Trump chases $68m damages from builders

Donald Trump has sued the developers of a Baja California, Mexico, condominium project he licensed his name to, after buyers named him in lawsuits that accused the builders of taking their deposits without starting construction.

Under the terms of the licence agreement, the developers, Jason Grosfeld and Adam Fisher, were required to protect and defend him from the buyers' claims, Trump said in a complaint filed yesterday in federal court in New York. He seeks US$40 million ($68 million) in damages.

"Defendants, as the developers of the project, were entrusted with ensuring that the project would be constructed and developed in accordance with the buyers' purchase contracts and in keeping with the high standards of luxury, quality, reliability and dependability associated, throughout the world, with the Trump name," Trump said in the complaint.

Trump and the developers were sued in March in state court in Los Angeles by 69 condominium buyers who said they had lost up to US$18 million in deposits for the Trump Ocean Resort Baja.

- BLOOMBERG