started earlier as manufacturers left in 2006-07 due to the elimination of a tax subsidy for manufacturers, McCann told PolitiFact.
How did the Democrats portray the situation in a misleading light?
But the Democrats portrayed the situation in a misleading light by omitting that the business was in dire financial straits years before Trump entered the picture. The Trump family has tried to create space in the years since between the resort and their business.
What did the Democrats do to steal the battleground states?
Democrats “manufactured votes from low income voters to steal the battleground states.”
Did Eric Trump distance his father from the project?
Eric Trump distanced his father from the project when it fell into bankruptcy
How much did the Trump golf course cost in 2012?
All the while, the course's expenses increased 22%, including Trump's management fees, which were about 4.5% of annual revenues, or more than $600,000 by the end of 2012. Ultimately, with about $78 million in debt and only $9 million in assets, the golf club sold for $2 million.
When did Trump International Golf Club file for bankruptcy?
When the Trump International Golf Club in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, filed for bankruptcy in July 2015 — just a month after Donald Trump launched his presidential campaign — Trump's family did everything they could to distance themselves from the failed project. "This has absolutely nothing to do with Trump. This is a separate owner. We purely manage the golf course," Eric Trump told Bloomberg at the time.
Why did Trump abandon Mar-a-Lago?
In 2006, Trump and billionaire condo king Jorge Perez began selling a 23-story apartment building near Trump's exclusive club, Mar-a-Lago, but the project was abandoned a year later because of slow sales.
Where did Mehta go to college?
Mehta attended the University of Pennsylvania, like Trump and three of the president's children. The Trump Organization "took a bold bet on India several years ago," Mehta says. "Recognizating that it is a complex market, they have been flexible and willing to go above and beyond."
Who is the developer of Trump International Hotel?
Alex Shnaider, the developer behind the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Toronto, reportedly made moves to take the New York developer's name off the building in 2015, after Trump started running for president. See full story .
Who is Garant Holding?
Trump licensed his name to local developer Garant Holding, founded by Anar Mammadov, son of the country's transportation minister. Mammadov has faced allegations that he used contacts made through his father to secure deals worth over $1 billion. He has never been charged and couldn't be reached for comment. See full story .
Is Hary Tanoesoedibjo a Trump?
Hary Tanoesoedibjo shares more than luxury resorts with the 45th president. The Indonesian billionaire has turned himself into a full-fledged mini-Trump, down to the beauty pageants, TV shows and incessant tweeting. And he’s now laying the groundwork to become president of the world’s fourth-largest country. See full story .
How much did the Puerto Rico Open lose in 2012?
From 2008 to 2012, it lost between $5.8 million and $7.2 million annually. In 2012 it had just 63 members, and only four had bought condo units. Mainland players weren't flocking to Coco Beach, and revenues from the Puerto Rico Open were steadily declining.
Who said the PGA tournament was the ideal platform to debut this one-of-a-kind project to such an?
The magazine quoted Eric Trump as saying, "The PGA tournament served as the ideal platform to debut this one-of-a-kind project to such an important audience."
What was the unemployment rate in Puerto Rico in 2008?
So by the time the club and the Trump Organization were first joining forces, Puerto Rico's unemployment rate was already climbing. It rose from 10.6 percent in March 2008 to an eventual peak of 17 percent in May 2010.
When did Trump's golf club host the PGA?
Initially, the Trump-branded club did try to make a splash despite the tough economy. In 2008, it hosted the PGA Puerto Rico Open, and used the tournament to kick-start the condo sales.
Does Trump's son own the golf course?
Once in a Bloomberg interview, Trump's son Eric Trump emphasized that the family had never had ownership stake in the property. "We have zero financial investment in this course," he said. "This is a separate owner. We purely manage the golf course."
Premise
Aftermath
Reactions
Ownership
- According to documents first detailed in a 2016 BuzzFeed investigation, in 2008 Trump International entered into an arrangement with the owners of Coco Beach Golf & Country Club, a foundering resort and golf course that had opened in 2004 on the northeast coast of Puerto Rico about 30 miles from San Juan. Under the agreement, the future presidents company licensed th…
Controversies
- By October 2011, Coco Beach had defaulted on $26 million in bonds and had to seek another round of financing. In 2015, the company filed for bankruptcy under its original name, Coco Beach Golf and Country Club, citing debts of more than $78 million but only $9 million in assets. Bankruptcy court records show that Puerto Ricos Tourism Development Fund made a claim of $…
Analysis
- The evidence shows that Coca Beach had consistently been operating at a loss and accumulating debts in the years before Trump International became involved with its management. And a significant portion of the financial assistance provided by the Puerto Rican government was given in 2000 and 2004, well before the future U.S. presidents company arrived on the scene.
Funding
- However, one could argue that Trump International received a good deal of money from the Coco Beach deal yet failed to turn the club around, or even stanch its financial bleeding. According to the March 2011 bond offering (which was itself required to cover losses on the Puerto Rican governments 2000 and 2004 bond investments), Trump International had given certain assuranc…
Results
- Whatever that plan was, it did not succeed. The 2012 financials show that the clubs average annual losses rose to $6.3 million during the period that Trumps company provided management services to the resort (2008-2012), $1 million more per year than the business had been losing before. Further, for this lack of success, Trump International garnered a total of $609,607 in man…
Significance
- Donald Trump did not set Coco Beach Golf and Country Club on course for ruin, but he wasnt able to save it from that fate. His role in the bankruptcy of the company, which ended up costing Puerto Rican taxpayers $32.6 million, was significant but limited. That $32.6 million loss constituted 0.03 percent of the territorys total $123 billion debt, wh...