Property, golf, and crypto: the Trump family strikes deals in the Middle East
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What is President Trump's itinerary and goals in the Middle East?
He's in Saudi Arabia today and plans to visit Qatar and the United Arab Emirates as well. His itinerary largely focuses on potential economic deals with the U.S. He's attending an investment forum in Saudi Arabia today. Its government has promised to invest $600 billion in the U.S. over the next four years, though the kingdom's large budget deficit will make that a hard promise to deliver on. The UAE has pledged to spend $1.4 trillion in the U.S. over the next decade, and Qatar recently offered a gift that could be the most expensive in modern history, a $400 million luxury jet that Trump is reportedly considering to use as Air Force One, and continue using even after he leaves office by transferring the plane to his presidential library.
But while the president looks for deals to secure for the U.S., his family has been busy deepening their personal business ties with the region. And as Wall Street Journal reporter Elliot Brown told us, doing so while Trump is in office and seeking concessions from these same countries seems to blur the line between policy and personal interest.
How is the Trump family involved in business deals in the Middle East?
The Trump organization, his real estate and hotel and branding company, they said they wouldn't do foreign deals of any sort in the first term. For the second term, they've limited that to deals directly with foreign governments.
That pivot has led to arrangements Brown described as ethically squishy.
What are the ethical concerns regarding the Trump family's foreign business ties?
Particularly the UAE and Qatar have done a surprising number of deals with the president's family, with his close associates, with his son-in-law.
Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, secured more than $3.5 billion worth of sovereign or royal funds from both countries, plus Saudi Arabia, for a private equity fund that he runs. The Trump Organization recently announced plans to develop a major new residential complex in Dubai. An Abu Dhabi investment firm announced plans last week to contribute $2 billion to the Trump family's cryptocurrency company. And Eric Trump, the president's son, recently signed a deal to develop a golf course in Doha.
They are building a hotel with a private developer, but the private developer struck a deal with a Qatari state fund. And so then you have Eric Trump alongside a Qatari minister launching it publicly. So basically any one of these large number of things noted in our article would have been a scandal in most other administrations, if not every other administration.
The White House has said it's ridiculous to suggest the president is doing anything for his personal benefit. And earlier this year, the Trump Organization instituted a new ethics plan where the company says it will continue to donate any profit from foreign government patronage to the U.S. government. But government accountability groups, Democrats and others, say they're concerned about conflicts of interest and how foreign governments could potentially use business deals like these to influence U.S. policy.
What potential influence do Middle Eastern countries seek from the U.S. through business deals?
The sort of view of analysts and former diplomats is this can be another way of sort of pressuring the president to get what they want. And every country has something they want out of the U.S. The UAE, for instance, is really going big right now in pushing for an AI deal.
chips that are designed in the U.S. Saudi Arabia is reportedly interested, too. In fact, that's expected to be a major topic of conversation during today's investment forum.
What is the significance of the investment forum in Saudi Arabia?
If a deal is reached, it would mark another departure from the Biden administration, which had rejected striking similar AI chip deals over concerns that they could help give these countries with strong ties to China an edge over the U.S. in future AI developments. particularly for military and surveillance applications.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is President Trump's itinerary and goals in the Middle East?
0:39–1:48
2
How is the Trump family involved in business deals in the Middle East?
1:48–2:09
3
What are the ethical concerns regarding the Trump family's foreign business ties?
2:09–3:41
4
What potential influence do Middle Eastern countries seek from the U.S. through business deals?
3:41–4:12
5
What is the significance of the investment forum in Saudi Arabia?
4:12–5:35
6
What are the details and stakes of Sean Combs' criminal trial?
5:35–8:19
7
What legal arguments are expected in Sean Combs' trial under the RICO Act?
8:19–13:00
Speakers
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