logo
Trump's Middle East visit comes as his family deepens its business, crypto ties in the region

Trump's Middle East visit comes as his family deepens its business, crypto ties in the region

Independent14-05-2025

It's not just the 'gesture' of a $400 million luxury plane that President Donald Trump says he's smart to accept from Qatar. Or that he effectively auctioned off the first destination on his first major foreign trip, heading to Saudi Arabia because the kingdom was ready to make big investments in U.S. companies.
It's not even that the Trump family has fast-growing business ties in the Middle East, ones that run deep and offer the potential of vast profits.
Instead, it's the idea that the combination of these things and more — deals that show the close ties between a family whose patriarch oversees the U.S. government and a region whose leaders are fond of currying favor through money and lavish gifts — could cause the United States to show preferential treatment to Middle Eastern leaders when it comes to American affairs of state.
Before Trump began this week's visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, his sons Eric and Donald Jr. had already traveled the Middle East extensively in recent weeks. They were drumming up business for The Trump Organization, which they are running in their father's stead while he's in the White House.
Their travels included Eric Trump announcing plans for a glitzy, 80-story Trump Tower in Dubai, the UAE's largest city. He also attended a recent cryptocurrency conference there with Zach Witkoff, a founder of the Trump family crypto firm, World Liberty Financial, and son of Trump's do-everything envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff.
'We are proud to expand our presence in the region,' Eric Trump said last month in announcing that Trump Tower Dubai was set to start construction this fall.
The presidential visit to the region as his children work the same part of the world for the family's money-making opportunities puts a spotlight on Trump's willingness to embrace foreign dealmaking as president — even in the face of mounting concerns that doing so could tempt him to shape U.S. foreign policy in ways that benefit his family's bottom line.
Nowhere is the potential overlap more prevalent than in the Middle East
The Trump family's business interests in the region include a new deal to build a luxury golf resort in Qatar, partnering with Qatari Diar, a real estate company backed by that country's sovereign wealth fund. The family is also leasing its brand to two new real estate projects in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia's capital, in partnership with Dar Global, a London-based luxury real estate developer and subsidiary of private Saudi real estate firm Al Arkan.
The Trump Organization has similarly partnered with Dar Global on a Trump Tower set to be built in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and an upcoming Trump International Hotel and luxury golf development in neighboring Oman.
During the crypto conference, meanwhile, a state-backed investment company in Abu Dhabi announced it had chosen USD, World Liberty Financial's stablecoin, to back a $2 billion investment in Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange. Critics say that allows Trump family-aligned interests to essentially take a cut of each dollar invested.
Then there's the Saudi government-backed LIV Golf, which has forged close business relationships with the president and hosted tournaments at Trump's Doral resort in South Florida.
'Given the extensive ties between LIV Golf and the PIF, or between Trump enterprises more generally and the Gulf, I'd say there's a pretty glaring conflict of interest here," said Jon Hoffman, a research fellow in defense and foreign policy at the libertarian think tank the Cato Institute. He was referring to Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, which has invested heavily in everything from global sports giants to video game maker Nintendo with the aim of diversifying the kingdom's economy beyond oil.
