This will be a short feature, since Trump has less than a month left in office. These are deals that appear to be ripe for benefiting Trump personally. Retroactively, we can include this deal with the United Arab Emirates, as well as the other deals for Muslim nations to normalize relations with Israel (see previous link).
Here’s the next deal on the Kickback Watch:
The Trump administration has formally notified Congress that it intends to sell nearly $500 million in precision bombs to Saudi Arabia, a transaction that is likely to fuel criticism from lawmakers who object to arming the Persian Gulf nation over its record of human rights abuses and stifling dissent and role in the war in Yemen. …
The gulf monarchy, with which the Trump administration has forged close ties, has been the subject of bipartisan criticism over its war in neighboring Yemen, where Saudi jets, using U.S. precision munitions, have repeatedly bombed civilian targets as the kingdom has sought to weaken Iranian-linked rebels there. [WaPo]
That the Trump Administration is trying to sneak it past the media and public by announcing it on December 24th is telling. But this is particularly worrisome:
An individual familiar with the sale, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment to the news media, said the deal includes 7,500 “Paveway IV” precision-guided bombs, worth $478 million, which under the terms of the agreement would be produced in the kingdom.
Read that as “technology transfer” – from advanced science to manufacturing techniques. If I were a fly on the wall in the Oval Office, my guess is that the Saudis refused to pay a kickback without that clause.
