Vietnam's New Glitzy Golf Course

May 26th, 2025

Lindsey Zhao

Like many other nations, Vietnam has faced utter turmoil in recent months as they scramble to avoid the worst effects of President Trump’s unpredictable tariff policies. Most recently, they have been criticized by the Trump administration for failing to counter the diversion of Chinese goods through its borders and have been threatened with a 46% tariff that would threaten Vietnamese exports into the US, which is Vietnam’s largest export market.

One novel way Vietnam has come up with to appease the Trump administration is to cater to President Trump’s favorite sport: golf. Last week, Vietnam officially approved the construction of a $1.5 billion golf course by the Trump Organization and its Vietnamese counterpart, and Eric Trump held a ceremony with the Vietnamese Prime Minister to celebrate the deal earlier this week.

If this deal seems to have been made surprisingly quickly, that’s because it was. In an effort to avoid Trump’s ire, Vietnam has bypassed its own laws and customs to grant the Trump Organization preferential treatment. Legal experts have said Vietnam granted concessions to the organization that even the wealthiest locals don’t receive, requiring special support from top Vietnamese officials. Locals were pressured into signing letters agreeing to the construction of the golf community, which would destroy a historical cemetery and uproot hundreds of acres of farmland. Officials have allowed Eric Trump to break ground a mere 3 months after the first planning documents were created, even though the process typically takes several years. They have not conducted several legal and environmental checks on the planned property, either, raising concerns from local community members. The golf course is expected to take up 2,446 acres and include a variety of courses, residential areas, and parks.

This golf course is just one aspect of a wider money making scheme from the Trump family, unlike that of any First Family in American history. As a New York Times op-ed argues, no other president has profited so directly from the intertwinement of business and politics, or had so many business-related conflicts of interest. While President Trump’s sons are the ones that own the Trump Organization—which is why Trump claims his trade negotiations are not a conflict of interest—personal financial records show he still benefits directly from the organization’s transactions.

These personal ties to the Trump business empire are influencing the way that countries, like Vietnam, interact with the United States. Public statements from Vietnamese officials appear to corroborate such arguments: Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said Eric Trump’s visit “motivated us to expedite this project.” A letter from the central government wrote on May 15 that they should end the planning process early to avoid “missing the window to capitalize on the support of the Donald Trump administration.”

Clearly, Vietnam is one of the countries that has chosen the route of personal diplomacy to attempt and prevent tariffs from being placed on the country. This is in line with their general policy of “bamboo diplomacy,” where Vietnamese officials attempt to be extremely adaptable to foreign pressures. Yet, whether or not such diplomacy will be effective remains in question—one of President Trump’s big issues with Vietnam has been the fact that every 1 in 3 new investments in Vietnam last year came from China, and their cemented influence may prove difficult to ease away, if that’s what Vietnam wants to do. As the last few years—and the trade war with China—have proved China to be a suboptimal manufacturing hub for many American businesses, many have shifted to Vietnam instead. However, tariffs on Vietnam, too, may put these companies, like Nike, Intel, and Apple, in a tough spot.

Extemp Analysis by Lindsey

Q: Can Vietnam successfully avoid Trump’s tariffs?

AGD: I am, unfortunately, very partial to terrible puns—something golf related would work very well here.

B: Briefly explain the tariffs and why Trump wants to implement them (and why they’re paused right now).

I think the way you answer this question depends on how you believe President Trump will react to different policies/actions and what actions Vietnam might/already has taken. If you think Trump is very business-oriented and transactional, you’d probably want to answer yes—then, it's a very straightforward expectation-verification substructure for the speech.

For example:

Tagline: something Vietnam is doing to avoid tariffs

The reason why Trump wants to place tariffs on Vietnam
Why the thing that Vietnam is doing will make Trump less likely to place them, or why it will convince Trump that working with Vietnam is more valuable than punishing them

You could make the new golf course one point in the speech, or if you want to go more in depth on the golf course, you could make three different aspects of the deal individual points.