Trump further announced in January a $20 billion investment for U.S. data centers promised by DAMAC Properties, an Emirati company led by billionaire Dubai developer Hussain Sajwani. Trump bills that as benefiting the country's technological and economic standing rather than his family business. But Sajwani was a close business partner of Trump and his family since long before the 2016 election.
White House bristles at conflict of interest concerns
Asked before he left for the Middle East if Trump might use the trip to meet with people tied to his family's business, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said it was 'ridiculous' to 'suggest that President Trump is doing anything for his own benefit.'
'The president is abiding by all conflict of interest laws,' she said.
Administration officials have similarly brushed off such concerns about the president's policy decisions bleeding into the business interests of his family by noting that Trump's assets are in a trust managed by his children. A voluntary ethics agreement released by the Trump Organization also bars the firm from striking deals directly with foreign governments.
But that same agreement still allows deals with private companies abroad — a key departure from Trump's first term, when the organization released an ethics pact prohibiting deals with both foreign governments and foreign companies.
The president, according to the second-term ethics agreement, isn't involved in any day-to-day decision-making for the family business. But his political and corporate brands remain inextricably linked.
'The president is a successful businessman,' Leavitt said, "and I think, frankly, that it's one of the many reasons that people reelected him back to this office.'
Timothy P. Carney, senior fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said he doesn't want to see U.S. foreign policy being affected by Trump's feelings about how other countries have treated his family's business.
'Even if he's not running the company, he profits when the company does well,' Carney said. 'When he leaves the White House, the company is worth more, his personal wealth goes up.'
Promises of US investment shaped Trump's trip
His family business aside, the president wasn't shy about saying he'd shape the itinerary of his first extended overseas trip on quid pro quo.
Trump's first stop on this week's trip was Saudi Arabia, just as during his first term. He picked the destination after he said the kingdom had pledged to spend $1 trillion on U.S. companies over four years. The White House has since announced that the actual figure is $600 billion, and how much of that will actually be new investment — or come to fruition — remains to be seen.
The president is also stopping in the United Arab Emirates, which has pledged $1.4 trillion in U.S. investments over the next 10 years, and in Qatar, where Trump says accepting the gift of a Boeing 747 from the ruling family is a no-brainer, dismissing security and ethical concerns raised by Democrats and even some conservatives.
Trump's Middle East business ties predate his presidencies
Trump's first commercial foray in the Middle East came in 2005, during just his second year of starring on 'The Apprentice.' A Trump Tower Dubai project was envisioned as a tulip-shaped hotel to be perched on the city's manmade island shaped like a palm tree.
It never materialized.
Instead, February 2017 saw the announced opening of Trump International Golf Club Dubai, with Sajwani's DAMAC Properties. Just a month earlier, Trump had said that Sajwani had tried to make a $2 billion deal with him, 'And I turned it down."
'I didn't have to turn it down, because as you know, I have a no-conflict situation because I'm president,' Trump said then.
This January, there was a beaming Sajwani standing triumphantly by Trump's side at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, to announce DAMAC's investment in U.S. data centers.
'It's been amazing news for me and my family when he was elected in November,' Sajwani said. 'For the last four years, we've been waiting for this moment.'

