Plans For Australia’s First Trump Tower Scrapped As Developer Calls Brand “toxic”

by HEDNEWS on May 13, 2026

Plans for Australia’s first Trump Tower scrapped as developer calls brand “toxic” Plans to build Australia’s first Trump Tower on the Gold Coast have been abandoned just three months after the deal was announced, after the local developer said the Trump brand had become “toxic” in Australia, The proposed $1.5 billion luxury skyscraper was expected to become one of the country’s tallest developments before the partnership collapsed amid financial and reputational disputes.The project was unveiled in February 2026 with fanfare, including promotion by Eric Trump and Australian developer Altus Property Group, and was planned as a 91-storey ultra-luxury tower featuring hotels, apartments, retail spaces, and a beach club. However, within just a few months, the agreement unravelled, with both sides trading blame over the failure of the deal.

Altus CEO David Young that the decision to drop the branding was driven by growing public hostility toward the Trump name in Australians

“increasingly unpopular”
“toxic to Australians”
difficult to proceed with due to global political tensions, including the Iran war contextPublic opposition also played a role, with petitions against the project gathering over 100,000 signatures in some reports.
The Trump Organization strongly pushed back, arguing that the collapse was caused not by branding issues but by Altus Property Group’s failure to meet financial obligations under the agreement.
Officials described the developer’s explanation as a deflection from contractual shortcomings, insisting the company had not fulfilled key requirements tied to the project.

The project became controversial in Australia from the outset, with critics arguing that

the Trump brand was politically divisive
the development risked reputational damage to the region
large-scale luxury projects were already facing local opposition

Despite this, supporters had described the tower as a potential boost to tourism, jobs, and high-end real estate development. Although the Trump-branded version has been scrapped, the developer says the broader Gold Coast skyscraper project may still proceed under a different luxury brand or structure, pending new partner The collapse marks a significant setback for what was intended to be Australia’s first Trump Tower, reflecting a mix