Saudi & UAE
1979 History
1979-07-03 The US launched Operation Cyclone to destabilize the Soviets before they invaded Afghanistan and to arm and finance Afghan fighters after the invasion. The US, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan funneled billions of dollars into it. Fighters saw themselves as religious freedom fighters against the Soviets, then later against the West and Israel. Religious fundamentalism was not noted by the US, so long as the fighters were anti-communist.
1979-11-20 The Siege of Mecca: Saudi Arabia had complicit military and economic ties with the US including enriching themselves with oil money, which Islamic radicals despised. Armed Islamic radicals seized Mecca.
1979-12-01 The Saudi royal family made a bargain on the ultra-conservative religious doctrine Wahhabi Islam and export this ideology to places like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Egypt, Sudan, and others. In exchange, it would try to keep local radicals in check and maintain their control.
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-saudi-deal-is-a-faustian-bargain/
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2015/01/29/an-unholy-pact
2017 Kushner Conflict of Interest
2017-01-01 Sources reported that Jared Kushner is close friends with Netanyahu and Muhammed bin Salman, and even though he is not part of the White House staff he has helped broker Abraham Accords. He has business ties with Saudi Arabia, and this is a huge conflict of interest that the US government has been overlooking since Trump took office his second term.
https://www.npr.org/2025/10/23/nx-s1-5582806/jared-kushner-mideast-business-ceasefire
2018 NBS Killed a Journalist
2018-10-02 Trump ignored the fact that Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45812399
2022
2022-04-10 The House Oversight Committee investigated a $2B Saudi Arabia investment into Jared Kushner’s firm (Trump’s son in law).
2022-06-06 The House Oversight Committee investigated Trump over foreign gifts totaling more than $250,000.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-foreign-gifts-missing-house-democrats-report/
2025
2025-05-21 Saudi Arabia gifted Trump with a luxury jetliner.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/14/politics/video/trump-plan-accept-qatari-jet-digvid
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/14/world/video/qatar-pm-becky-anderson-trump-luxury-jet-digvid
2026 January
2026-01-15 The US officially started selling Venezuelan oil with the first sale amounting to $500M. The funds were then sent to banks controlled by the US government, including some based in Saudi Arabia.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/14/business/venezuelan-oil-us-sell-trump
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5689426-venezuela-oil-sale-trump/
2026 February
2026-02-01 News outlets reported on the Trump family cryptocurrency business World Financial selling 49% of its crypto to Emirati royal family.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/02/trump-uae-crypto-deal
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/02/01/trump-uae-crypto-world-liberty-financial/
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/01/spy-sheikh-stake-trump-crypto.html
2026 March
2026-03-27 Trump attended a Saudi investor meeting in Miami.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEuuPpq_AMQ
2026-03-31 Trump shared images of a towering 50-story glass skyscraper he wants for his presidential library. It has a golden escalator and the lobby will feature the Saudi jet he was gifted, a theater featuring a gold statue of himself, his “walk of fame”, and other things.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHtNpXBOj6k&list=WL&index=4
https://newrepublic.com/post/208455/donald-trump-presidential-library-make-money-hotel
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/04/trump-library-money-power-jet/686643/
2026 April
2026-04-06 Headline, “Gulf Funds Agree to Back Paramount’s $81 Billion Takeover of Warner”. L’imad wealth fund owned by Abu Dhabi’s crowned price was one of the biggest backers.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/07/uae-ruling-royal-family-eu-farming-subsidies
https://deadline.com/2026/04/paramount-wbd-merger-foreign-backing-gulf-funds-deal-1236780058/
2026-04-28 The UAE (United Arab Emirates) departed from OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries).
https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/uae-says-it-quits-opec-opec-statement-2026-04-28/
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/29/uae-opec-exit-oil-iran-war.html
2026-04-28 The UAE (United Arab Emirates) departed from OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries).
https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/uae-says-it-quits-opec-opec-statement-2026-04-28/
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/29/uae-opec-exit-oil-iran-war.html