None of the construction work to build or renovate structures at the Indonesian resorts has even begun, but Mr. Trump has forged relationships with powerful political figures in Indonesia, where such connections are crucial to pushing through big projects.
That tangle of relationships includes an Indonesian business partner who aspires to high office; a powerful politician accused of trying to extort billions of dollars from an American mining company; as well as Mr. Trump’s adviser on regulatory issues, Carl C. Icahn, who is a top shareholder in the same mining company.
The resort projects, which a Trump spokeswoman said this past week were “binding contracts,” have created a gray area of conflicting interests that could be hard to separate from an array of issues facing the United States and Indonesia, including trade and contested claims over the South China Sea.
Mr. Trump’s local partner on the resorts, Hary Tanoesoedibjo, is a billionaire media mogul with his own political ambitions.
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