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Al-Ahram Weekly
21-05-2025
- Business
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Trump's Gulf dealmaking tour - World - Al-Ahram Weekly
When US President Donald Trump kicked off his Gulf tour in Saudi Arabia last week, he promised that his trip to the Kingdom and two other wealthy Gulf states would herald an optimistic future for the Middle East. On his arrival in the Gulf not only did Trump hail the 'gleaming marvels' of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE, but he also showered their leaders with praise, describing them as 'incredible' and 'outstanding' men of 'vision.' In return, Trump not only received a lavish welcome in each of the wealthy countries, but also and more importantly he received pledges of business investment deals that will give him a big boost in his hunt for $2 trillion and a tremendous win to tout back home. Yet, on each stop of his 'historic' tour serious questions were also raised as to how much Trump's charm offensive in the Gulf will contribute to establishing stability in the Middle East, which is reeling under multiple conflicts. In a world of bloody confrontations, every Middle East watcher has long learned that what really matters is geopolitics, not dealmaking, not attentive hosts, and certainly not rhetoric. During his profit-making Gulf tour Trump may have succeeded in reimagining alliances on the world stage and shed his 'Make America Great Again' (MAGA) isolationism at home, but whether what he has come away with is a geopolitical game-changer remains in doubt. The trip has yielded, Trump claims, more than $2 trillion in pledges, including Saudi Arabia's commitment to investing $600 billion in the US, Qatar's agreement to buy up to 210 US-made Boeing planes at a cost of $96 billion, and a partnership with the UAE that will bring in billions worth of deals with the US. These deals could be good for business and economic investments in the United States, but many questions about how the Gulf countries will benefit remain unanswered. A quick look at the Gulf countries' sovereign wealth funds shows that their investments in the US have largely served personal and sometimes financially dubious enterprises like Affinity Partners owned by Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law. Moreover, even if there are geopolitical objectives behind the generous gifts that the Gulf countries have made to Trump, a number of recent trends may begin to challenge conventional Gulf investment attitudes, including lower energy prices and budgets strapped by colossal domestic spending that could impact these countries' costly megaprojects. While American investors including Trump's family, which is already expanding its footprint in the Gulf, will reap massive rewards from the trip, it remains uncertain what the Gulf countries will get out of it. Expectations about the main goals on the Gulf countries' wish list, including security and artificial intelligence technology agreements with the United States, have thus far remained low. Despite the win for Trump's personal business interests and his fascination with his hosts, his administration has not showed any commitment yet to help Saudi Arabia build a nuclear industry or to assist the UAE's ambition to acquire advanced semiconductor chips. Saudi Arabia is eager to fulfil a long-standing desire to enrich its own uranium as part of an ambitious nuclear programme, and the UAE hopes to join the world's AI giants. On the political side, the trip glossed over numerous regional conflicts and crises that have been rocking the Middle East, leading to widespread instability and violence. Trump met with Syrian Interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa during the trip and decided to lift the US' punishing sanctions on his country. Trump, who has said that he has 'no interest in Syria,' claimed that his encounter with the former jihadist once imprisoned by the US Army in Iraq was at Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman's request. The meeting is important because it marks a détente between the US and Syria and also a major diplomatic win for Saudi Arabia. It helps to shield the new regime in Syria, which Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Gulf powerhouses believe could curb Shia Iran's influence in the region. Yet, it was the on-going genocidal war in Gaza that was most pushed to the sidelines of Trump's Gulf diplomacy in a show of disdain for the Strip's population who are facing starvation and suffering from a further wave of Israeli airstrikes. After Hamas released Edan Alexander, the last known living American hostage held in Gaza, as a goodwill gesture, there had been widespread hope that Trump's visit to the Gulf could lead to a fresh pause in the hostilities or a renewal of humanitarian aid to Gaza. This has not materialised, and Trump has swept aside efforts to end the war in Gaza, allowing Israel to continue its 19-month campaign in the enclave that has so far killed more than 53,000 people. As Trump was wrapping up his visit to the Gulf states, Israel