Donald Trump hopes everyone knows that under no circumstances will he give up on his special new aircraft. The president wrote yesterday before 3 a.m. local time in Saudi Arabia: "Only one fool wouldn't accept this gift on behalf of our country. Trump seems to think that if he keeps publishing about snapping up a $400 million plane from a foreign country to ferry to the most sensitive assets in the country, the idea will become less transparent. Instead, the more he talks about it, the more ridiculous it sounds.
It is obvious from the quality of defense that the president's decision is irrefutable. “I can’t wait to learn about the so-called “gift” of the French Statue of Liberty, which was accepted by then-President Grover Cleveland in 1886.” Fun Ann Coulter on X, an argument ace himself was later reposted. In fact, the Statue of Liberty was approved by Congress, and Cleveland did not subsequently ride around the world with the country’s leadership, although it would be a significant premise for children’s cartoons.
Qatar has its own peccadilloes: extremist groups that include funds, custody and cheer; de facto slave labor allegations; institutionalized homophobia. But putting those aside, not making reliable cases for the "America First" president outsources foreign actors to foreign actors this The safest way to transport government. This part explains why some Republican lawmakers, even stubborn Trump loyalists like Laura Loomer, oppose the move. Still, Trump can’t seem to resist the kind of shiny, luxurious toy he thinks he deserves.
But it is dishonest to regard this sin as a sin that is unique to Trump. Here, like elsewhere, the president is taking the extremes that the existing elites have not reached.
Trump is far from the first huge member of his circle to benefit from Qatar. From 2019 to 2020, the authoritarian rock country pays $115,000 per month - General Patney Pam Bondi and his company representatives lobbi. She has reportedly signed the legality signing of the country's luxury gift to her boss. FBI Director Kash Patel is also paid by Katar before taking up his current position. Qatar royals have invested $50 million in Newsmax, a pro-Trump conservative media network, and its leaders have reportedly urged staff to soften the country's coverage. Donald Trump Jr. talks about "monetization" at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha next week. (The language has since been scrubbed from the forum's website.)
The relationship for Katari Cash is a bipartisan romance. Qatar has funded a trip to represent Ilhan Omar in the 2022 FIFA World Cup and donated $1 million to the Clinton Foundation, while Hillary Clinton is still serving as U.S. Secretary of State. This influence movement goes beyond the United States. In November 2022, socialist politician and then president of the European Parliament, Eva Kaili, publicly praised Qatar's virtues, calling the country a "leader of labor rights" and a "good neighbor and companion." She said: “Qatar’s World Cup can demonstrate how sports diplomacy has achieved historical transformation and mocked critics of Gulf countries: “They blame everyone with (Qatar) corruption. "A few weeks later, Belgian police arrested Kelly as part of Qatar's investigation of bribery and found a bag of cash in her residence and in her father's hotel room. Qatar allegedly bribed FIFA officials first to obtain the right to the World Cup.
The country's currency is not only flowing to public officials. Qatar is the largest foreign fundraiser at U.S. universities, with a total of more than $6 billion, many of which donations were initially undisclosed, according to Rutgers University’s Institute for Cyber Infectious Diseases. Over the years, Qatar has poured millions of dollars into the Brookings agency, one of the most respected think tanks in the United States, and has funded its previous branches in Doha. Today, the Qatar Foundation provides funding programs for U.S. public schools through its U.S. affiliates. “We unleash the potential of humanity,” its declaration declared. Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser, the mother of the Qatar leader and co-founder of the organization, caught a glimpse of her concept of human potential in October. "Yahya's name refers to the person who lives." On October 7, Hamas architect Yahya Sinwar was killed. "He will continue to live, they will disappear." She seems to mean "they".
None of these exchanges are as naked as the plane awarded to the current president $400 million. Of course they won't violate the Constitution. But they remain a subtle and harmful form of influence designed to wash away Qatar’s reputation, a soft and corrupt form that Trump now features a cartoon-like excess. Qatar-funded Yale University scientists have not paid for the regime to study climate change, but such scholars may be more advantageous in place in the country and are unlikely to make serious criticism of their benefactors. In other words, Qatar provides funding for American institutions, due to tobacco company Philip Morris International Funding and Small charity.
Qatar needs to do this because there are many good reasons to doubt Qatar and there is no grassroots nuclear pro-official constituency in the United States. The Gulf nation has the largest U.S. military air base in the Middle East, which is interesting to war planners, but U.S. citizens are largely unaware of. Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani There are no American Americans, no college students holding the Katari flag on campus, nor stable English bestselling books that tout the virtues or vices of the country.
Qatar's influence is often compared to lobbying by its defenders with pro-Israeli activists. But no matter how people think of those activists, they are not foreign actors. this one exist AIPAC represent USAand the advocacy and campaign contributions provided by the pro-Israel group come from thousands of American citizens. That's why Israel itself spent only $700,000 last year, while Qatar spent $7.5 million. For better or worse, many Americans have actively and negatively invested in the state of Israel for political and religious reasons and therefore participated in the democratic process to further advance their preferred policy for the country. In fact, unless Qatar invests in Qatar, no one invests in Qatar.
"We have never established a relationship with Qatar like Qatar," Trump said yesterday. "We want to protect you."