Donald Trump’s self -control

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What can you give to a person who already has everything? The usual remedy is a sentimental value. In the case of Donald Trump, Qatar found the perfect mix: a $ 400 million jumbo jumbo for which nostalgia has indicated in advance. Trump inspected the plane at Palm Beach airport a few weeks after being sworn. Long after it covers the aircraft accessories on the gold plate, it will associate its next air force with the governing family of Qatar. Or so they have to wait.

In practice, Trump’s appreciation has a limited life. Ask Mark Zuckerberg on Meta, the $ 1 million gift at Trump’s inauguration and $ 25 million to solve a demand for dissemination without merit has not saved his company from large threatened fines. With Trump, however, you should never say. Perhaps Zuckerberg will find his own sentimental emolument to achieve a goal of the Trump’s antimonopoly lawyers.

It is no coincidence that the first trip abroad of Trump is to Saudi Arabia and then to other gulf kingdoms, as it was during the first term (his recent trip to Rome for the Pope Francis funeral was obviously brief). The distinction between the public and the private has little meaning in the house of Saud. His country is literally named. At least in theory, United States ethics laws against conflicts of interest put Washington on the other end of the spectrum in Riad. In fact, federal rules of ethics are now decorative.

Older officials who had to declare gifts of more than hundreds of dollars will be surprised that Trump’s lawyers considered that one $ 400 million does not violate the United States Constitution Emoluments clause. The same applies to the Memecoin $ Trump than Trump It was published a few days before being sworn. The 220 best investors of Trump’s purely speculative offer will attend a private dinner with him next week. This is apparently through legal preparation.

Some people play this game more intensely than others, few better than royal golf families. This month, an ABU Dhabi investment fund prompted Stablecoin worth $ 2 million through the Trump family Crypt company World Liberty Financial. This name is full of intent. On the other side of the transaction is Binance, the crypt exchange that paid a penalty record of $ 4.3 million for money laundering during Joe Biden’s presidency.

Trump has since suspended Biden restrictions on semiconductor exports to a group of countries, including the United Arab Emirates. United Arab Emirates have also promised to invest 1.4 TN of dollars in the United States for the next decade. Neither Brussels nor Ottawa could not start equalizing it.

Middle America should study the contents of Trump’s offers, may you have something to say? Most of the alarm since January has focused on the spectrum of Trump’s authoritarianism, especially deportations and free expression. But, as the author has convinced the author Anne Applebaum, the twin of autocracy is kleptocracy. In the latter, Trump seems much more advanced. Congress does not even aim to provide supervision on these conflicts of interest. Maybe Capitol Hill is paralyzed by the amplitude of choice.

They also ask questions about the reasons behind Trump foreign policyParticularly with Qatar. The small kingdom of gulf has made a huge amount to support Hamas pouring dozens of millions of dollars in Gaza. It also plays the Palestinian militant group. However, the Trump family is their eyeballs in commercial treatment.

This April, the Trump organization made an agreement with Qatar to build an 18 -hole golf course with Luxury Brand Trump. Qatar is also an investor at Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and is expected to present at least $ 200 million in American investments this week. Although the large pieces of these holders’ numbers may be a mirage, non -patrimonial systems like Canada cannot work this way. This gives a huge advantage to non -democracies in negotiation with Trump.

These offers are also difficult to reconcile with Trump’s promise from “America First”. In case Qatar reached his free jumbo jet, the so -called Trump Palace in the sky would be at the expense of Boeing, which is under contract to supply the aging air force fleet. How will the Trump eruption of the towers and golf stations impending the economic or diplomatic interests of the United States serve? This is open to debate. However, the financial impulse for Trump and his family is clear for everyone to see. The suspicion arises that the real agenda of the President of the United States is Trump. The rest is hand.

edward.luce@ft.com

Edward Luce’s book, “Zbig: The Life of Zbigniew Brzezinski, America’s Great Power Prophet”