United States President-elect Donald Trump launched eight companies in Saudi Arabia during his presidential campaign, according to a report by the Washington Post.
The companies were registered in August of last year, shortly after Trump officially announced his presidential bid. The president-elect routinely criticized his opponent, Hillary Clinton, because her foundation – The Clinton Foundation – previously accepted millions of dollars from Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries. Trump said these countries "treat women horribly" and "kill gays."
But, while he used this as an attack on Clinton, it didn't concern him enough to cease expanding his own personal business interests.
"[Saudis] buy apartments from me," Trump said during a campaign rally last year, according to The Hill.
"They spend $40 million, $50 million. Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much.”
According to the Washington Post report, Trump maintains business interests in at least 18 countries globally. Regionally, in addition to his Saudi business interests, the real estate mogul has four in Qatar, thirteen in the United Arab Emirates, four in Israel and two in Turkey.
Traditionally, a U.S. president sells their business interests or puts them in a "blind trust" before taking office. Trump however, has refused calls to do the same, instead insisting on handing over control of his companies to his children. At the same time, he has expressed a desire for his children to be intimately involved in his administration. Trump's daughter Ivanka has already sat in on meetings with foreign heads of state since the election.
"There are so many diplomatic, political, even national security risks in having the president own a whole bunch of properties all over the world,” Richard Painter, chief White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, told the Washington Post.
“If we’ve got to talk to a foreign government about their behavior, or negotiate a treaty, or some country asks us to send our troops in to defend someone else, we’ve got to make a decision. And the question becomes: Are we going in out of our national interest or because there’s a Trump casino around?”
But, while legal experts and some Americans may be concerned by the ramifications of Trump's global business empire, some in the GCC see it as a positive sign for the region amidst significant uncertainty.
Emirati commentator and member of Sharjah's royal family, Sultan Sooud Al-Qassemi said he believes the UAE will have close ties to Trump's administration in an article published on Open Democracy.
"As a friend reminds me, Trump is the only U.S. President to have visited the UAE as a private citizen prior to becoming a politician and enjoys extensive business ties with the country (he even praised Dubai’s airport during his campaign)," Qassemi wrote.