A major Trump Organization golf course and luxury development in northern Vietnam is facing delays and local backlash as villagers are being asked to move family graves from land marked for the project.
The planned development, valued at roughly $1.5 billion, is set to include a golf course, five-star hotels and luxury villas in Hung Yen province, less than an hour from Hanoi.
The project is being developed by the Trump Organization and local Vietnamese partners.
But in the Chau Ninh commune, residents say the project has forced families to exhume relatives from a small cemetery surrounded by farms and fruit plantations.
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Some tombstones have reportedly been marked to show bodies have already been moved, while other families are refusing to agree to exhumations.
For many villagers, the issue is not only financial but spiritual.
In Vietnam, ancestral graves carry deep cultural and religious meaning, and disturbing them is often seen as painful and disrespectful.
Residents say they are not necessarily opposed to development, but they want fair compensation and more transparency from local officials.
The land dispute is delaying the first phase of the nearly 990-hectare project.
Under Vietnam’s land system, land is officially owned by the people and managed by the state, meaning the government handles land acquisition before handing sites over to investors.
State media previously reported that compensation and resettlement plans had been approved for only part of the land needed for the first phase.
More than 4,000 households are expected to be affected.
Some residents say the compensation offered for farmland is below market value, despite the area being known for fertile soil and productive farms.
Local farmers argue the land has supported their families for generations and helped them build homes, educate children and maintain livelihoods.
The project has also taken on diplomatic significance.
Vietnamese officials have described the development as important for strengthening U.S.-Vietnam relations and attracting American investment.
The groundbreaking ceremony took place in May 2025, shortly after Trump’s tariff threats against Vietnam, leading some observers to view the project as part of Hanoi’s effort to improve relations with Washington.
Vietnam is heavily dependent on exports to the United States, and its trade surplus with America has grown as companies moved some manufacturing out of China.
The Trump Organization typically licenses its brand to foreign developments rather than directly paying construction costs.
A subsidiary of Vietnam’s Kinh Bac City reportedly paid $5 million in licensing fees to the Trump Organization, according to financial disclosures.
The local partner, Kinh Bac City, is best known as an industrial park developer.
A banner at the site also named Lung Lo Construction Corp., an infrastructure company owned by Vietnam’s defense ministry.
Residents say construction has not fully begun, though some machinery has appeared near the planned site.
For supporters, the project could bring jobs, tourism and foreign investment.
For critics and affected residents, it has become a symbol of how large development projects can collide with local land rights, ancestral traditions and rural livelihoods.
The dispute now leaves Vietnam balancing two priorities: keeping a politically important foreign investment project moving while addressing the anger of villagers who say they are being asked to give up land, farms and family graves for too little in return.
Why It Matters
The project is more than a golf course. It has become a symbol of U.S.-Vietnam business ties under Trump, while also exposing tensions over land rights, compensation and cultural respect for ancestral graves in Vietnam.
What Comes Next
Vietnamese officials are expected to keep pushing land clearance so the project can move forward. But delays may continue if residents refuse compensation offers or resist moving family graves from the cemetery.
Farmers in northern Vietnam are moving family graves as land is cleared for a $1.5 billion Trump Organization golf course and luxury development.
Farmers in northern Vietnam are dismantling a decades-old cemetery to make way for a $1.5bn golf course and luxury residential development by the Trump Organization and its local partners, a project seen as crucial for ties between Hanoi and Washington. https://t.co/7wqiWdxjET pic.twitter.com/CCzWpAyUSm
— Financial Times (@FT) May 29, 2026
