Donald Trump chose to go to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Qatar for his first official state visit to mingle and generate investment from trillionaire potentates. His entourage included family members who have been doing “landmine” business in the region since his last official state visit in 2016, as well as a clutch of notables from Silicon Valley, including Elon Musk. Trump claims he obtained hundreds of billions in investment commitments for the US, but his trip has been stained because he has accepted a $400-million “flying palace” jumbo jet from Qatar. This is illegal: Presidents cannot accept gifts from foreign entities without the permission of Congress. Trump has responded that only “stupid people” would reject such an offer and claims he won’t own the jet personally, which is questionable. Trump’s grifting is nothing new, but this one’s a whopper and gives new meaning to Mark Twain’s quote that America “has the best government money can buy.”
Even the right-wing New York Post’s editorial board didn’t mince words and stated, “Qatar’s ‘Palace in the Sky’ jet is NOT a ‘free gift’ — and Trump shouldn’t accept it as one.” Gifts from foreign entities are forbidden under The Emoluments Act written into the U.S. Constitution. It requires Congressional consent for gifts to government officials, but that won’t happen here. Worse, in February, Trump and his new Attorney General, Pamela Bondi, also defanged the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), which prohibited American companies from making corrupt payments to foreign officials to gain business. They put the Act on “pause” and reasoned that it would level the playing field for Americans unable to compete against bribe-paying organizations in China and elsewhere. In essence, they have legalized American bribery and corruption, and it can be written off, for tax purposes, as a legitimate expense.
Bondi represents a separate scandal. She signed off on the Justice Department memo stating Qatar’s $400-million jumbo jet transfer was legal because it was a donation, not a gift. (The rationale is that the jet is for Trump’s use during his Presidency, but after he leaves office, it will be “gifted” to his Presidential Library foundation.) Bondi’s involvement is sleazy. A MAGA supporter pointed out that she, a former Florida Attorney General, had been a consultant for more than one year to the Qatari embassy and was paid $115,000 monthly to lobby on behalf of its government.
None of this is surprising because Trump has routinely commingled public and private interests while in office. After his 2016 state visit, his son-in-law Jared Kushner and former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin launched hedge funds and collected billions from the region’s monarchies and businessmen. Today, Eric Trump runs the family real estate empire and has signed massive real estate development deals in all three countries on behalf of Trump Enterprises. In the past year, the company has built towers in Dubai, UAE, and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and will create a luxury golf resort at a state-owned project in Qatar. Eric also runs the family’s crypto empire, and the UAE and Saudi Royal family fund have each invested billions in Trump-related crypto schemes.
Finally, Elon Musk, who is in tow on the state visit, recently received $6 billion from Qatar and the UAE for his privately held XAI Corporation, which works in artificial intelligence, social media, and technology. The City of Dubai, in the UAE, also just awarded Musk’s Boring Company a contract to build an 11-mile tunnel network.
Trump claims the Saudis will invest $600 billion in the US and the UAE $1.4 trillion in the next ten years. (These totals are twice the size of Saudi Arabia’s GDP.) Regarding public policy, he aims to enhance the geo-economic and geopolitical alliance with the Middle East petrostates to impede China and elevate the importance of the Arab states themselves. He intends to change the name of the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Gulf and align with these oil-rich states to help broker a deal in Gaza, stop Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping, and prevent Iran from creating a nuclear arsenal.
Notably, Israel was bypassed on this visit, a rebuke to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose execution of the war in Gaza has alienated the region and also divided Israelis and the West. Trump also suddenly announced he would end sanctions on Syria in concert with the wishes of Saudis and the President of Turkey. A headline in Israel’s Haaretz read that “Trump's moves with the Houthis, Iran, Syria, and Turkey reveal the contours of his new geopolitical map – and reduce Israel into a bystander. The Gaza Strip could be next”.
Meanwhile, back in America, Trump wheels and deals. Amazon just paid $40 million for the rights to stream a future documentary about Melania Trump. Not only was the amount excessive (three times the closest bidder), but the First Lady would personally net 70% of the proceeds. The deal was struck at Mar-A-Lago with Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, whose company is also involved in multiple antitrust lawsuits with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for anti-competitive misdeeds in online superstores and online marketplace services. Meta (Facebook) also agreed to pay $25 million to the nonprofit building and running Mr. Trump’s future presidential museum, where the Qatari jet will eventually be displayed. This “donation” was made to settle a lawsuit by Trump against Facebook for suspending Trump’s account after he posted lies about the 2020 election, which culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Trump has also spent much time at his golf resorts with White House staff and charged taxpayers to defray the cost. During his first term, he also ran the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., where government officials and departments rented event space and rooms. A 2024 report by Democrats alleged that Trump used these hotels and other venues to collect “unconstitutional domestic emoluments, fleecing the taxpayers.” His response has been a so-called ethics plan that requires his companies to give the U.S. government any profits he makes from “foreign government patronage” at his hotels. Democrats claim he ignores this, and now the jet controversy raises the issue of graft.
Americans have a right to be upset with Trump’s “flying palace” kickback. It’s so egregious that it may undo much of the support he has garnered thus far. As one MAGA supporter bluntly stated this week on Newsmax, “This is not a gift from Qatar. It’s a bribe.”
Just brilliant, MAGA faithful, and right on time. You elected a vile, greedy sociopath and convicted felon (and a lifelong evader of convictions for crimes too varied and too numerous to count) and now: SURPRI-IZE, you get this: a government not of the people, by the people and for the people, but one of the grifters, by the grifters and for the grifters. Congratulations. Signed, the huddled masses of the rest of us wondering WTF else we're going to have to learn to live with while our country unravels.
The MAGA corruption circus just keeps on rolling like the proverbial roller coaster rides. Thanks for documenting the current stage of the ride, so we can all take a breath while waiting for the next 'high'. Check the history of any empire and you will not be surprised by today's antics. Lord Acton said it well- "Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely." Apparently schools no longer teach history because it is too boring. Go figure.