The president’s Middle East tour shows it’s Trump first, America a distant second | Editorial
As many Americans struggle to make ends meet, Trump spends most weekends golfing and dining with donors while foreign countries line up to curry favor.
Donald Trump’s tour through the Middle East showed he is more interested in cutting deals for himself than in being president of the United States.
Trump embarrassed and diminished America — again — as he heaped praise on the Saudi crown prince who ordered the dismemberment of a U.S.-based journalist, legitimized Syria’s new jihadist turned president, and inked deals with Qatar, a country Trump once called “a funder of terrorism.”
More than three dozen fawning business titans tagged along on the trip, eager to show support for Trump’s self-enrichment schemes as the United States backslides from democracy to an oligarchy.
There was no tough talk about human rights violations, free elections, climate change, terrorism, or peace in the Middle East. It was just business, as the Arabian horses and purple carpet were rolled out for America’s wannabe strongman.
Trump bypassed Israel, stiffing indicted leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who is busy committing “genocidal acts” in Gaza, according to a recent report by the United Nations.
» READ MORE: Trump stokes outrage to distract from outrageous graft | Editorial
Netanyahu denounced the report, but aid to Gaza has been blocked, electricity turned off, hospitals, homes, and roads have been destroyed, and clean water is scarce. The order of the day is starvation.
Trump floats ridiculous solutions, but has no serious plan to bring about peace. That would require hard work, focus, and diplomacy — traits Trump lacks. Heck, he rarely reads his daily intelligence briefs.
Trump also appears to have lost interest in ending the war in Ukraine or lowering food prices in the U.S. — two unkept campaign promises.
An executive order to lower drug prices has no teeth. As many Americans struggle to make ends meet, Trump spends most weekends golfing and dining with donors.
Trump repeatedly backs off on his reckless tariff bluster — after learning the hard way it was spurring layoffs, snarling supply chains, boosting prices, rattling financial markets, and causing a recession.
China called Trump’s bluff, making him look weak. The one trade deal Trump cut with Britain was just five pages long, left many details unresolved, and rolled back tariffs on only three product categories.
One deal down, sort of. Just 49 more countries to go!
The brief and disingenuous hunt for “waste, fraud, and abuse” through the Department of Government Efficiency has lost steam. After a couple of months of showboating, Elon Musk, the DOGE boss, has gone from Dark MAGA to mostly dark with little savings to show for all the chaos he’s sown.
Musk promised to slash $2 trillion in government spending, but the cuts only amounted to $160 billion. And even that low number is not reliable. Nor does it include the $135 billion in estimated severance costs to taxpayers, let alone the litigation fees or the lost tax collection from cuts to the IRS staff.
To paraphrase George W. Bush, “Heck of a job, Muskie.”
Trump has long promoted the idea of America First. But his policies consistently find him putting his own interests ahead of the nation’s.
» READ MORE: Trump’s first 100 days: Chaos, mass firings, tariffs, and brute force | Editorial
Trump companies have raked in about $2 billion in just the last month. Real estate deals were announced in the three Middle East countries he visited. Individuals and countries have invested in his cryptocurrency venture, and a private club, called the Executive Branch, is opening in Washington with a $500,000 membership fee.
As he said last month, “This is a great time to get rich.”
But the greed hit a new low with Trump’s willingness to accept a free $400 million jet from Qatar to replace Air Force One — regardless of the legal, ethical, or security concerns.
The emoluments clause in the Constitution prohibits anyone holding government office from accepting gifts from foreign or domestic entities without congressional consent.
Former White House ethics lawyer Norm Eisen said taking the plane from Qatar “obviously” violates the emoluments clause.
Attorney General Pam Bondi cooked up a legal loophole, claiming Trump could accept the jet because ownership would be transferred to his presidential library after he left office.
Bondi is a Trump fangirl who lacks independence and comes with her own conflict. Before pledging allegiance to Trump over the Constitution, she was paid $115,000 a month to lobby on behalf of Qatar.
Trump said only a “stupid” person would turn down a free luxury jet. But practical security issues make him look like a dolt.
Air Force One is equipped with sophisticated safety and communications systems. Making the plane safe for Trump and protecting national security secrets would require stripping and rebuilding the aircraft, which analysts said could take years and cost billions of dollars.
Even some Republican lawmakers, who have mostly been in the tank for Trump, expressed mild misgivings about taking the jet. “I do think the jet probably sends the wrong signal to people,” Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) said.
Conservative podcaster Ben Shapiro said that “taking sacks and goodies from people who support Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, Al Jazeera … isn’t ‘America First.’”
The jet — as well as the real estate and crypto deals — obliterate the ethical lines between Trump’s Oval Office duties and his private companies. Will Trump act in the best interest of America or his businesses when it comes to the Middle East or anyone else who is lining up to curry favor with him?