Eric Trump (right) and wife Lara Trump (second left) at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Trump International, Hung Yen resort and golf course project in Hung Yen province on May 21, 2025. - AFP
HANOI: Eric Trump said the Trump Organization’s new US$1.5 billion luxury resort complex to be built in northern Vietnam will "blow everybody away,” even as the nation’s leaders negotiate with the US administration to avoid a cripplingly high tariff.
"I will be here incredibly often,” Eric Trump said at the groundbreaking event in Hung Yen province on Wednesday (May 21).
"This project and many of the other ones that we do together are going to be the envy of all of Asia. They’re going to be the envy of the entire world, and Vietnam deserves it,” he said.
The project in Hung Yen province, which will feature five-star hotels, golf courses and residential estates, spans more than 990 hectares (2,446.3 acres) along the Red River.
The first phase is expected to be completed in two and a half years, while the whole project is set to be ready by 2029, according to Vietnamese developer Kinh Bac City Development Holding Corp.
Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, who was also at the event, said he looks forward to welcoming President Donald Trump to visit the nation, and that the project will contribute to the development of the Vietnam-US relationship and reaffirm the trust of foreign investors in Vietnam.
The visit by the Trump Organization’s executive vice president takes place as Vietnamese and US negotiators hold a second round of trade talks in Washington in search of a tariff deal.
Vietnam has engaged in weeks of intense diplomacy with the US, seeking to avert a threatened 46% tariff, which was later wound back to 10% for 90 days to allow time for talks.
The punitively high levy reflects US displeasure with the country’s trade surplus, the third-largest globally behind China and Mexico. Vietnam has repeatedly vowed to purchase more American goods, while offering to remove all tariffs on US imports.
It’s also stepped up its fight against trade fraud, seeking to address US concerns about Chinese goods being shipped via Vietnam to sidestep tariffs.
Trade between the two nations ballooned over the past decade to about $150 billion in 2024, as global companies sought to diversify production away from China during Trump’s first term in office. Vietnam is one of South-East Asia’s fastest-growing economies, though US tariffs could put this year’s target of 8% expansion at risk.
Eric Trump and a delegation from the Trump Organization are expected to be in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday for talks with local officials on a proposed tower project in the Thu Thiem area of the commercial hub, Vietnam media reported. - Bloomberg
