Trump admits to failed business ambitions in Ukraine
- Donald Trump explored opportunities to expand his business into Ukraine, particularly in Kyiv.
- Concerns from investors about his financial health hindered these potential deals.
- Ultimately, Trump's ambitions to develop our projects in Ukraine did not materialize.
In the early 2000s, the Trump Organization sought to broaden its international footprint, including ambitions in Ukraine. Donald Trump expressed interest in developing a Trump International Hotel in Kyiv around the time of March 2005. During a sworn deposition in 2007, he revealed that he had considered hotel projects in other countries, such as Moscow, Warsaw, and Istanbul. However, he did not confirm claims of having acquired real estate rights in Kyiv and the Black Sea resort of Yalta in August 2004. This expansion effort was confronted with challenges due to concerns about Trump's financial status from potential investors. Trump attributed these failed business pursuits to damaging reports by journalist Timothy O’Brien, which created doubts about his financial health. As a result, partnerships in Ukraine and beyond fell through. Ultimately, he received no compensation following a lawsuit he lost in 2009, which was upheld on appeal two years later, marking a significant setback for his proposed ventures into the Eastern European market.