A skyscraper, a six-tower district, and a launch event timed to coincide with Georgian Dream's long campaign for warmer ties with the Trump administration — even as Washington has kept its distance.
Tbilisi got its official look this week at Trump Tower Tbilisi, a $2 billion, 600,000-square-metre development that Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze and other officials presented as the biggest single investment the city has seen.
Eric Trump, joining remotely as executive vice president of the Trump Organization, told the launch event he intended to return to Georgia often enough to “become a nuisance.” Behind the ceremony, though, sits a more complicated backdrop: a Georgian government that has spent the past two years trying, largely without success, to repair relations with Washington.
The centrepiece is a tower the government's presentation put at 280 metres and 62 storeys, though earlier project materials from the Trump Organization and its partners have described a roughly 70-storey structure — the kind of variation common at this early stage, before final designs are locked in.
Either way, it's being pitched as the tallest building in the South Caucasus, sitting alongside a renovated Central Park in the capital. Designed by the architecture firm Gensler, the tower is scheduled for completion in 2031, with the wider six-tower district following by 2033.
Meni Benish, the Georgian-born Israeli developer whose Archi Group is one of the partners, has said the apartments will be marketed chiefly to buyers who won't actually live in them full-time: diplomats, business travellers and investors, with dedicated sales pushes already under way in Israel and Dubai.
He's been candid that few Georgians are expected to buy in, framing the tower instead as an investment vehicle for people who want a foothold in the city rather than a home in it.
Kobakhidze described the project as going “beyond the scope of mere urban construction,” pointing to thousands of construction jobs and multi-year contracts for Georgian builders. He also used the platform to make a broader economic argument, telling the audience that Georgia's economy has grown roughly two-and-a-half-fold in dollar terms over the past five years — the kind of growth, he argued, that makes a project of this scale possible now when it wouldn't have been five years ago.
Economy Minister Mariam Kvrivishvili struck a similar note, saying the project would bring new jobs, international standards and closer cooperation between Georgian and foreign companies.
Eric Trump's own remarks were shorter and more personal, praising the government's economic results and citing a claimed 10 per cent annual GDP growth figure.
The project comes as relations between Georgia's government and Western countries have deteriorated since late 2024.
The ruling Georgian Dream party suspended talks on joining the European Union in November 2024, prompting weeks of protests. The October 2024 parliamentary election, which returned Georgian Dream to power, was criticised by international observers, who reported concerns including vote-buying, pressure on voters and intimidation.
The U.S. Treasury subsequently imposed sanctions on several Georgian officials. The UK and EU have also introduced sanctions and visa restrictions targeting Georgian officials.
In Washington, the MEGOBARI Act, which has been passed by the U.S. House of Representatives but has not become law, would provide for additional sanctions and increased scrutiny of Russian and Chinese influence in Georgia.
Georgian Dream had sought closer ties with the Trump administration after Donald Trump returned to the White House. But relations between Washington and Tbilisi have remained strained. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has criticised the Georgian government's policies, while Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili has declined to meet the U.S. ambassador to Georgia.
The Trump Tower Tbilisi project is being developed outside formal government-to-government channels. It involves the Trump Organization, the Sapir Organization and four Georgian companies: Archi Group, Biograpi Living, Blox Group and Finvest Georgia. Donald Trump Jr. has publicly promoted the project.
The development would not be the first proposed Trump-branded project in Georgia. A Trump Organization tower announced for the Black Sea city of Batumi was never completed.
Trump Tower Tbilisi is currently at the announcement and development stage. The project partners have released renderings and announced plans for completion, but construction and the eventual outcome of the development remain to be seen.
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