The Wall Street Journal reports:

When President Trump tours the Middle East this week, he will be looking to secure investments in the U.S. from the world’s richest petrostates. His family businesses and close associates already have been striking deals in the region at a rapid clip.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, the three countries on the president’s itinerary, stand out for their warm embrace of Trump Inc.

In the past year, Trump-branded residential towers have been launched in Dubai and Jeddah, and a developer in April unveiled a Trump luxury golf resort at a state-owned project in Qatar at an event featuring Eric Trump and a Qatari minister.

A U.A.E. state and royal family fund earlier this month used $2 billion of a new crypto stablecoin issued by Trump’s World Liberty Financial to invest in a crypto exchange. The Trump administration is in talks with the Qatari government about accepting a plane that would serve as a temporary replacement for the U.S.’s aging Air Force One jets—and later be donated to President Trump’s library for his use, people familiar with the matter have said.

Sovereign or royal funds from all three states have committed more than $3.5 billion to a private-equity fund run by Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.

In addition, state-backed funds from Qatar and the U.A.E. were major investors in a $6 billion fundraising round for Trump adviser Elon Musk’s xAI. In February, Dubai tapped his Boring Company to build an 11-mile tunnel network.

Saudi Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal Al Saud, a nephew of the king, is an investor in xAI.

This open co-mingling of geopolitics and personal interest breaks with longstanding American norms.

“The national interest has seemingly merged with the president’s interests in some ways,” said David Schenker, who was the State Department’s top Middle East official during Trump’s first term. “It’s obviously a different way of doing business, unprecedented for the United States.” [Continue reading…]