From Trade War Beneficiary to Trump’s Business Partner: The Story of Dang Thanh Tam
In a remarkable twist of fate, Vietnamese entrepreneur Dang Thanh Tam has found himself uniquely positioned at the intersection of international business and American politics. Once a beneficiary of Donald Trump’s first-term trade wars that boosted Vietnam’s manufacturing sector, Dang now faces new tariffs from Trump’s second administration. However, he holds an unprecedented advantage: a $1.5 billion luxury development partnership with the Trump Organization. This relationship, formalized before Trump’s re-election, represents a fascinating convergence of business interests across continents. In May 2024, Eric Trump traveled to Vietnam to unveil Trump International Hung Yen – a sprawling project featuring a 5-star hotel, luxury villas, and two golf courses designed by Bryson DeChambeau. The groundbreaking ceremony brought together the Trump family, Dang, and Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in a display of cross-cultural business cooperation, with Dang beaming as golden confetti rained down upon the dignitaries.
Dang’s journey to wealth mirrors Trump’s own path in many ways – both are property developers who built empires through ambitious projects and significant debt financing, occasionally teetering on the edge of financial disaster before being rescued by larger economic forces. Now worth an estimated $400 million through his stakes in industrial park developer Kinh Bac City and telecoms infrastructure company Saigontel, Dang has transformed from struggling entrepreneur to one of Vietnam’s wealthiest businesspeople. His company Kinh Bac, founded in 2002, initially rode Vietnam’s opening to global markets by developing industrial parks that attracted major manufacturers like Apple supplier Foxconn. After taking the company public in 2007, Dang expanded rapidly into banking and mining through heavy borrowing, nearly losing everything when interest rates surged in 2011. For years afterward, he focused on restructuring his company’s massive $360 million debt and retrenching his business operations.
Ironically, it was Donald Trump’s presidency beginning in 2017 that revitalized Dang’s fortune. As Trump’s trade war with China intensified, manufacturers rapidly relocated to Vietnam to avoid American tariffs on Chinese goods. This manufacturing migration became Dang’s salvation – during Trump’s first term from 2017 to 2021, Vietnamese exports to the U.S. jumped by 119%, while Kinh Bac’s revenues and net income surged by 161% and 54% respectively. Today, Kinh Bac owns nearly 20,000 acres of industrial and residential land across Vietnam, hosting blue-chip tenants like Canon, LG, and Foxconn. The $1.3 billion market cap company remains heavily dependent on U.S. trade – over 90% of its customers are Asian companies that export their products from Vietnam to America. As analyst Tieu Phan Thanh Quang notes, “The U.S. is Vietnam’s largest export market, accounting for nearly 30% of its total export turnover,” with most high-tech electronics and consumer goods assembled in Kinh Bac’s parks ultimately destined for American consumers.
When Trump returned to office in January 2025, Dang initially faced challenging prospects as his second term appeared less favorable to Vietnamese business interests. Kinh Bac was already experiencing slower deliveries of industrial land, with 2024 profits down 81% from the previous year. Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcement of a 46% duty on Vietnamese imports in April sent Kinh Bac shares plummeting 27% in a week. Against this backdrop, the Trump International Hanoi groundbreaking in May provided Dang with perfect timing to showcase his ties to the president’s family. The relationship had been developing since early 2024, with Dang explaining, “We first engaged with Eric Trump through our international network. The Trump Organization conducted strict background checks on me to ensure I was clean—no laundering, no blacklists.” By June, Kinh Bac’s stock had recovered as the firm posted improved profits, and in July, Trump announced a new trade deal with Vietnam that reduced the tariff to 20% for Vietnamese goods while maintaining a 40% tariff on “transshipped” products from other countries routed through Vietnam.
Born during the Vietnam War in 1964, Dang’s early life spanned his country’s tumultuous history. With a mother from the north and father from the south, his family relocated to Ho Chi Minh City after the war ended. His educational journey took him from Vietnam to the UK and Australia before returning home in 1988 to work as a marine officer. This international experience shaped his business philosophy: “Those years gave me a global perspective and convinced me Vietnam needed private entrepreneurs who could compete internationally.” In 1996, he partnered with his older sister to establish their first industrial park, before founding Kinh Bac City in 2002. A pivotal moment came in 2006 when he met Foxconn founder Terry Gou, securing the electronics manufacturing giant as a tenant. Despite nearly losing everything during Vietnam’s financial crisis, Dang’s focus on industrial real estate positioned him perfectly to capitalize on the “China plus one” strategy adopted by manufacturers seeking alternatives to sole reliance on Chinese manufacturing. Today, Kinh Bac’s northern industrial parks near China’s manufacturing heartland produce many of Apple’s MacBooks, iPads and watches sold in America, with Dang’s Trump partnership representing his ambitious expansion into luxury hospitality.
Looking forward, Dang remains optimistic despite the challenges posed by Trump’s new tariffs. “The tariffs introduced under the Trump administration created short-term uncertainty but also accelerated global supply chain shifts. For Vietnam, this was a structural opportunity,” he says, highlighting Vietnam’s advantages in semiconductors and advanced manufacturing due to its “young, trainable workforce and some of the world’s largest reserves of rare earths.” While financing the $1.5 billion Trump-branded resort presents challenges, Dang believes the Trump Organization’s global luxury brand will establish his firm in the high-end development market. His relationships with the Trumps and major manufacturing clients like Foxconn provide competitive advantages his rivals lack. As the president’s business continues announcing international deals, Dang appears positioned for continued success, declaring: “Trump International, Hung Yen is just the beginning. We intend to develop more luxury projects—and we remain open to partnering with Trump.” In this remarkable symbiosis of business and politics, Dang Thanh Tam exemplifies how entrepreneurs can navigate changing global trade landscapes while building relationships that transcend borders and administrations.
