Trump-backed tourism project accused of draining lake in precious Indonesian forest area

A tourism project tied to Donald Trump in Indonesia is being halted due to water management and environmental issues.

The 130 square kilometre project is the brainchild of the US President’s Indonesian business partner, billionaire and politician Hary Tanoesoedibjo, who attended Trump's inauguration in Washington last month.

His association with Trump began in 2014 when his group company, MNC, was looking for an operator for sprawling “six star” resorts, one to be built on the tourist island of Bali and the other near Jakarta.

In exchange for a cut of the revenue, the Trump Organization would manage hotels, golf courses and country clubs that would cost about $700 million (€678 mn) for MNC to build. 

The projects form the core of larger developments that the company plans.

In a January 2017 interview with The Associated Press, Tanoesoedibjo, better known as Tanoe, said that developing ‘Lido City’ would take more than a decade and cost up to $3 billion (€2.9 bn), of which the Trump properties would cost more than $300 million (€290 mn).

The company has been promoting the project for years. In 2023, then Indonesian President Joko Widodo gave it special economic zone status, providing MNC Land with tax breaks and leniency on permits.

A sprawling “Trump Community” has been built since 2014 in this pocket of Indonesia’s most densely populated island, with a new toll road leading to it, located in Gunung Gede Pangrango, about 60 kilometres south of the capital, Jakarta. It is home to a new Trump golf course, which started offering membership last year.

Though a private development, Lido City suits the Indonesian government’s ambitions to create more tourist destinations that it hopes will be as popular as Bali.

It’s part of broader