intensified its brutal incursions and bombardments of Gaza, killing hundreds of people and forcing the displacement of tens of thousands of others. This week, Israeli forces began extensive attacks in the Strip as part of the beginning of what the army called 'Operation Gideon's Chariots.' Israel said the operation was intended to achieve the goals of the war, including the release of the hostages and the overthrow of the Hamas government. Israeli media said the offensive, which involved huge numbers of ground troops, aims at expanding its campaign in Gaza, further advancing in the Strip, expelling more people, and seizing more territory. The UK Sunday Times newspaper published a map showing an Israeli Army plan to force civilians in Gaza into three tightly controlled strips of land separated by four occupied zones. Israel's operation came amid warnings of an imminent risk of famine in Gaza, with UN humanitarian agencies saying that around half a million Palestinians face starvation as the months-long aid blockade by Israel grinds on. Yet, as Gaza faced a critical famine, and Israel continued its siege of the Strip, Trump only paid lip service to the situation during his tour of the Gulf. He reiterated his desire to take over Gaza, saying in Qatar that the US would 'make it a freedom zone' and arguing there was nothing left to save in the Palestinian territory. Just as he left the Gulf, the US media outlet NBC News disclosed that the Trump administration is working on a plan to permanently relocate up to one million Palestinians from the Strip to Libya. The plan is under serious enough consideration for the administration to have discussed it with the Libyan leadership, NBC said, offering the North African country the release of billions of dollars of funds that the US froze more than a decade ago as an incentive. Iran remains another challenge to Trump's muddled Middle East policy, which he boasts is a manifestation of his 'peace through strength' pledge. During every stop on his trip, Trump threatened Iran with strikes if a deal is not reached in the ongoing talks about its nuclear programme. While such rambling remarks could be part of the salesmen's tricks Trump has enjoyed playing during his lucrative tour, they nevertheless remain incoherent and self-contradictory from the geopolitical viewpoint. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was quick to react to Trump's threats, saying that 'the US should leave the region, and it will leave.' The exchange and the administration's insistence that Tehran cannot maintain ability to enrich uranium showed that Trump is not closer to a genuine deal on Iran that will bring peace, and instead is further complicating tensions in a Middle East already spooked by other conflicts. On the wider world stage, the Trump-friendly US media and think tanks claimed that the trip has sent the strong message that the Gulf is no longer a 'playground' for China and Russia. But in a region marked by shifting allegiances and strategic uncertainty, this seems more rhetorical proclamation than reality. Both China and Russia will remain consequential economic, political, and security actors in the Middle East. The slew of multibillion-dollar deals that Trump has made in the Gulf has shed light on one of the region's acute problems, its socio-economic inequality and the impact of this on political stability. According to various reports, the Middle East is one of the most unequal regions in the world, with half of its population earning nine per cent of the national income while the richest 10 per cent earns almost 57 per cent, which is concentrated in the wealthy Gulf nations. The trillions of dollars that were pledged to Trump on his recent tour and that stand to enrich him and America's CEOs while bombings and famine flare in Gaza have highlighted this widening disparity in the region. When William Shakespeare's play 'Much Ado About Nothing' appeared in Arabic some years ago, the title of the play, meant to say that 'assumptions can and often do lead to tragedy,' was literary translated as 'Grinding Without Flour.' Like in the famous comedy, the metaphor of an empty grain mill grinding on regardless during Trump's whirlwind tour was obvious enough, though it is a lesson not learned by the region's leaderships. As the famous Saudi commentator Abdul Rahman Al-Rashid wrote in a column in the Saudi-owned Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper in November 2018, 'perhaps it was us who Shakespeare has in mind in his play 'Much Ado About Nothing.'' * A version of this article appears in print in the 22 May, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Daily Tribune
17-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Tribune
Trump family hotel project in Serbia in doubt after forgery probe
