Senators accuse US President Donald Trump of participating in ‘corruption of US overseas coverage’ with defence offers.
A bunch of United States senators is making an attempt to halt $3.5bn in weapons gross sales to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar over issues that the offers will personally profit the household of US President Donald Trump.
Two “resolutions of disapproval” had been submitted on Thursday within the US by Democratic Senators Chris Murphy, Chris Van Hollen, Brian Schatz and Tim Kaine, together with Senator Bernie Sanders, an impartial who usually votes with Democrats.
The legislators additionally issued statements accusing President Trump, who’s concluding a visit to the Center East, of actively participating within the “corruption of US overseas coverage” over the timing of the gross sales and up to date funding offers.
The Division of State this week accepted the $1.6bn sale to the UAE of Chinook helicopters and gear, F-16 plane parts, and spare and restore elements to assist Apache, Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters. Preliminary reporting cited the determine as near $1.3bn, however the $1.6bn determine was utilized in a press release from the legislators. The lawmakers are additionally searching for to dam $1.9bn in gross sales to Qatar of MQ-9B Predator drones and related gear, which was accepted by the State Division in March.
The legislators accuse Trump of accepting favours in change for the offers, citing information from April that the Emirati funding agency MGX would use a stablecoin – a cryptocurrency whose worth is pegged to a different asset – issued by the Trump family-backed World Liberty Monetary to finance a $2bn funding within the cryptocurrency change Binance.
The Trump household is reported to have made tens of millions off area of interest cryptocurrencies just like the $TRUMP “meme coin” for the reason that president returned to the White Home in January.
I do know Trump’s crypto scams can appear laborious to grasp. So I went the Senate flooring to interrupt down essentially the most outrageous one.
A overseas authorities is investing $2 billion in Trump’s coin to get favorable therapy from the Administration. A wild corruption.
This is the way it works. pic.twitter.com/pxLSlZH2QN
— Chris Murphy 🟧 (@ChrisMurphyCT) May 13, 2025
Along with enterprise dealings, the senators additionally expressed fears that US weapons despatched to the UAE might find yourself within the arms of Sudan’s paramilitary Fast Assist Forces, which is allegedly backed by the UAE and has performed a important position in Sudan’s civil warfare.
“The US shouldn’t be delivering weapons to the UAE because it aids and abets this humanitarian catastrophe and gross human rights violations,” Van Hollen mentioned, citing Sudan’s civil warfare.
The senators additionally cited Qatar’s supply of a Boeing 747 jumbo for the president’s momentary use as Air Pressure One. The supply has drawn criticism from both Democrats and some Republicans as a result of it might be the costliest overseas reward ever exchanged between a overseas authorities and an elected US official.
“There’s nothing Donald Trump loves greater than being handled like a king, and that’s precisely why overseas governments are attempting to purchase his favour with a luxurious jumbo jet and investments in Trump’s crypto scams,” Murphy mentioned in a press release.
When requested in regards to the supply of the plane, Trump blamed Boeing’s lack of progress in constructing a brand new Air Pressure One and mentioned he can be “silly” to refuse a free aircraft.
“It’s not a present to me, it’s a present to the Division of Protection,” he mentioned.
It’s unclear when a vote will occur on the joint “resolutions of disapproval”, however the US political information outlet The Hill mentioned that because of the nature of the payments, Democrats will doubtless power them to the ground of the Senate.
