Trump's business empire goes global while he's in the White House

Data: The Trump Organization. Note: The Serbia tower project isn't listed on The Trump Organization website, but recently gained political approval. Map: Erin Davis/Axios VisualsProtests in Serbia last week over a planned Trump Tower in Belgrade were just the latest example of the president's business empire rubbing up against U.S. foreign policy.Why it matters: Officially, the president has handed management of his real estate portfolio to his sons. But for some governments around the world, it may be hard to entirely separate Trump's business from Trump himself.Driving the news: Serbia's government passed a law this month to fast-track development of the future Trump Tower Belgrade by an investment firm founded by Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law.The project is backed by strongman President Aleksandar Vučić, who has tried to court President Trump while facing mass protests at home.But it sparked large student-led demonstrations because the project calls for the former Yugoslav Army HQ, which NATO bombed in 1999, to be leveled. The protesters objected to the idea of a tower bearing the U.S. president's name sitting atop a site of national trauma.Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt denied that Trump or his family engaged "or ever will engage" in conflicts of interest. "The media's continued attempts to fabricate conflicts of interest are irresponsible and reinforce the public's distrust in what they read," she said in response to questions for this story. The Trump Organization did not respond to requests for comment.Zoom out: It's not the first Trump-branded project that's reportedly been expedited by a foreign government during Trump's second term — or the first to face backlash.Work was allowed to begin earlier this year on a massive hotel and golf development outside Hanoi without all the required legal and environmental reviews, while Vietnam was also holding high-stakes trade talks with the Trump administration, according to a New York Times investigation.Vietnamese officials wrote in a letter seen by the Times that the project needed high-level government support because it was "receiving special attention from the Trump administration and President Donald Trump personally."Local residents who feared being pushed off land they and their ancestors had farmed were outraged, the Times reported.Vietnam's prime minister presided over the groundbreaking in May, alongside Eric Trump. A dispute with farmers over compensation has slowed development, Bloomberg reports.By the numbers: The Trump Organization lists 10 projects in eight different countries as "coming soon."A list compiled by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington shows a total of 22 overseas projects in various stages of development.Most were in the works before the election, including the one in Serbia. Ten more are already up and running.The big picture: The Trump Organization is doing more business overseas than ever before and navigating many more international deals than during Trump's first term, a Wall Street Journal analysis showed.Trump still owns the Trump Organization, so he stands to benefit financially from the deals, even if he's not involved in making them.Since taking office, Trump's net worth has exploded by about $3 billion —a 70% increase, according to a Forbes analysis in September. That's mostly thanks to crypto, rather than real estate.Breaking it down: While President Trump has been seeking deals around the world on behalf of the U.S., his family members have been working deals in many of the same countries.Investment funds backed by Gulf states or royals have poured money into Kushner's investment fund and the Trump family's crypto venture, for example.Those countries — the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia — also struck massive deals with the Trump administration for AI chips and arms. Split screen: Donald Trump Jr. sat with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at a conference last month in Riyadh, and was among the business leaders invited to dine with him.On Tuesday, MBS will visit the White House to meet with the president.

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