A developer for what was supposed to be Australia’s first Trump Tower cited the “toxic” image behind U.S. President Donald Trump’s name as the reason why the plan was scrapped this week, less than three months after it was announced.
“Let’s just say that with the Iran war and everything else, the Trump brand was increasingly toxic in Australia,” Altus Property Group chief executive and founder David Young told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. “Some time ago, we knew it was time to part company.”
The planned 91-story Trump International Hotel & Tower, Gold Coast was “set to become the tallest building in Australia and one of the most prominent beachfront addresses in the country,” the property group said in February.
However, the initial project amassed backlash from the public, with an online petition launched to stop the development garnering more than 140,000 signatures. The petition claimed that “many residents are deeply uncomfortable with the Trump brand and what it represents.”
A spokesperson for the Trump Organization told Australian Broadcasting Company that Young’s company had failed to “meet the most basic financial obligation.”
