President Donald Trump went into a childish sulk over a gift handed to him as he left the United Arab Emirates Friday.
In video posted to X by Trump’s special assistant Margo Martin, the president finished his first foreign diplomatic trip by accepting the present.
He immediately mocked it — to his host’s face.
The gift was a glass container holding a small amount of oil. It was handed to Trump by the head of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., Sultan Al Jaber.
Ungrateful boor!
As secretary of the Air Force, I was frustrated by Boeing’s failure to deliver the new Air Force One aircraft on time.
I can understand that President Trump would like a new aircraft, painted as he desires and available for use during his term in office. I cannot understand his willingness to accept the “gift” of a luxuriously appointed, used Boeing 747 from Qatar.
It is wrong to accept this gift from any perspective.
A decision to send Solicitor General John Sauer to defend an executive order signed by Donald Trump before the Supreme Court this week was a massive mistake that could haunt the president going forward.
That is the opinion of conservative lawyer George Conway who appeared on MSNBC’s “The Weekend” Saturday morning where he was asked to weigh in by co-hosts Jonathan Capehart, Eugene Daniels and fill-in host María Teresa Kumar.
Discussing Trump’s attempts to undermine birthright citizenship enshrined by the 14th Amendment, Conway asserted the DOJ used the wrong case at the wrong time.
“This is the worst possible case and that was Justice [Elena] Kagan, former Solicitor General Kagan’s point,” he began. “To bring up to the Supreme Court on the procedural technical issue of when you can issue a nationwide injunction.”
“You want to go up on a case where you’re going to you have a chance of winning, where the court thinks that, ultimately, your position is right,” he stated.
‘The plane that you are on right now is almost 40 years old,’ Trump remarked, referring to Air Force One and noting that the Boeing planes purchased by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar were ‘brand new 747s.’
‘You see ours next to it. This is like a totally different plane. It’s much smaller and less impressive, as impressive as it is,’ Trump said. ‘We are the United States of America I believe we should have the most impressive plane.’
…
The 747-8 offered by the Qataris is considered more fuel efficient and quiet but it is most notable for it’s luxurious interior, designed by famed French design firm Alberto Pinto Cabinet.
Only the best for His Majesty, the Emir of Washington!
President Donald Trump was confronted aboard Air Force One by New York Times White House reporter Jonathan Swan over a $2 billion foreign deal that’s being paid for with Trump crypto.
Trump is currently on a four-day swing through the Persian Gulf region with stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, which has been dogged by the controversy over his eager acceptance of a $400 million “flying palace” from Qatar to serve as Air Force One.
The trip has also drawn attention to Trump’s family businesses, including the cryptocurrency firm World Liberty Financial.
That company’s USD1 currency was selected by state-owned UAE firm MGX to pay for a $2 billion investment in Binance earlier this month. The deal was announced by WLF co-founder Zach Witkoff, son of Trump Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff.
JONATHAN SWAN: An Emirati government-backed firm did a $2 billion deal using the Trump digital coins. How did that deal come about?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I don’t know anything about it. I really don’t know anything about it. But I’m a big crypto fan, I will tell you. I’ve been that from the beginning, right from the campaign. I’m a believer in crypto.
The president, who has described the emir as a “great gentleman” and a “friend of mine,” is granting Qatar the honor of hosting one of the first foreign visits of his second term. As for the plane, the president says he would be “stupid” not to accept such a nice gift despite loud objections, not only from Democrats but from some of his most fervent MAGA supporters.
It is a dramatic turnaround for a small Persian Gulf country that Mr. Trump derided eight years ago as “a funder of terrorism at a very high level.” At that time, he cooperated with Qatar’s bitter rivals in the region — who imposed a punishing blockade on Doha — in calling for an end to what he described as the country’s “extremist ideology.”
But one thing almost all Americans are firmly against — even many loyal Trumpers — [i]s bribery. And Trump is taking bigger and bigger bribes.
Yesterday it was reported that he’s accepting a luxury Boeing 747-8 plane worth at least $400 million from the Qatari royal family, for use during his presidency and for his personal use afterward.
Trump just can’t resist. He’s been salivating over the plane for months. It’s bigger and newer than Air Force One — and so opulently configured that it’s known as “a flying palace.” (No report on whether it contains a golden toilet.)
Apparently he’s been talking about the plane for months. In February, he toured it while it was parked at Palm Beach International Airport.
He’s tried to redecorate the White House into a palace but that’s not nearly as satisfying as flying around the world in one, especially once he’s left the White House (assuming he will).
https://www.alternet.org/donald-trump-just-can-t-resist-the-bribes
Ahead of US President Donald Trump’s Gulf visit next week, his son Eric was promoting his crypto firm in Dubai, while Don Jr. prepared to talk about “Monetizing MAGA” in Doha.
Last month, the Trump Organization struck its first luxury real estate deal in Qatar and released details of a billion-dollar skyscraper in Dubai whose apartments can be bought in cryptocurrency.
In a monarchical region awash with petrodollars, the list of Trump-related ventures is long and growing. However, the pres-idential entourage is not the only party cashing in, analysts say.
“Gulf governments likely see the presence of the Trump brand in their countries as a way to generate goodwill with the new administration,” said Robert Mogielnicki of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.
If the president chose, he could hopscotch the region from one Trump venture to another when he visits Saudi Arabia, Qa-tar and the United Arab Emirates next week on the first foreign tour of his second term.
Asked whether Trump would make visits or meetings linked to his own business interests or that of his family, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said it was “ridiculous” to “even suggest that President Trump is doing anything for his own benefit” and that he had “lost money for being president.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt [Bimbo #1] said Friday it would be “ridiculous” to think President Trump is personally benefiting from his time at the White House, calling out reporters for questions about his family’s business ventures while in office.
Ahead of Trump’s trip to the Middle East next week, Leavitt [Bimbo #1] pushed back on questioning over whether any family members are joining him and if the president has any plans to meet with people involved with the family businesses while in the region.
“Not to my knowledge, and let me just get to the premise of your question that both of you have raised. I think it’s frankly ridiculous that anyone in this room would even suggest that President Trump is doing anything for his own benefit. He left a life of luxury and a life of running a very successful real estate empire for public service, not just once, but twice,” [Bimbo #1] said.
https://www.aol.com/white-house-ridiculous-think-trump-182511250.html
Israel has set President Trump’s visit to the Middle East next week as a deadline for a new hostage and ceasefire deal, with a massive ground operation to commence if no deal is reached, Israeli officials say.
Why it matters: Israel’s Security Cabinet approved a plan Sunday night to gradually reoccupy all of Gaza and hold it indefinitely if no deal is reached by May 15. Plans for the operation call for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to flatten any buildings that remain standing and displace virtually the entire population of 2 million people to a single “humanitarian area.”
https://www.axios.com/2025/05/05/israel-gaza-destroy-trump-deal
