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.
Did Donald Trump set Coco Beach Golf and Country Club on course?
Donald Trump did not set Coco Beach Golf and Country Club on course for ruin, but he wasn’t 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.
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.
How did Trump’s deal with the owners of Mar-a-Lago work?
Under the agreement, the future president’s company licensed the Trump name to the owners and took on a share of the resort’s day-to-day management in exchange for a fee.
When did Trump International Golf Club go bankrupt?
When the Trump International Golf Club filed for Bankruptcy in July 2015 -- just a month after Donald Trump launched his presidential campaign -- Trump's family members did everything they could to distance themselves from the failed project. See full story.
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 .
How many stories are there in the Trump Hotel?
The 13-story Trump hotel should have been a sun-kissed shoreline landmark. Instead, the project remains 40% incomplete, and the developer has become ensnared in a corruption investigation. See full story .
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.
When did Trump buy the 1290 Avenue of Americas?
In 1994 a group of Chinese investors bailed Trump out of a debt-laded property on New York City's Upper West Side but kept him on as a 30% partner. Twelve years later they flipped the property for $1.76 billion and used the proceeds to buy 1290 Avenue of the Americas in midtown Manhattan and the 555 California Street in San Francisco. See full story.
Did Donald Trump fail in Vegas?
Donald Trump famously failed in Atlantic City, but he’s scored big in Vegas, courtesy of his partner, billionaire Phil Ruffin—who is taking steps to open a new Trump casino there. 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 .
Claim
Donald Trump "bankrupted" a golf course in Puerto Rico, leaving taxpayers there on the hook for $33 million worth of debt.
Rating
A Trump company was unable to save a floundering Puerto Rico golf club and resort from bankruptcy after entering into a management and brand licensing agreement with its owners in 2008. As a result of the episode, $32.6 million in government investment was not recouped.
Origin
In the aftermath of a series of hurricanes in September 2017 — particularly Maria, which devastated the United States territory of Puerto Rico — President Donald Trump reflected on the infrastructural damage caused by those storms in a 25 September 2017 tweet:
Premise
Aftermath
- In the aftermath of a series of hurricanes in September 2017 particularly Maria, which devastated the United States territory of Puerto Rico President Donald Trump reflected on the infrastructural damage caused by those storms in a 25 September 2017 tweet:
Reactions
- In response, public relations and marketing executive Lainie Green issued a series of tweets that went viral, accusing President Trump of having added to Puerto Ricos debt by bankrupting a golf course there and defaulting on $33 million worth of government-issued bonds:
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 ...
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, which prompted the Puerto Rica…