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Watch: Donald Trump ignores Britain as he claims the US ‘won World War II'
Watch: Donald Trump ignores Britain as he claims the US ‘won World War II'

The Independent

time35 minutes ago

  • The Independent

Watch: Donald Trump ignores Britain as he claims the US ‘won World War II'

President Donald Trump ignored Britain's contribution as he claimed the United States 'won World War II.' While responding to a question about his military parade on Flag Day, he began recounting conversations he'd had with various world leaders celebrating VE Day. He gave some credit to Russia, claiming they lost '51 million people ' - most estimates put it at between 22 and 25 million people - and repeated his false claim that Adolf Hitler gave a speech at he Eiffel Tower while minimising the French effort. But there was no mention of Britain's contribution - despite Trump having a bust of wartime leader Winston Churchill in the Oval Office.

DC prepares for Trump's military parade with 18 miles of fencing and 175 magnetometers
DC prepares for Trump's military parade with 18 miles of fencing and 175 magnetometers

The Independent

time35 minutes ago

  • The Independent

DC prepares for Trump's military parade with 18 miles of fencing and 175 magnetometers

As the nation's capital cleans up from the culmination of World Pride this past weekend, focus now shifts to a very different massive event — Saturday's military parade to honor the 250th birthday of the Army and the 79th birthday of President Donald Trump. 'We're preparing for an enormous turnout,' said Matt McCool of the Secret Service 's Washington Field office, who said more than 18 miles of 'anti-scale fencing' would be erected and 'multiple drones' would be in the air. The entire District of Columbia is normally a no-fly zone for drones. Army officials have estimated around 200,000 attendees for the evening military parade, and McCool said he was prepared for "hundreds of thousands" of people. 'We have a ton of magnetometers,' he said. 'If a million people show up, then we're going to have some lines.' A total of 175 magnetometers would be used at security checkpoints controlling access to the daytime birthday festival and the nighttime parade. Metropolitan Police Department chief Pamela Smith predicted 'major impacts to traffic' and advised attendees to arrive early and consider forgoing cars for the Metro. 'This is a significant event with a large footprint,' she said. 'We're relying on the public to be an extra set of ears and eyes for us.' The military parade has been designated a National Special Security Event — similar to a presidential inauguration or state funeral. That status is reserved for events that draw large crowds and potential mass protests. It calls for an enhanced degree of high-level coordination among D.C. officials, the FBI, Capitol Police and Washington's National Guard contingent — with the Secret Service taking the lead. The Army birthday celebration had already been planned for months. But earlier this spring, Trump announced his intention to transform the event — which coincides with his 79th birthday — into a massive military parade complete with 60-ton M1 Abrams battle tanks and Paladin self-propelled howitzers rolling through the city streets. Multiple counter-protests of varying sizes are planned for Saturday, with the largest being a mass march to the White House dubbed the No Kings rally. Officials say they are also on alert for signs that the immigration-related clashes between law enforcement and protesters currently roiling Los Angeles would spread. 'We're paying attention, obviously, to what is happening there. We'll be ready,' McCool said. 'We have a robust plan for civil disobedience.' Agent Phillip Bates of the FBI's Washington Field office, which is tasked with counterterrorism and crisis management, said there were 'no credible threats' to the event at the moment. Lindsey Appiah, the deputy mayor for public safety, told The Associated Press last week that the city had longstanding plans for the Army birthday celebration. But those plans 'got a lot bigger on short notice' when Trump got involved. Still, Appiah said the city has grown 'very flexible, very nimble' at rolling with these sort of changes. ____

Trump wants to shrink the cap on Pell Grants. It could have a major impact on paying for college
Trump wants to shrink the cap on Pell Grants. It could have a major impact on paying for college

The Independent

timean hour ago

  • The Independent

Trump wants to shrink the cap on Pell Grants. It could have a major impact on paying for college

Donald Trump is asking Congress to slash federal financial aid for low-income students as he works to offset the expected multi-trillion-dollar cost of his flagship tax cuts. In its annual budget request for 2026, the Department of Education proposed reducing the maximum payout of Pell Grants by 22 percent, from $7,395 to $5,710. Meanwhile, more stringent college credit requirements proposed in Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill' would reportedly affect more than half of all Pell Grant recipients and deny access completely for around 10 percent. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the Bill in its current form would add roughly $2.4tn to the U.S. government deficit between now and 2036 — largely due to extending Trump's 2017 tax cuts, which were skewed towards the richest Americans. The White House has pushed back on that figure, claiming that merely renewing previous tax cuts should not be counted as an extra hit to the deficit. Who receives Pell Grants? A Pell Grant is a permanent financial award for first-time undergraduate students with few monetary resources, established in 1965 by the Higher Education Act. Unlike student loans, they never need to be repaid. While Pell Grants by themselves rarely pay for a full undergraduate degree, they can be supplemented by other programs and form a key part of low-income students' overall aid package. Nearly 40 percent of undergraduate students received Pell Grants in the 2019-20 academic year, according to the Department of Education. Of those recipients, at least 20 percent are estimated to attend community college. Who would Trump's cuts affect? Technically, the DoE's new budget request merely keeps Pell Grant funding at the same level as it was in 2024 and 2025. But because the number of people seeking grants has risen since then, that would mean cutting the maximum award to $5,710. Mark Kantrowitz, an independent higher education expert, told CNBC the change would add about $6,500 on average to the debt burden of Pell Grant recipients who earn bachelor's degrees. The DoE is also proposing to cut its federal work-study program, which helps eligible low-income students keep and maintain part-time jobs by subsidizing their wages. Instead of covering up to 75 percent, the government would now pay only 25 percent. Separate provisions in the so-called 'Big Beautiful Bill' would reportedly increase the number of course credits required to get the maximum Pell Grant from 12 per semester to 15 for part time students and from 24 to 30 for full time students, as well as cutting off less than half-time students completely. According to the Budget Office, that would reduce grants for more than half of Pell recipients and render about 10 percent of current recipients entirely ineligible. Unlike Trump's budget request, the Bill also proposes additional funding for Pell Grants overall, so it's not clear how these two sets of provisions would combine.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store