Middle East: Deals, Deals, Deals: Trump in the Middle East

The Crown Prince personally receives the US President. The Saudi vulner of the throne Mohammed bin Salman, also known as “MBS”, is waiting at Riyadh Airport when Donald Trump descends his government pilot’s stairs. The two mighty men shake hands, smile, then chat with stimulated when they walk along soldiers and go into an opulent reception hall with a lot of gold, where Arabic coffee is served.

There was a time when “MBS” was offside because of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi International and the relationships to America were cooled. But Trump and the Crown Prince demonstrate that this is long gone. The two partners are “Back for Business”, on a large scale. Trump has traveled with several cabinet members and a whole host of business bosses-including Tech-COS like Tesla boss Elon Musk to seal large investment deals.

Trump’s journey through the Middle East – first Saudi Arabia, then Qatar and the United Arab Emirates – falls into a time of war and crises in the region. But the trip is all about business. The journey highlights the economic interdependencies of the Trumps in the Golf region and on the role of money in the U.S. President’s foreign policy. This applies especially to the first stop in Riad, where the 78 -year -old Trump has to do with the controversial crown prince, which is only half as old as he is, but with which he primarily combines large money transactions.

The Saudi crown prince: almost all power centralized

When asked how unscrupulously someone uses their power to make their own advantage, according to critics, according to critics, set new standards. After the murder and dismemberment of the Saudi journalist Khashoggi 2018, who presumably ordered the Crown Prince, many in the west went to him for several years. Trump, on the other hand, was already the throne attendant during his first term.

The Crown Prince has centralized almost all power under his leadership. The 89 -year father and King Salman hardly appears publicly and has given his son many tasks. The supporters of the crown prince see him as a visionary and reformer who wants to lead the country from its dependence on the oil and into a glittering future of technology and progress. Criticism is not tolerated and followed with all hardness. Sometimes dozens of years imposed for a few posts on social media.

The riches of Saudi Arabia from the oil and gas business are particularly suspended in the PIF sovereign fund, which is one of the largest in the world with assets and investments worth well over $ 900 billion- many of them in US companies. It is controlled by the crown prince himself, which has the clenched economic power of the country more or less in his hand. The declared goal is to let the assets grow to two trillion dollars by 2030. Trump has announced that it wants to build a US state fund of a similar size.

The interdependencies of the Trump world in the region

The US President and his environment have close economic interdependencies into the region – even if the White House indignates that Trump could pursue personal interests in office. Trump’s real estate group that the sons of Eric and Don Junior lead, for example, is very active in the golf region.

Shortly before the visit, the Trump organization announced new projects there: the first Trump Hotel in Dubai, a golf club in Qatar. For the Saudi port city of Dschidda, the construction of a Trump-Rollkenkratz was announced last year. Also when it comes to cryptocurrencies, Trump’s sons and their business partners have just made a cooperation in the Middle East, in which a state -based fund of the Emirates also mixed up.

Trump made millions of business in the region, also with the Saudis before his first term. Accordingly, he sold about the entire 45th floor of his Trump Tower in New York in 2001 to the kingdom. The business relationships go back decades.

Foreign policy as an exchange

Trump likes to stage herself as a businessmaker, as a “dealmaker”, for which economic considerations about basic values, such as human rights. The Republican operates his foreign policy above all transactionally. Where used to provide democratic values ​​or principles the course, it is the question under Trump: What does America jump out? In the Russian attack war against Ukraine, for example, he made further support for Kiev to access the country’s land treasures. At the Gaza War, he performed the idea of ​​developing the Gaza Strip as a high-gloss real estate project: as “Riviera of the Middle East”.

Trump had already set an example during his first term when he was the first country at all after his office in January 2017 – in return for huge investments by Saudis in the USA. After the start of his second term, he flabbed that he would again show the Saudis the honor of the first visit, provided they are ready to invest a trillion dollar in the United States. Therefore, details on large business deals during the trip are expected, including artificial intelligence, energy and armaments.

Hosts compete for Trump’s favor

Investments of $ 600 billion in the United States over four years have announced the Crown Prince in advance, the Emirates have even promised $ 1.4 trillion for over ten years. The two countries as well as Qatar should therefore compete with who of them can prepare Trump’s most magnificent reception. The three states with their global assets at Billion height are also constantly competing with each other.

Before Trump’s visit, Qatar made talking to reports that the Emirs family Trump wants to give a luxurious aircraft worth around $ 400 million. It would probably be the largest gift from a foreign partner to a US president and would raise legal and ethical questions. Trump, on the other hand, explained that only a “stupid person” would reject a “free, very expensive plane”.

Eight years after his official visit to the region, Trump is back – and with it the course of the big money transactions and the open arms towards the rulers on the Golf. The Saudi royal family has known since the Khashoggi case that Trump has it as a supporter at his side – no matter what it is doing. This message also goes to other authoritarian states: If a country is economically important enough, Trump’s government forgives a lot.