Apple News Today
Property, golf, and crypto: the Trump family strikes deals in the Middle East
13 May 2025
President Trump is making the first extended foreign trip of his term in the Middle East. The Wall Street Journal’s Eliot Brown discusses how parts of his personal business empire are also striking deals in the region. USA Today looks at opening statements in the criminal trial for Sean “Diddy” Combs, and the legal arguments expected from the defense and the prosecution. Using batteries for grid-scale energy storage will improve how Americans get their power. Vox’s Umair Irfan tells us about the benefits. Plus, what to know about Republicans’ proposed Medicaid cuts, Trump’s executive order instructing drug companies to lower prices, and the unlikely winner of the NBA draft lottery. Today’s episode was hosted by Shumita Basu.
Full Episode
Good morning. It's Tuesday, May 13th. I'm Shmeeta Basu. This is Apple News Today. On today's show, opening statements made as Sean Combs' trial gets underway, the clean tech that could revolutionize our energy system, and House Republicans propose paring down Medicaid. But first, President Trump is in the Middle East for his first big foreign trip of his second term.
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.
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.
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.
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