DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - Dubai-based developer DAMAC Properties said Wednesday it recently offered $2 billion in deals to President-elect Donald Trump's company, which rejected them.
The developer already has partnered with the Trump Organization to manage and run two golf courses in the glamorous city in the United Arab Emirates. One will open just weeks after his inauguration as America's 45th president.
DAMAC spokesman Niall McLoughlin told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the offer to Trump's firm involved "a variety of different properties deals."
McLoughlin declined to be more specific, other than to say that "the discussions took place as stated in the media briefing."
Trump said Wednesday at his first news conference since his election that he had turned down the deal, offering the decision as evidence of his commitment to avoiding conflicts of interest.
"Over the weekend, I was offered $2 billion to do a deal in Dubai with a very, very, very amazing man, a great, great developer from the Middle East," Trump said. "And I turned it down. I didn't have to turn it down. ... But I don't want to take advantage of something."
DAMAC is run by Dubai-based billionaire Hussain Sajwani - not Hussain Damac as Trump said at the news conference.
One of the Trump Organization's subsidiaries received from $1 million to $5 million from DAMAC, according to a Federal Election Committee report submitted in May.
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