Hotel Project in Muslim Country Mysteriously Vanishes From Donald Trump's Website
Here's a mystery: What happened to Donald Trump's big luxury hotel project in the Muslim-majority nation of Azerbaijan?
This summer, Mother Jones reported on the Republican presidential front-runner's lucrative deal with a controversial Azeri billionaire to slap the Trump name on a 33-story glass, sail-shaped tower in the oil-rich nation's capital, Baku. But this project, once touted in many of the Trump Organization's press releases, has disappeared from Trump's corporate website. The site lists all the hotels in the prestigious Trump Hotel Collection, including his properties in New York City, Chicago, Las Vegas, Miami, Turnberry (Scotland), Rio de Janeiro, and Bali. Each hotel, including those that have not yet opened, has its own web page. And there once was a web page for the Trump hotel in Baku, which was scheduled to open this December. But that page has vanished. And with no explanation.
What's become of this much-trumped project? The Trump Organization did not respond to a request for comment. The publicist who recently repped the Baku hotel says she's no longer on the project and that questions about its fate can only be answered by Trump's company. When Mother Jones called the Trump hotel reservation line and asked about the Baku hotel, the sales agent said the project has been delayed and that there now is no date for its opening.