How Donald Trump’s ‘dream’ Bali golf course flopped and left sacked Indonesian workers reeling
- Many Balinese workers have lost opportunities due to Trump’s 2017 decision to abruptly sideline the redevelopment of the once-thriving Nirwana Golf Resort
- ‘There was no clarity about our future. We heard that we would be re-recruited but it has never happened,’ a former caddie says
Nearly a decade ago, the real estate mogul and future US president signed a deal to license his name to a six-star holiday destination intended to displace the Nirwana Golf Resort, one of the world’s best.
But today, the once-thriving golf course is filled with weeds – another failed project for Trump, whose six casino and hotel bankruptcies spanning two decades have run up billions of dollars in debt and impacted thousands of lives.
“There was no clarity about our future. We heard that we would be re-recruited but it has never happened,” said Ditta Dwi, a 26-year-old former caddie who was forced to take a waitressing job while awaiting a reopening that never came.
The Trump Organization and Indonesian developer MNC Group shut the resort in 2017 and laid off hundreds of workers after partnering to rebrand the Nirwana, which boasts idyllic views of the Indian Ocean.