Trump is Transactional even when it comes to his Bigotry
Trump went from banning Muslims to raking in billions from Muslims
There was Donald Trump standing on a stage in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday as he basked in the glow of the extended standing ovation from a room filled with well-connected Arab and Muslim business leaders. Behind Trump was a huge projection of the green Saudi flag that bears these words in Arabic which are the first pillar of Islam: “There is no God but Allah; Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.” From there, Trump heaped praise on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) saying, “I like him a lot” and touting how Saudi Arabia under MBS’s leadership had become “a major business, cultural and high-tech capital of the entire world."
As I watched this play out, it confirmed what I’ve been saying for the past year: Trump is transactional even when it comes to his bigotry. After all this is the same Trump who made one of the pillars of his hate-filled 2016 presidential run demonizing Muslims—and even the Saudis. But over the past few years building to a crescendo now, Trump has retired his anti-Muslim hate in exchange for reaping literally billions in profits for himself and his family from the same Muslims he wanted to ban from the United States.
Being Muslim myself, I can vividly recall the pain Trump’s nonstop attacks and lies directed at the Muslim community caused during his 2016 campaign. The rancid red meat Trump served up including the despicable lie that Muslims in New Jersey cheered on 9/11 to saying Muslim Americans knew were the terrorist were but refused to tell the police to declaring “Islam hates us.” This is all built to Trump calling for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.”
The real world impact of Trump’s non-stop demonization of Muslims was that hate crimes against Muslims in 2016 actually reached a higher level than in the year after 9/11. Women with hijabs were punched in the face, mosques in America were being defaced literally with bigots writing the word “Trump” like it was a modern-day swastika, Muslim students were being bullied at record numbers and more.
And as President, Trump’s first action was signing his “Muslim ban.” From there, he continued inciting hate versus Muslims by retweeting vile anti-Muslim bigots to making Rep. Ilhan Omar one of his main targets—which brought great joy to his bigoted base.
So why didn’t we see this same line of attack by Trump in 2024 campaign? Simple: Money.
Within six months after Trump left office, Saudi crown prince MBS invested $2 billion in the new investment fund of Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law. It wasn’t long until Trump began hosting the Saudi backed professional golf tour, LIV, at his country clubs earning him millions.
Of course, this is the same Trump who during the 2016 campaign slammed Saudi as being the ones who “blew up the World Trade Center” on 9/11. And during one of the 2016 presidential debates, Trump slammed Hillary Clinton for accepting donations from Saudi Arabia--and Qatar—for the Clinton Foundation saying, “These are people that push gays off business off buildings. These are people that kill women and treat women horribly and yet you take their money.” He then demanded, “Why don’t you give back the money that you’ve taken from certain countries that treat certain groups of people so horribly?”
Yet after leaving office in 2021, Trump was more than happy that his family received literally billions from the very same Saudis he had attacked in the 2016 campaign.
But this is nothing compared to what Trump and his family have seen from the wealthy Muslim leaders in the Middle East over the past few months since Trump won the election. Just a few weeks ago, a fund backed by the rulers of the United Arab Emirates agreed to a $2 billion deal involving crypto currency with the Trump family’s private venture, World Liberty Financial. As the NY Times reported, this deal will make the Trump family “hundreds of millions of dollars.”
In late April, The Trump family company struck a deal to build a luxury golf resort in Qatar-- which will features Trump-branded beachside villas and an 18-hole golf course. This Trump deal is with a real estate company owned by the Qatari government--meaning Trump is poised to make profits from a foreign government.
Just three weeks ago, Trump’s company announced the new Trump International Hotel & Tower in Dubai that is to occupy 80 floors and contain a members-only club “set to redefine the meaning of exclusive luxury.” And as ABC News reported, The Trump Organization has partnered to build a Trump Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and an upcoming Trump International Hotel and luxury golf development in neighboring Oman.
Then there is the $400 million luxury jet that the Qatar royal family is offering to Trump which has caused even some Republicans like Ted Cruz to denounce it given the nation’s past funding of Iran and Hamas. But none of that matters to Trump who is denouncing those who oppose this massive gift as being “fools.”
Yep, those same Muslims Trump demonized and wanted to ban from the United State are now going to make him millions—if not billions of dollars. I could see Trump saying: “We need a shutdown of Muslims!” Then someone taps him on shoulder and tells him all the money he is going to make from these same Muslims. Without missing a beat, Trump then declares, “Muslims…the best people! I love the Abduls. I know them all,” adding, “Abdul Akbar!”
Trump—who was convicted of 34 felonies for falsifying business records to win the 2016 election-- has no ideology other than how can he personally profit. Perhaps the lesson here for any group Trump is demonizing is to pool all your money and then simply hand it to Trump—or offer it to his sons as part of a business deal. Then he might stop because you are making him money. As outrageous as that sounds, given Trump is a soulless, corrupt, vile person, it may actually work.
This. Is. Not. Sustainable. Lordy, how much longer?
So many hundreds of millions of dollars, I can’t wrap my head around it