Before taking office in 2017, Donald Trump famously held a press conference to allay concerns that he would attempt to profit off the presidency. While emphasizing that conflict of interest rules don’t apply to presidents, he noted that he had just turned down a $2 billion venture with the Trump Organization’s Emirati business partner, Hussain Sajwani, because “I don’t want to take advantage of something” and “don’t like the way that looks.” Such concerns didn’t stop him from continuing a project with Sajwani that he already had under construction, and he would go on to mingle his business and political interests to an unprecedented degree. But if Trump seemed somewhat restrained by the appearance of ethical conflicts during his first term, he no longer has any qualms about mixing the country’s business with his own.
Trump’s relationship with Sajwani is a good example of how his attitude has shifted on combing his corporate and political fiefdoms. Following his 2017 press conference mention of Sajwani, Trump barely brought up his partner for the next four years. The Emirati billionaire made occasional appearances at private holiday parties at Mar-a-Lago, but Trump kept the man himself at arm’s length (even as his sons regularly visited with Sajwani).
Prior to taking office for the second time, Trump held another presser featuring Sajwani. This time, Trump paraded him in front of cameras at Mar-a-Lago to hype new crypto-linked data centers Sajwani said he plans to build in the United States.
Last month, Sajwani was in Washington having breakfast at the White House with Elon Musk and then moved onto the Oval Office, where he posed with Trump himself.
Sajwani’s caption on the photo he posted to Instagram sent a very unsubtle message to rivals and potential investors: he literally stands alongside the most powerful man in the world in the seat of American power.
Since 2017, Trump has gone from feeling funny about striking a lucrative new deal with a business partner, to embracing the Qatari royal family’s offer of a 747 that will be available for his use after he leaves office. When he was asked about the $400 million jet this week, Trump responded angrily, “I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer. I mean, I could be a stupid person say, ‘No, we don’t want a free, very expensive airplane.’ But it was—I thought it was a great gesture.”
Trump’s retinue of foreign business partners raised ethical concerns during his first presidential stint—and still do—because they often maintained close ties to the leaders of their respective countries. Such is the case with Sajwani. But now past conflict-of-interest concerns about Trump seem petty, as his company strikes deals with Middle Eastern soverign wealth funds and members of the ruling families of the Arab world.
Last week, Eric Trump visited the UAE, Oman, and Qatar announcing new projects. The events were flashy and sometimes quite odd in tone. Donald Trump is visiting those same destinations this week.
In Doha, Eric appeared on stage as representatives from Qatari Diar—a development company owned by the Qatari Investment Authority, a sovereign wealth fund set up to manage the country’s excess oil and gas wealth—signed a deal with representatives from a Saudi real estate development firm, reputed to have links to the Saudi royal family, to build a Trump-branded resort just north of Doha.
The resort, a sprawling model of which was shown to Eric Trump at the event, appears to have a jungle-themed waterpark and an elaborate central tower with twisting minarets, surrounded by lush pools and acres of condos.
Trump also visited Dubai to announce the construction of a new Trump Tower Dubai, an 80-story condo and hotel development. The tower will be built by the same Saudi company that’s constructing the Doha resort.
Speakers at the Dubai event told the audience that the project is an example of the mantra “don’t stop believing”—specifically “in the Trump brand”—and the party closed with a performance by a Journey cover band.
While in Dubai, Eric Trump also announced that MGX, a UAE-based investment fund, would invest $2 billion in crypto exchange Binance using a “stablecoin” created by the Trumps’ crypto venture, World Liberty Financial. The deal could net the Trump family hundreds of millions, as the transaction lends enormous credibility and liquidity to their crypto business.
MGX isn’t just any UAE-based investment fund. It’s chaired by Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s national security adviser and brother of the Emirates’ ruler, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
And if the linking of international power politics and Trump Organization business couldn’t get any more convoluted, Eric Trump announced the Binance investment alongside Zach Witkoff, a co-founder of World Liberty Financial, who is also the son of Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy to the Middle East (and more recently the lead Russia-Ukraine negotiator).
All of the countries involved in the deals announced by Eric Trump—Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.—are key US partners in the region. All are also absolute monarchies. And Donald Trump, in his role as US president, will be meeting with the leaders of each of these nations this week during his own Middle East trip.
In Trump’s first term, his business partners in the Middle East raised eye-popping ethical concerns. But that was a more innocent time. Now, Trump’s company is brokering resort and crypto deals with the very same governments that Trump, as president, will be negotiating with over everything from trade policy and Iran’s nuclear program to the ongoing Palestine crisis. But, like Trump says, presidents can’t have conflicts of interest, right?
This post has been syndicated from Mother Jones, where it was published under this address.