The Trump family business is teaming up once again with Saudi-linked developer Dar Global on a new luxury project in the Maldives — one that will allow investors to buy in through blockchain-based tokenisation.

The two companies on Monday unveiled plans for an 80-villa resort located a short boat ride from Malé. It is the latest in a series of collaborations between the Trump Organization and Dar Global, the London-listed international branch of Saudi real estate group Dar Al Arkan.

The announcement comes on the eve of a major geopolitical moment: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is visiting the White House for the first time in seven years. His meeting with the US president is expected to focus on defence cooperation, nuclear discussions, and large-scale Saudi investments. The timing places the new resort firmly within a broader picture of growing US-Saudi commercial and political ties.

What sets this project apart is its financing model. The developers say the Maldives resort will be “tokenised”, meaning ownership stakes will be broken into digital units using blockchain technology that investors can buy and trade. They describe it as a first in luxury hospitality, though details of how the system will work have not yet been made public. Eric Trump, executive vice-president of the Trump Organization, said the model would “set a new benchmark for innovation in real estate investment”.

The resort also arrives at a moment when the Trump family’s deepening involvement in cryptocurrency has been under intense scrutiny. Over the past year, Donald Trump and his wife have released their own memecoins, his sons have been engaged in stablecoin ventures, and the family has built a crypto-focused investment operation. A recent investigation reported that this ecosystem generated more than $1 billion in pre-tax profits in the span of a year.

Those ventures have prompted questions as the Trump administration continues to push policies seen as favourable to the crypto industry. The growing overlap between the family’s financial interests and countries working closely with the White House has also drawn attention. Jared Kushner’s fund, for example, has raised billions from Gulf sovereign wealth funds, including a $2 billion commitment from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

Dar Global and the Trump Organization already have projects across the Middle East, including developments in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and Oman. The Maldives project is the first time the two have opened a path for outside investors to participate directly through digital tokenisation.

The companies say construction will move ahead in the coming period, positioning the resort as both a high-end tourism offering and an experiment in the future of real-estate investment.