Trump-branded golf resort in Vietnam hits snag over land dispute

Five months after a glitzy groundbreaking ceremony just outside Vietnam’s capital Hanoi, the area where The Trump Organisation-branded US$1.5 billion (S$1.95 billion) luxury golf resort was unveiled remains just fields of banana and orange trees as angry farmers challenge the site’s clearance plans.

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The project in Hung Yen province is facing land recovery delays as residents contest the amount of compensation being offered by the local authorities.

It has been set at about 320,000 dong (S$15.80) per sq m — equivalent to around one year’s income from the agricultural land for many of the farmers, plus rates that differ for varying plants and trees already there.

“It’s unreasonable that freshly planted crops can get a higher payment than trees that have been growing for 20 years,” said Ms Do Thi Vung, who has spent more than 30 years cultivating land in the area.

She is among hundreds of farmers who have petitioned the authorities to at least double the compensation rate.

The resort, when finished, is set to feature five-star hotels, golf courses and residential estates spanning around 900ha along the Red River.

The first phase is slated to be completed by late 2027, with the whole complex ready by 2029.

The Trump Organisation executive vice-president Eric Trump said in May the project will “blow everybody away”.

But before that can happen, Hung Yen officials need to hand over the land to the developer, Kinh Bac City Development Holding Corp.

It is a process that has been held up not only because farmers are holding out, but also due to a huge government overhaul earlier in 2025 that saw three tiers of local bureaucracy reduced to two.

“There are definitely delays,” said Mr Le Trung Kien, an official in Chau Ninh, a commune in Hung Yen province.

The work to clear the land was assigned in late June but stalled and restarted only in August, he said.