A group of US senators is working to block major arms deals with the UAE and Qatar,  because it may financially benefit President Donald Trump through his ties to cryptocurrency and foreign investments, and will cause serious ethical and national security issues.

Senators Challenge Trump Over UAE, Qatar Military Deals

A group of senators including Chris Murphy, Chris Van Hollen, Brian Schatz and Tim Kaine have been trying to block a $3.5 billion weapons deal with the UAE and Qatar.

They are doing this because President Donald Trump and his family have been personally benefiting themselves from the weapon deals.

They have submitted two resolutions of disapproval in order to stop the deal while accusing Trump of not only benefiting from the but also ruining and corrupting the foreign policy of the US.

The US State Department approved a deal of $1.6 billion to UAE which included Chinook helicopters, parts for F-16 jets, and support equipment for Apache and Black Hawk helicopters and later the senators found that the deal was initially of $1.3 billion.

Because of the corruption of the US foreign policy, they also want to stop a $1.9 billion sale of MQ-9B Predator Drones to Qatar which earlier got approved in March.

The senators want to cancel these deals because they are concerned about the disruption of the Foreign Policy.

It was reported in April that a firm called MGX, which is an Emirati Investment firm, planned to use a cryptocurrency stablecoin which was backed by Donald Trump’s company.

The senators are also concerned about the fact that Trump and his family are said to have made millions of money from niche cryptocurrencies which included a meme coin named $TRUMP.

The senators do not have only financial concerns but also about where the weapons would end up. 

They’re concerned because they claim that some US weapons were sent to the UAE which could possibly fall into the hands of RSF (Rapid Support Forces) of Sudan, which is a paramilitary group involved in the ongoing civil war in Sudan and is also backed by the UAE.

This is concerning as the senators believe that the US should not be giving it’s weapons to a country that has been involved in the abuses of human rights. 

Their concerns also include Qatar gifting a Boeing 747 jumbo jet to Trump’s temporary use, which is debatable as it is the most expensive gift ever given to a US President.

Senator Murphy accused Trump of corrupting foreign policies of the US as he is being bribed by the luxury perks and investment deal.

Trump in his defence claimed that the Boeing was not a personal gift to him but rather to the Department of Defence and it would have been foolish to reject it as it was a practical solution due to delays with Boeing’s work on the new Air Force One.