Connect with us

News

Why Trump is focusing on business deals on his Middle East trip

Published

on

Why Trump is focusing on business deals on his Middle East trip

President Trump waves after taking questions from reporters outside the White House on May 8.

Jim Watson/AFP


hide caption

toggle caption

Advertisement

Jim Watson/AFP

President Trump leaves Monday for the first major foreign trip of his second term, focusing on business deals in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates as his administration struggles to broker an end to the war in Gaza.

Trump pledged to bring peace to the region as he ran for a second term, but that is proving to be elusive. On this trip, he will showcase a promise by Saudi Arabia to invest $600 billion in the United States over the next four years and pledges from the UAE to spend $1.4 trillion over 10 years.

“The Saudis, the Emiratis and Qataris are going to fall all over themselves over who can outdo themselves to welcome the president,” said Steven Cook, a senior fellow for the Middle East at the Council on Foreign Relations. “And then they will outdo themselves over the number of deals that they can announce as the president is there.”

Advertisement

In many ways, the trip is a replay of the inaugural foreign trip of Trump’s first term. The Saudis welcomed Trump with a lavish ceremony and announcements of billions of dollars in investments.

In this May 21, 2017, photo, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Saudi King Salman and President Trump place their hands on an illuminated globe as they stand around it.

In 2017, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (from left), Saudi King Salman and President Trump attend a ceremonial launch of the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology.

AP/Saudi Press Agency


hide caption

toggle caption

Advertisement

AP/Saudi Press Agency

Cook said the Gulf leaders understand what Trump wants — and have an interest in giving it to him — because there are other things they don’t want Trump to ask about.

“It’s good for them because when he comes to them and says, ‘We want your help doing something on Gaza,’ and they’re not inclined to do it, they will be insulated from the criticism that would likely come if they just didn’t do anything,” Cook said.

Back in 2017, Trump sought to shore up relationships in the region after implementing a travel ban on some Muslim-majority countries — and did some business with autocratic leaders seeking global credibility.

Advertisement
In this 2017 photo, taken at a welcome ceremony in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, President Trump is wearing a dark suit and holding a sword while flanked by men wearing traditional white robes who are also holding swords.

President Trump joins dancers with swords at a welcome ceremony in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on May 20, 2017.

Mandel Ngan/AFP


hide caption

toggle caption

Mandel Ngan/AFP

Advertisement

The White House said this trip will highlight strengthening ties in the region.

“President Trump will return to reemphasize his continued vision for a proud, prosperous and successful Middle East, where the United States and Middle Eastern nations are in cooperative relationships and where extremism is defeated in place of commerce and cultural exchanges,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Friday.

But the unrest and uncertainty in the region have complicated the messaging, said Karen Young, a political economist focusing on the Gulf at the Middle East Institute.

“A lot of the rhetoric is the same, but the world has changed,” she said.

Advertisement

Trump’s biggest policy goals are currently beyond reach

Trump has some big goals in the region for his second term: end fighting in Gaza, stop Iran’s advances toward becoming a nuclear power and persuade Saudi Arabia to normalize relations with Israel by joining what’s known as the Abraham Accords.

But Saudi Arabia — which has long called for an independent Palestinian state — is unlikely to be interested in those accords right now because of the war in Gaza, said Dennis Ross, who worked on Middle East issues for both the George H.W. Bush and Clinton administrations.

“Mohammed bin Salman [Saudi Arabia’s crown prince] is very likely to say that so sours the atmosphere, that that’s not something that he can be engaging in at this time,” said Ross, who’s now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

In this 2017 photo, President Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman are shaking hands while standing in front of U.S. and Saudi flags. Trump is on the right, wearing a suit and tie, and Salman is on the left, wearing a traditional Saudi robe.

President Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meet in Riyadh on May 20, 2017.

Mandel Ngan/AFP


hide caption

Advertisement

toggle caption

Mandel Ngan/AFP

Any discussions about the accords are likely to happen behind closed doors, Ross said.

Advertisement

It also makes the business deals more important for Trump.

“Right now, the president doesn’t have a lot of successes to point to,” Ross said.” So I think he’s going to want to play up the trip in terms of showing, ‘Look what I’m producing for the United States.’”

What happened on Trump’s first trip to Riyadh

During Trump’s first trip to Riyadh, the Saudi capital, in 2017, nearly $110 billion in arms deals were announced, and the administration said that other investments could boost that total to as much as $350 billion.

Since then, the State Department said, the U.S. government has “implemented” $30 billion in foreign military “cases” with Saudi Arabia. Put another way: The Riyadh announcement was the easy part.

Advertisement

“There are a lot of steps in any arms sales process,” said John Parachini, a senior defense researcher at the Rand Corp. The process involves complex negotiations, multiple federal agencies, Congress, arms manufacturers and the customer countries.

But that complexity wasn’t part of how Trump sold it.

“That’s the style of this particular president. He’s going to send a strong signal that he’s supporting American business, but these things are really complicated and can take years,” Parachini said.

News

Man Charged With Posting Bomb Instructions Used in New Orleans Attack

Published

on

Man Charged With Posting Bomb Instructions Used in New Orleans Attack

Federal prosecutors have filed charges against a former Army serviceman they accused of distributing instructions on how to build explosives that were used by a man who conducted a deadly attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day last year.

