DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — During recent trips to Croatia and Malta, a Dubai-based billionaire and business partner of the Trump Organization looked more like a head of state himself — mingling with government dignitaries, receiving a presidential reception and visiting the glittering Mediterranean Sea.
Hussain Sajwani met with leaders in the two European nations and addressed local journalists, many of whom referred to his ties to President Donald Trump or simply called him "the Donald of Dubai."
Sajwani's trips, as well as a recent deal in Oman, show that Trump's business partner in Dubai wants to expand his development empire beyond the Mideast and a tower under construction in London.
Enter Sajwani's DAMAC Properties, which launched a new effort this week to sell Trump-branded villas at the golf course bearing the American president's name.
"My dream is as we have put our major, iconic tower in London, that we do repeat that in major gateway cities around the world," Sajwani said in a July online video. "Tokyo, Toronto, New York, Paris, I don't know. But that would be a dream — to grow DAMAC with its iconic brands around the world."
Sajwani's dream for a global expansion — as well his growing online presence among social media videos and posts — received a major boost with Trump taking the White House. It also raised the public profile of a billionaire whose fortune grew in part out of contracting work his companies did in supplying U.S. forces during the 1991 Gulf War that expelled Iraqi forces from Kuwait.
Read Wednesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.