Donald Trump’s name, likeness removed from Dubai golf sites

The image and name of American presidential hopeful Donald Trump was gone on Friday from much of a Dubai golf course and housing development amid the uproar over his comments about banning Muslims from traveling to the United States. However, on Thursday billboards at a golf complex the company is building with Trump were stripped of his image, Reuters reports. The “Trump International Golf Course” name (predictably in gold letters) was also reportedly removed from the project’s gate, according to The National. Niall McLoughlin, vice president of Damac Properties believes that Trump’s organization is “one of the premium golf course operators in the world”.

In a column in the National newspaper, which is published in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, Habtoor said he had once supported Trump’s presidential bid but had realized “I was wrong and do not mind admitting it”.

Muscat: Landmark Group, a retail giant with more than 170 stores across the Middle East, including Oman, has pulled Trump Home-branded products off its shelves of Lifestyle stores in response to the United States.

Egypt’s top Islamic institution said Trump’s comments would fuel hate, reports CBS News correspondent Holly Williams.

Still, some of Trump’s other Middle Eastern business partners have been more discreet: Qatar Airways, which leases office space in Trump Tower in Manhattan, has yet to comment on the policy proposal.

Trump, who owns two highly rated golf courses in Scotland, also lost his honorary doctorate at Robert Gordon University (RGU) in Scotland. The decision was made after Trump’s Monday statement calling for a ban on all Muslims entering the United States.

Although there were no other immediate announcements of business partners breaking with Trump so far, others made clear they were uneasy using his brand name in the Middle East, where he has been actively expanding his footprint in recent years, heavily concentrated in the Gulf business hub of Dubai.

Meanwhile, Trump said Thursday he should be thanked for investing in Scotland, after the country ditched him as a business ambassador and a university revoked his honorary degree. If we want Trump to like us, we simply need to make it worth his while financially.

Damac began selling Trump-branded mansions with a starting price of 6.5 million dirhams (S$2.5 million) in March, the company said at the time. “I’m proud to live at Trump place, I think Donald Trump has done a brilliant job with building what he’s built here, and I’ve been proud to know him, and his family, and I think he’s a great American”, she said. “They can go invest it somewhere else”.