.jpg)
April 23, 2026
By Eurasianet
(Eurasianet) — The Trump Administration has largely ignored the Republic of Georgia diplomatically since returning to power in January 2025. The Trump Organization is another story.
The Trump Organization, the family real estate firm, has announced plans to build a 70-storey Trump Tower in the Georgian capital Tbilisi. It would be the tallest building not just in the country, but in the entire Caucasus region.
Critics describe the Trump Tower idea as a cynical ploy by Georgian Dream officials to get the US president’s attention at a time when they face potential sanctions from the United States and European Union over the government’s rapid embrace of authoritarian practicesand pro-Russian policies. Georgia also faces the prospect of being economically bypassed by TRIPP, or the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, a planned trade link involving Armenia and Azerbaijan that is envisioned as a key transport node in the Middle Corridor trade network connecting Central Asia and Europe.
The Tbilisi tower project will be a joint venture involving four Georgian firms, Archi Group, Biograpi Living, Blox Group, and Finvest Georgia, alongside the US-based Sapir Organization, a longtime Trump partner.
Archi Group’s founder, businessman Ilia Tsulaia, previously served as an MP for the Georgian Dream party, while Biograpi Living is part of the Wissol Group, owned by the Pkhakadze brothers, who have faced repeated scrutiny over their support for the government.
Georgian Dream leaders have trumpeted the project as a vote of confidence in Georgia’s economy and governance. The speaker of Georgia’s rubber-stamp parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, said that “when Trump’s company enters Georgia under its own brand, it means it has a strong understanding of the existing environment. Naturally, Trump and his company are careful to protect the reputation they have built.”
Critics see it very differently. Roman Gotsiridze, a former head of the National Bank and MP, called the project politically motivated. “This is Bidzina Ivanishvili’s attempt to bribe Trump… a sanctioned Ivanishvili is looking for ways to save himself,” he said, referring to the Georgian Dream party’s founder and funder.
“Using businessmen he [Ivanishvili] has backed, he has created a consortium in which, of course, the largest share will indirectly be Ivanishvili’s money, and with this idea they are approaching Trump,” Gotsiridze added.
An April 18 report by The Wall Street Journal described the Tbilisi project as “another example of how the Trump family firm has changed its approach to overseas business during the second Trump administration,” adding that “critics say that such overseas ventures raise potential conflicts of interest.”
Eric Trump, president’s son and executive vice president of the company, said the development would bring the firm’s “globally recognized standard of excellence” to Georgia.
This is not Trump’s first attempt to plant a flag in Georgia. In 2012, with the encouragement of then-president Mikheil Saakashvili, the Trump Organization announced plans for a development in the Black Sea resort city of Batumi. After years of relative inactivity, the organization backed out in 2017, after Trump gained the White House for the first time.
The Batumi project was subsequently taken over by the Georgian Co-Investment Fund, backed by Ivanishvili, and rebranded as the Silk Tower. It is expected to be completed by the end of the decade.
At the time, Ivanishvili, who then as now viewed Saakashvili as his arch-political enemy, derided the Batumi project. “Trump has made no investment in Georgia … they used it, both of them [Saakashvili and Trump] pulled off a clever trick,” he said in 2012. “They paid Trump money, and Saakashvili, as a master of deception, took advantage of it.”
The new tower is planned for Tbilisi’s central Saburtalo district, on land that, according to Georgian Business Media, is still officially owned by the Cartu Foundation, which belongs to Ivanishvili.
Over the past year, the Trump administration has largely continued its predecessor’s approach, freezing out Georgian Dream over its authoritarian drift. When Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on March 30, their first ever call, the ruling party rushed to frame it as a breakthrough. US Congressman Joe Wilson, Georgia’s most vociferous critic in the US Congress, told RFE/RL it was no “reset,” and that both Rubio and Trump “want only the best for the people of Georgia, which clearly means fair and free elections.”
