[**Brittney Levinson**](https://www.afr.com/by/brittney-levinson-p538fw)*Queensland reporter*

Updated May 12, 2026 – 9.30pm,first published at 8.43pm

# Plans for a Trump tower on the Gold Coast have been axed less than three months after the Trump Organisation signed a deal to bring its hotel brand to Australia.

A spokeswoman for the Trump Organisation confirmed that plans for a [285-room luxury hotel](https://www.afr.com/property/commercial/deal-done-for-trump-tower-on-gold-coast-to-be-australia-s-tallest-20260223-p5o4ob)would not go ahead due to its Australian partner – previously little-known developer Altus Property Group – not meeting obligations.

Queensland developer David Young’s bold plans to build Australia’s first Trump tower have been scrapped. Bethany Rae

“While we were very excited about the opportunity to bring a world-class development to the Gold Coast, the project was dependent on our licensing partner meeting certain obligations. Unfortunately, those obligations were not fulfilled,” she said.

“We look forward to exploring other potential projects and bringing a Trump property to Australia soon.”

Altus Property Group chief executive David Young vowed the project would go ahead even without the Trump name attached. He denied that the project’s collapse was about unmet obligations.

“Let’s just say that with the Iran war and everything else, the Trump brand was increasingly toxic in Australia,” Young said.

“Some time ago, we knew it was time to part company. It wasn’t about not meeting obligations.

“There are other luxury brand options for us. The project is live.”

Young had become quiet since revealing his plan to build [the tower in February](https://www.afr.com/property/commercial/deal-done-for-trump-tower-on-gold-coast-to-be-australia-s-tallest-20260223-p5o4ob).

Young travelled to US President Donald Trump’s resort club Mar-a-Lago and was pictured shaking hands with Trump’s son Eric upon signing the hotel management deal.

It later emerged that Young had a[ tumultuous business history](https://www.afr.com/property/commercial/developer-faced-bankruptcy-and-hacking-charges-before-trump-tower-plans-20260226-p5o5nk) that included two bankruptcies and hacking charges in the late 1990s.

Months after the project was first announced, Young had still not formalised the purchase of the block of land at 3 Trickett Street, Surfers Paradise, where the 89-storey tower would supposedly be built.

Sources told *The Australian Financial Review* that Young had been urgently seeking funding for settlement in late March.

# Petition receives more than 124,000 signatures

A petition to stop the Trump tower from being built on the Gold Coast, led by political activist group GetUp, had recently gained momentum and has received more than 124,000 signatures.

Last week, protesters attempted to deliver the petition to Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate, who had previously been supportive of the project and had also travelled to Mar-a-Lago in February.

Until his Trump tower announcement, little was known of Young and his company Altus, which had previously focused on subdivisions and housing estates.

When asked to detail previous properties he had developed or overseen, Young told the *Financial Review* in March it was a long list and some could not be named due to non-disclosure agreements.

“They cover subdivisions, master-planned communities, townhouses, unit complexes and terrace homes,” Young said. He said questions over whether he had experience in building high-rise towers were “not relevant”.

The developer said he had worked hard since 1985 across hospitality and property, and he had many entities as a result. He said Altus was a relatively new vehicle, which he sensed had drawn market scepticism.

“However, I have always been a sole operator, only now having to ‘poke my head above the parapet’, so it’s no surprise most people have never heard of me,” Young said.

Trump abandons plan for Gold Coast tower