US Senate rejects bids to block arms sales to Qatar, UAE
WASHINGTON: The U.S. Senate on Wednesday blocked resolutions that would have halted more than $3 billion in military sales to the governments of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
The Senate voted 56-39 against considering legislation that would have blocked the $1.9 billion sale of armed drones and associated equipment to Qatar. The vote was largely along party lines, with Trump's fellow Republicans opposing the effort to stop the sale and most Democrats backing it.
The 100-member chamber later voted by the same 56 to 39 margin against an effort to block a $1.6 billion sale to the UAE of helicopters and other equipment.
Backers of the resolutions of disapproval said they opposed the sales for reasons including Qatar's offer of a luxury jet as a gift to Trump and an agreement for a firm backed by the Emiratis to use a stablecoin launched by Trump's World Liberty Financial crypto venture.
Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, a lead sponsor of the resolutions, called the agreements a corruption of U.S. foreign policy.
The embassies of Qatar and the UAE did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Senator Jim Risch, the Idaho Republican who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, described both countries as reliable partners to the U.S. and dismissed the resolutions as partisan politics.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Free Malaysia Today
an hour ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Iran says new round of US talks planned for Sunday
Iran's uranium enrichment reached 60%, violating the 2015 deal's terms and edging closer to the 90% level required for nuclear arms. (AP pic) TEHRAN : Iran's foreign ministry has said a new round of nuclear talks with the US is being planned for Sunday, after President Donald Trump said it was expected on Thursday. 'The next round of Iran-US indirect talks is being planned for next Sunday in Muscat,' foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said in a statement Tuesday, adding foreign minister and chief negotiator Abbas Araghchi would this week attend the Norway's Oslo Forum, a gathering of conflict mediators. Iran and the US have held five rounds of talks since April to thrash out a new nuclear deal to replace the 2015 accord with major powers that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018. On May 31, after the fifth round of talks, Iran said it had received 'elements' of a US proposal for a nuclear deal, with Araghchi later saying the text contained 'ambiguities'. Iran said on Monday the US proposal was 'lacking elements' reflective of the previous negotiations and that it would present a 'reasonable, logical and balanced' counter-proposal to the US through mediator Oman. Trump has said new US-Iran talks this week could clarify if a nuclear deal is possible to avoid military action. He added that the latest meeting with Iran was expected Thursday, although a source familiar with preparations said it would more likely be on Friday or Saturday. Iran and the US have recently been locked in a diplomatic standoff over Iran's uranium enrichment, with Tehran defending it as a 'non-negotiable' right and Washington calling it as a 'red line'. Iran currently enriches uranium to 60%, far above the 3.67% limit set in the 2015 deal and close though still short of the 90% needed for a nuclear warhead. Western countries, including the US, have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire atomic weapons, while Tehran insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes.
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Trump warming up to contacts with Kim: White House
US President Donald Trump would welcome communications with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un after having had friendly relations with Kim during his first term, the White House said. 'The president remains receptive to correspondence with Kim Jong-un,' White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Wednesday. She was responding to a report by Seoul-based NK News, a website that monitors North Korea, that the North's delegation at the United Nations in New York had repeatedly refused to accept a letter from Trump to Kim. Trump and Kim held three summits during Trump's 2017-2021 first term and exchanged a number of what Trump called 'beautiful' letters. In June 2019, Trump briefly stepped into North Korea from the demilitarised zone with South Korea. Little progress was made, however, at reining in North Korea's nuclear programme. Trump acknowledged in March that Pyongyang is a 'nuclear power'. Since Trump's first-term summitry with Kim ended, North Korea has shown no interest in returning to talks. The attempts at rapprochement come after the election in South Korea of a new president, Lee Jae-myung, who has pledged to reopen dialogue with North Korea. As a gesture of engagement on Wednesday, Lee suspended South Korean loudspeakers blasting music and messages into the North at the Demilitarised Zone along their shared border. Analysts say, however, that engaging North Korea will likely be more difficult for both Lee and Trump than it was in the US president's first term. — Reuters
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Manhandling of US senator ups California tensions with Trump admin
LOS ANGELES, UNITED STATES: California's stand-off with President Donald Trump's administration ratcheted up Thursday, after a sitting US senator was handcuffed and forcibly removed from a press conference on immigration raids that have spurred days of protests. The shocking incident, which came after the Republican president sent troops into Los Angeles over the objections of local and state officials, was swiftly slammed by furious Democrats who said it 'reeks of totalitarianism.' Video footage shows Senator Alex Padilla, a Democrat, being pushed from the room at a federal building in Los Angeles as he tried to ask Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem about the raids. 'I'm Senator Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary,' he said as two men grappled with him in front of journalists, including from AFP. Footage filmed by Padilla's staff outside the room shows the senator being pushed to the ground and handcuffed. Democratic-led California is currently embroiled in battles with the White House on several fronts, with Governor Gavin Newsom branding Trump 'dictatorial' as his lawyers prepared to face off with the administration over the deployment of 4,700 troops to the city. 'If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question... you can only imagine what they're doing to farm workers, to cooks, to day laborers out in the Los Angeles community,' Padilla told reporters later at a press conference. The incident 'reeks of totalitarianism,' Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said, calling for an investigation. 'Trump and his shock troops are out of control,' Newsom posted on social media, while Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called the incident 'abhorrent.' The White House hit back, claiming it was a 'theater-kid stunt' and claiming without evidence that Padilla 'lunged toward Secretary Noem.' Noem slammed Padilla's interruption as 'inappropriate.' A Homeland Security spokesman said she later met with the senator for 15 minutes. Noem was addressing reporters after almost a week of protests in Los Angeles ignited by the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. The mostly-peaceful demonstrations have been marred by some eye-catching violence, with cars torched and rocks thrown at police officers. Trump, who has repeatedly exaggerated the scale of the unrest, deployed 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 US Marines. Critics have accused him of a power grab and a judge was set to review the deployments' legality. Trump took credit Thursday for making Los Angeles 'safe and sound.' Anger at Trump's crackdown and the use of masked, armed immigration agents, backed by uniformed soldiers, is spreading to other cities. Nationwide protests were planned for Saturday. - 'Fear and terror' - A federal judge in San Francisco was set to hear arguments on whether use of the troops is constitutional, with Newsom alleging the president 'is creating fear and terror.' Trump on Thursday said Newsom -- seen as a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028 -- had 'totally lost control of the situation' and should thank him for 'saving his ass.' California also sued Trump's administration Thursday over his move to scrap the state's tailpipe emission rules and its drive to phase out gas-powered cars. Trump was elected last year after campaigning on a promise to launch historic mass deportations. But with his mounting crackdown rippling through industries heavily reliant on immigrant labor -- such as farming, construction and hospitality -- Trump said he had heard employers' complaints and hinted at a forthcoming policy shift. 'We're going to have an order on that pretty soon, I think. We can't do that to our farmers -- and leisure too, hotels,' he said. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke up Thursday, saying she had told a visiting US official that 'we didn't agree with the use of raids to detain people working honestly in the United States.' Protests also took place in Spokane, Seattle, Tucson, Las Vegas, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Milwaukee, Chicago, Atlanta, and Boston, according to US media. A nationwide 'No Kings' movement was expected on Saturday, the same day Trump attends a highly unusual military parade in the US capital. The parade, featuring warplanes and tanks, has been organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the US Army but also happens to be on the day of Trump's 79th birthday.