The future of a luxury property development by Donald Trump's son-in-law in Belgrade has been thrown into doubt over suspicions that documents used to revoke the site's protected status were forged. Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners signed a 99-year land deal with the Serbian government last year to redevelop the former Yugoslav Army Headquarters, just months after its designation as a "cultural asset" was removed. No work has yet started at the site, which has not been rebuilt since it was bombed several times in 1999 during the NATO air campaign that ended the war in Kosovo. But on Tuesday, the prosecutor's office said it had opened an investigation into whether the document used by the government to revoke the building's protected status was forged. The head of Serbia's Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, Goran Vasic, was arrested on suspicion of "forgery of an official document" and admitted the charge in court. He was given a restraining order barring him from contacting witnesses, the court told AFP in a statement on Friday. The government has so far kept tight-lipped about the case but President Aleksandar Vucic, at a European leaders' summit, denied "any halt to the project plans". "There was no forgery of any kind and we will discuss everything with everyone," he told a news conference in Tirana on Friday. But Kushner's company Affinity Partners told AFP they had played no role in the review of the site's cultural status and that the fate of the project was now unclear.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump family hotel project in Serbia in doubt after forgery probe
The future of a luxury property development by Donald Trump's son-in-law in Belgrade has been thrown into doubt over suspicions that documents used to revoke the site's protected status were forged. Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners signed a 99-year land deal with the Serbian government last year to redevelop the former Yugoslav Army Headquarters, just months after its designation as a "cultural asset" was removed. No work has yet started at the site, which has not been rebuilt since it was bombed several times in 1999 during the NATO air campaign that ended the war in Kosovo. But on Tuesday, the prosecutor's office said it had opened an investigation into whether the document used by the government to revoke the building's protected status was forged. The head of Serbia's Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, Goran Vasic, was arrested on suspicion of "forgery of an official document" and admitted the charge in court. He was given a restraining order barring him from contacting witnesses, the court told AFP in a statement on Friday. The government has so far kept tight-lipped about the case but President Aleksandar Vucic, at a European leaders' summit, denied "any halt to the project plans". "There was no forgery of any kind and we will discuss everything with everyone," he told a news conference in Tirana on Friday. But Kushner's company Affinity Partners told AFP they had played no role in the review of the site's cultural status and that the fate of the project was now unclear. - Opposition - The New York Times has reported that Kushner's $500 million plan involved turning the former army headquarters into a luxury hotel and 1,500 residential units. The Serbian government has said it would also include a memorial to the victims of the 1999 bombing, which still evokes strong feelings among Serbs -- and resentment to NATO -- today. The buildings, completed in 1965 and given protected status in 2005, were designed by Nikola Dobrovic as a brutalist homage to the Sutjeska River canyon, where the Partisans won a decisive battle against German forces in 1943. Respected Serbian architect Slobodan Maldini described the distinctive, red-bricked buildings, which cascade to street level, as "a monumental composition designed to evoke a strong sculptural impression". "It represents a leading work of post-war modernist architecture, not only in the former Yugoslavia but also more broadly in the region," he added. Maldini was one of 350 architects and engineers to call for the army headquarters to be restored to their former glory after the deal with Affinity Partners was signed. He said redevelopment would be a "loss of the finest architectural work of its kind" and the "damage caused by its demolition would be irreparable". oz-al/phz
France 24
16-05-2025
- Politics
- France 24
Trump family hotel project in Serbia in doubt after forgery probe
Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners signed a 99-year land deal with the Serbian government last year to redevelop the former Yugoslav Army Headquarters, just months after its designation as a "cultural asset" was removed. No work has yet started at the site, which has not been rebuilt since it was bombed several times in 1999 during the NATO air campaign that ended the war in Kosovo. But on Tuesday, the prosecutor's office said it had opened an investigation into whether the document used by the government to revoke the building's protected status was forged. The head of Serbia's Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, Goran Vasic, was arrested on suspicion of "forgery of an official document" and admitted the charge in court. He was given a restraining order barring him from contacting witnesses, the court told AFP