To serve God or mammon? The Sermon on the Mount says to serve both is impossible.
Has U.S. President Donald Trump made his choice this week?
The president is making the first foreign trip of his second term, aside from the overnight trip to Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis. In his first term, his first foreign trip was also to Saudi Arabia.
That choice was a bit of a shock, especially for Canadians. Canada had that privilege. Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson both made their first foreign trips to Canada. Things fell off after that. President Richard Nixon did not visit until the last year of his first term; Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter never came north.
Canada’s place was then restored. Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton all made their first trips to Canada. When George W. Bush went to Mexico first (before visiting Canada on his second trip), it was noted as a significant decision, and a signal that North America as a whole would be the priority. President Barack Obama corrected course in 2009, making Ottawa his first visit.
President Trump in his first term only came to Canada for the G7 summit in Quebec in 2018, at which he insulted our prime minister, invoked national security to justify tariffs, and pleaded for Russian President Vladimir Putin to be readmitted to the G7. Trump will be back next month for the G7 in Alberta. He may not insult our new prime minister, but he will argue national security regarding tariffs and complain again about Putin’s absence.
The decision to make Saudi Arabia the first destination in 2017 took everyone by surprise. It was an ambitious trip, with several stops. Trump flew from Saudi Arabia to Jerusalem and then on to Rome, where he met Pope Francis.
It was something of a grand monotheism tour, visiting the capitals of Islam, Judaism and Christianity all in one long arc, showing something of a religious imagination and diplomatic creativity. When three years later the Abraham Accords — the greatest achievement of the Trump presidencies to date — were concluded, the seeds of that Abrahamic vision could be detected in that first foreign trip.
This time it is different. It’s not Saudi Arabia, Israel and Italy, but Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. And the theme is not God, but very much mammon. The president is cashing in.
After his real estate empire went bankrupt in the 1990s, Trump shifted toward monetizing his celebrity. There were a few building projects, but mostly branding deals, where it was the Trump name that was being bought and sold. Reality television made that a still more lucrative path.
Branding is about selling a name and access. And the president of the United States has a bigger name to sell than most, and access to him can prove lucrative.
The Trump family’s wheeling and dealing is no longer a surprise. Soon after the first Trump term ended, son-in-law Jared Kushner set up an
to which Saudi Arabia “invested” $2 billion. The fund has made no investments, but Kushner has made tens of millions in fees. Was it a thank you for the first Trump trip in 2017, or a downpayment for the second Trump trip now? Perhaps both.
The rapacity was utterly shameless, with the Secret Service charged exorbitant rates to stay in Trump properties while protecting the Trump family. The extent was such that entire
were compiled on the multifarious schemes.
The current visit to the Gulf was greased by the Trump sons, Donald Jr. and Eric,
in recent weeks for Trump Organization golf courses, towers and even cryptocurrency plays. It was advance planning without precedent. Hundreds of millions are set to flow to the Trump family. Even if such are not legally considered direct bribes, the stench of pay-for-access is overwhelming.
The Qataris, who are expert at deploying their petro-wealth to launder their dubious reputation as a state-funder of terrorism, have no doubt captured Trump’s heart with the offer of a US$400-million gift, a 747-8 airplane that, somehow, is to serve as Air Force One now, and later as the gaudiest bauble at the Trump presidential library. While it remains a mystery how the Qatari royal family jet would meet the security and communications requirements of Air Force One, no doubt it will be decorated in the late-Saddam décor favoured at Trump Tower, Mar-a-Lago and now the Oval Office.
Even some of the most devout MAGA souls, who are inclined to see Trump more than Abraham himself as an instrument of divine providence, are blanching at the brazenness of the Qatari baksheesh.
All of which is a sleazy shame, as this Gulf tour should have been focused on strengthening the Abraham Accords in light of the new, post-October 7 challenges in the region. It is hard, though, to keep your feet on the ground, and your eyes on the prize, when enormous emoluments are filling the sky.
National Post