By Eurasianet
(Eurasianet) — The Trump Administration has largely ignored the Republic of Georgia diplomatically since returning to power in January 2025. The Trump Organization is another story.
The Trump Organization, the family real estate firm, has announced plans to build a 70-storey Trump Tower in the Georgian capital Tbilisi. It would be the tallest building not just in the country, but in the entire Caucasus region.
Critics describe the Trump Tower idea as a cynical ploy by Georgian Dream officials to get the US president’s attention at a time when they face potential sanctions from the United States and European Union over the government’s rapid embrace of authoritarian practicesand pro-Russian policies. Georgia also faces the prospect of being economically bypassed by TRIPP, or the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, a planned trade link involving Armenia and Azerbaijan that is envisioned as a key transport node in the Middle Corridor trade network connecting Central Asia and Europe.
The Tbilisi tower project will be a joint venture involving four Georgian firms, Archi Group, Biograpi Living, Blox Group, and Finvest Georgia, alongside the US-based Sapir Organization, a longtime Trump partner.
Archi Group’s founder, businessman Ilia Tsulaia, previously served as an MP for the Georgian Dream party, while Biograpi Living is part of the Wissol Group, owned by the Pkhakadze brothers, who have faced repeated scrutiny over their support for the government.
Georgian Dream leaders have trumpeted the project as a vote of confidence in Georgia’s economy and governance. The speaker of Georgia’s rubber-stamp parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, said that “when Trump’s company enters Georgia under its own brand, it means it has a strong understanding of the existing environment. Naturally, Trump and his company are careful to protect the reputation they have built.”
Critics see it very differently. Roman Gotsiridze, a former head of the National Bank and MP, called the project politically motivated. “This is Bidzina Ivanishvili’s attempt to bribe Trump… a sanctioned Ivanishvili is looking for ways to save himself,” he said, referring to the Georgian Dream party’s founder and funder.
“Using businessmen he [Ivanishvili] has backed, he has created a consortium in which, of course, the largest share will indirectly be Ivanishvili’s money, and with this idea they are approaching Trump,” Gotsiridze added.
An April 18 report by The Wall Street Journal described the Tbilisi project as “another example of how the Trump family firm has changed its approach to overseas business during the second Trump administration,” adding that “critics say that such overseas ventures raise potential conflicts of interest.”
Eric Trump, president’s son and executive vice president of the company, said the development would bring the firm’s “globally recognized standard of excellence” to Georgia.
This is not Trump’s first attempt to plant a flag in Georgia. In 2012, with the encouragement of then-president Mikheil Saakashvili, the Trump Organization announced plans for a development in the Black Sea resort city of Batumi. After years of relative inactivity, the organization backed out in 2017, after Trump gained the White House for the first time.
The Batumi project was subsequently taken over by the Georgian Co-Investment Fund, backed by Ivanishvili, and rebranded as the Silk Tower. It is expected to be completed by the end of the decade.
At the time, Ivanishvili, who then as now viewed Saakashvili as his arch-political enemy, derided the Batumi project. “Trump has made no investment in Georgia … they used it, both of them [Saakashvili and Trump] pulled off a clever trick,” he said in 2012. “They paid Trump money, and Saakashvili, as a master of deception, took advantage of it.”
The new tower is planned for Tbilisi’s central Saburtalo district, on land that, according to Georgian Business Media, is still officially owned by the Cartu Foundation, which belongs to Ivanishvili.
Over the past year, the Trump administration has largely continued its predecessor’s approach, freezing out Georgian Dream over its authoritarian drift. When Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on March 30, their first ever call, the ruling party rushed to frame it as a breakthrough. US Congressman Joe Wilson, Georgia’s most vociferous critic in the US Congress, told RFE/RL it was no “reset,” and that both Rubio and Trump “want only the best for the people of Georgia, which clearly means fair and free elections.”
No comments:
Post a Comment