The former serviceman, Jordan A. Derrick, a 40-year-old from Missouri, was charged with one count of engaging in the business of manufacturing explosive materials without a license; one count of unlawful possession of an unregistered destructive device; and one count of distributing information relating to manufacturing explosives, according to a criminal complaint unsealed on Wednesday. The three charges together carry a maximum sentence of 40 years in federal prison.

Starting in September 2023, the authorities said, Mr. Derrick was using various social media sites to share videos of himself making explosive materials, including detonators. His videos provided step-by-step instructions, and he often engaged with viewers in comments, sometimes answering their questions about the chemistry behind the explosives.

The authorities said that Mr. Derrick’s videos were downloaded by Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, 42, who was accused of ramming a pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on Jan. 1, 2025, in a terrorist attack that killed 14 people and injured dozens. Mr. Jabbar was killed in a shootout with the police. Before the attack, Mr. Jabbar had placed two explosives on Bourbon Street, the authorities said, but they did not detonate.

The authorities later recovered two laptops and a USB drive in a house that Mr. Jabbar had rented. The USB drive contained several videos created by Mr. Derrick that provided instructions on making explosives. The authorities said the explosives they recovered were consistent with the ones Mr. Derrick had posted about.

Advertisement

Mr. Derrick’s lawyers did not respond to requests for comment.

Mr. Derrick was a combat engineer in the Army, where he provided personnel and vehicle support, the authorities said. He also helped supervise safety personnel during demolitions and various operations. He was honorably discharged in February 2013.

The authorities did not say whether Mr. Derrick had any communication with Mr. Jabbar, or whether the men had known each other. In some of Mr. Derrick’s videos and comments, he indicated that he was aware that his videos could be misused.

“There are a plethora of uh, moral, you know, entanglements with topics, any topic of teaching explosives, right?” he asked in one video, according to the affidavit. “Of course, the wrong people could get it.”

The authorities also said that an explosion occurred at a private residence in Odessa, Mo., on May 4, and the occupant of the residence told investigators that he had manufactured explosives after watching online tutorials from Mr. Derrick.

Advertisement

Mr. Derrick’s YouTube account had more than 15,000 subscribers and 20 published videos, the affidavit said. He had also posted content on other platforms, including Odysee and Patreon. Some videos were accessible to the public for free, while others required a paid subscription to view.

“My responsibility to my countrymen is to make sure that I serve the function of the Second Amendment to strengthen it,” Mr. Derrick said in one of his videos, according to the affidavit. “This is how I serve my country for real.”

Outside of the income he received through content creation, Mr. Derrick did not have any known employment. He did receive a monthly disability check from Veterans Affairs, the affidavit stated.

Continue Reading

News

The Girls: “This isn’t ringing alarms to y’all?” : Embedded

Published

on

The Girls: “This isn’t ringing alarms to y’all?” : Embedded
Allegations pile up, but Child Protective Services declines to investigate and the school district continues to promote Ronnie Stoner. We include an update at the end of the episode. “The Girls” is a 4-part series from the Louisville Public Media’s investigative podcast, Dig.
Continue Reading

News

Chud the Builder, Known for Racist Confrontations, Charged With Attempted Murder

Published

on

Chud the Builder, Known for Racist Confrontations, Charged With Attempted Murder

A streamer known for hurling racist slurs in public settings under the nickname “Chud the Builder” was charged with attempted murder after a shooting outside a Tennessee courthouse on Wednesday, the authorities said.

The streamer, Dalton Eatherly, 28, was involved in a confrontation with an unidentified man that escalated to gunfire outside the Montgomery County Court in Clarksville, about 50 miles northwest of Nashville, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. Both men sustained gunshot wounds and were in stable condition, the office said.

In addition to attempted murder, Mr. Eatherly was charged with employing a firearm during dangerous felony, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, the sheriff’s office said.

Mr. Eatherly, who is white, has accumulated an online audience by livestreaming confrontations in which he uses racist language toward Black people in public.

Law enforcement did not provide any details about the second man involved in Wednesday’s shooting. Mr. Eatherly posted an audio recording online of paramedics treating his wounds in which he claims he shot the man in self-defense.

Advertisement

A video posted by the website Clarksville Now shows Mr. Eatherly on a stretcher with a microphone attached to his lapel.

Mr. Eatherly is being held at the Montgomery County Jail, pending arraignment, the sheriff’s office said.

According to court records, Mr. Eatherly was scheduled to appear for a court hearing on Wednesday morning in an unrelated case brought by Midland Credit Management, a collections agency.

A lawyer listed in court records from a separate harassment case in which Mr. Eatherly was a defendant in November did not respond to a request for comment.

On Sunday, three days before the shooting in Clarksville, Mr. Eatherly was arrested in Nashville. According to a police affidavit, Mr. Eatherly live streamed his meal at a restaurant, Bob’s Steak and Chop House, on Saturday even though the restaurant had asked him ahead of time not to do so.

Advertisement

When he was confronted, Mr. Eatherly “became disruptive and started making racial statements, yelling, screaming and otherwise creating a scene,” according to the affidavit.

He then refused to pay for his $370 meal. Mr. Eatherly was charged with theft of services, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. He was released on $5,000 bond.

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending