Trump has casino trademark in Jordan but gambling is illegal
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The president of the United States holds a trademark in Jordan for a Donald Trump casino, despite the fact that gambling is illegal in the kingdom. It is one of four he received before he ran for office, and suggests that the former casino executive may have had wider hopes for businesses across the Middle East than was previously known.
To keep the trademarks active, the Trump Organization would need to reapply for them during Trump’s four-year term, raising potential ethical concerns for his company in Jordan, a stalwart U.S. ally in the fight against the Islamic State group and a mediator in relations between Israel and the Palestinians.
The Trump Organization told The Associated Press that its “decision to enforce its intellectual property rights is nothing new,” while declining to discuss whether it knew how controversial gambling was in the kingdom.
Jordan’s government acknowledged the trademarks, but that doesn’t mean gambling is in Jordan’s future.