Pentagon accepts luxury jet from Qatar to use as Air Force One

[sop]

14. The other corruption story not being talked about: Trump's $2 Billion Middle East crypto deal.

'At a Dubai Conference, Trump’s Conflicts Take Center Stage'

(NYT) "A deal for a state-backed Emirati firm to use a Trump-affiliated digital coin was announced in a panel that included the president’s son and his business partner, who promised, 'This is only the beginning.'"

"Sitting in front of a packed auditorium in Dubai, a founder of the Trump family cryptocurrency business made a brief but monumental announcement on Thursday. A fund backed by Abu Dhabi, he said, would be making a $2 billion business deal using the Trump firm’s digital coins."

"That transaction would be a major contribution by a foreign government to President Trump’s private venture — one that stands to generate hundreds of millions of dollars for the Trump family. And it is a public and vivid illustration of the ethical conflicts swirling around Mr. Trump’s crypto firm, which has blurred the boundary between business and government."

"Zach Witkoff, a founder of the Trump family crypto firm, World Liberty Financial, revealed that a so-called stablecoin developed by the firm would be used to complete the transaction between the state-backed Emirati investment firm MGX and Binance, the largest crypto exchange in the world."

"Virtually every detail of Mr. Witkoff’s announcement, made during a conference panel with Mr. Trump’s second-eldest son, contained a conflict of interest."

(There's a paywall at NYT story, I copied and pasted most of it.)

And:

'Trump's stablecoin chosen for $2 billion Abu Dhabi investment in Binance'

(Reuters, May 2025)) "Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren sharply criticized the venture and pending U.S. legislation on stablecoins before the Republican-controlled Senate...A fund 'backed by a foreign government just announced it will make a $2 billion deal using Donald Trump’s stablecoins,' said Warren, a member of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee. 'Meanwhile, the Senate is gearing up to pass the 'GENIUS' Act - stablecoin legislation that will make it easier for the President and his family to line their own pockets. This is corruption and no senator should support it.'"

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/wlfs-zach-witkoff-usd1-selected-official-stablecoin-mgx-investment-binance-2025-05-01/

While everyone's busy talking about Trump's jet, bigger corruption is happening.