Are President Trump's international properties at risk for terror attacks?

Trump Towers in Istanbul, Turkey. AP

President Donald Trump's international properties may be at heightened risk for terrorist attacks. AP. Security experts claim that Trump's properties could be targeted by terrorists or criminal gangs. In addition to terror attacks, there are worries that workers or residents at Trump properties could be kidnapped for ransom or execution. Trump's sons, who now run the business, have secret service cooperation and claim that the business is in contact with local, national and international police and intelligence forces. Trump properties in Istanbul, Turkey, Bali, Indonesia and  Dubai in the UAE are seen as especially vulnerable. 

My Comment:

Honestly, I am more worried about a domestic terror attack then an attack on Trump's foreign properties. The left in America has it's own fair share of crazies and I wouldn't be that surprised if one would walk into one of Trump's properties and opened fire. But the article didn't mention a possible domestic threat at all. The media tends to play down leftist threats in general, so that's no surprise. 

But is this AP report correct? Are Trump's properties at special risk? Possibly. I think it depends on which terror organization is doing the attack. ISIS doesn't seem to have much rhyme or reason in what targets they choose to attack and seem much more interested in doing whatever works instead of the huge symbolic strikes that have a high chance of failure. They have done targeted attacks in the past, but for the most part they are too pragmatic to target the obvious places. Core ISIS might try and pull off this kind of attack, but they seem less interested in targeting our president then they are in targeting Europeans. 

Lone wolf attackers could be a different story. They are a lot less predictable in which targets they attack. Indeed, I am kinda of worried that the AP report could encourage a lone wolf attacker to attempt an attack on Trump properties. That doesn't mean that they shouldn't have written the article, but I still worry about it and about this post itself. 

Al-Qaeda is a different story. They have long tried to pull off spectacular attacks on prominent targets and have carried out targeted attacks, like the Charlie Hebdo massacre. The good news there is these attacks often fail horribly and al-Qaeda is just a shell of what they used to be. They haven't done much of note since the Charlie Hebdo attack though if an attack were to happen, it would fit their M.O. 

As for the kidnapping threat, I don't know why Trump employees would be at any higher risk then anyone other person that works in a western business. Or any westerner in a country that has a large Muslim population. The fact of the matter is that anyone who works for a western company is in danger in these countries no matter what. Just because Trump used to own the business doesn't mean they are in danger more than any other group of people.

If the unthinkable happens and Trump's employee's or properties get attacked how will he react? I think he would take it a little more personally than he would if it was just a typical terror attack. Still, the response would probably be the same. Everything I know about Trump tells me that he would respond to an attack using whatever measures available. That doesn't change if it is his properties or his former employee's.  

The real question is what happens if the terrorists target his family. Trump's sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. control the business now and could be attacked by terror groups. If that happens then all bets are off. Even Donald Trump's detractors admit that he loves his children and if they come under attack or, even worse, get hurt or killed, then I am guessing there will be hell to pay. To be honest I wouldn't blame Donald Trump one bit... 

Out of Trump's properties I think the Istanbul towers are the most vulnerable. Turkey is a basket case right now and have multiple insurgencies going on. Not only are they facing regular ISIS attacks, they are also involved in a civil war with their Kurdish minority. Though I doubt that the Kurds would have reason to attack but ISIS sure does. And the security situation in Turkey is pretty horrible. If an attack happens it probably will be there...