in a statement on Friday. The government has so far kept tight-lipped about the case but President Aleksandar Vucic, at a European leaders' summit, denied "any halt to the project plans". "There was no forgery of any kind and we will discuss everything with everyone," he told a news conference in Tirana on Friday. But Kushner's company Affinity Partners told AFP they had played no role in the review of the site's cultural status and that the fate of the project was now unclear. Opposition The New York Times has reported that Kushner's $500 million plan involved turning the former army headquarters into a luxury hotel and 1,500 residential units. The Serbian government has said it would also include a memorial to the victims of the 1999 bombing, which still evokes strong feelings among Serbs -- and resentment to NATO -- today. The buildings, completed in 1965 and given protected status in 2005, were designed by Nikola Dobrovic as a brutalist homage to the Sutjeska River canyon, where the Partisans won a decisive battle against German forces in 1943. Respected Serbian architect Slobodan Maldini described the distinctive, red-bricked buildings, which cascade to street level, as "a monumental composition designed to evoke a strong sculptural impression". "It represents a leading work of post-war modernist architecture, not only in the former Yugoslavia but also more broadly in the region," he added. Maldini was one of 350 architects and engineers to call for the army headquarters to be restored to their former glory after the deal with Affinity Partners was signed. He said redevelopment would be a "loss of the finest architectural work of its kind" and the "damage caused by its demolition would be irreparable".
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump luxury hotel project on hold after official admits to forging documents
A $500m project to build Donald Trump's first Trump International Hotel in Europe could be in jeopardy, after a Serbian official admitted to forging a document to advance the development, according to a report. The president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who served in his first administration alongside his wife, Ivanka Trump, is seeking permission via his Miami-based property company, Affinity Partners, to build on a site in Belgrade where the remains of the old Yugoslav Ministry of Defense headquarters still stand. The compound was badly damaged in a U.S.-led Nato bombing campaign during the Kosovo War of 1999. Trump has reportedly been interested in acquiring the site since 2014, unconcerned by local unease about replacing a historical landmark associated with wartime suffering with a lavish American luxury resort. He finally secured tentative approval last year, but the project has now hit a fresh administrative obstacle, according to The New York Times. Goran Vasic, former director of the Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, has been arrested after admitting to inventing an expert opinion in order to justify the decision to strip the site of its protected status, which shielded it from demolition. The legal protection was removed on November 14 last year, less than two weeks after Trump won the U.S. presidential election, allowing the project to move ahead. 'Vasic forged a proposal for a decision to revoke the status of cultural property,' the Office of the Prosecutor for Organized Crime said in a statement. Affinity Partners has responded with a statement of its own denying any involvement or knowledge of the affair. 'Today we learned from media reports that a former Serbian government official with no connection to our firm allegedly falsified documents related to the landmark designation of the Belgrade Square project,' it read. 'We will review this matter and determine next steps.' Even before Vasic's confession, the proposed development had attracted protests in Serbia, notably on March 24 this year when the 26th anniversary of the bombing campaign was observed. But the country's president, Aleksandar Vucic, has been receptive to the prospect of the Trump Hotel Belgrade being realized. He hosted Kushner and Donald Trump Jr. and visited Florida in April in the hope of meeting his U.S. counterpart, but he cut the trip short on health grounds without achieving his aim. The situation arises at a time when Trump is facing growing criticism about his efforts to expand his business empire while occupying the White House. His first major overseas trip to the Middle East this week has been overshadowed by ethical objections to his decision to accept a $400m Boeing jet as a gift from the Qatari royal family. Members of his family have meanwhile been busy touting for business in the same region, announcing a $5.5bn deal to build an 18-hole Trump International Golf Club in Qatar and a $2bn commitment from the United Arab Emirates towards the family's new cryptocurrency exchange. Qatari state-backed funds were also part of a $6bn funding round for Trump adviser Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI, and another Qatari fund has invested in Kushner's private equity firm.
