Matthew 4 starts out by describing the 3 temptations that Satan gave to Jesus. The last temptation, in verses 8-11, is related to the article below:
'8 Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; 9 and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’” 11 Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.'
When campaigning for the Presidency, one of Trump's appeals was that he promised to make America rich and well respected again. This was despite the fact that America already has the strongest economy in the world and was well-respected. But that wasn't the perception that many of his supporters had.
According to those supporters, America was poor because they were financially struggling and America was no longer respected, or feared to be more precise, because they claimed that the world viewed Biden as being weak. And it was because of Biden's alleged weakness that Russia felt free to invade Ukraine and Hamas felt free to attack Israel on October 7th.
What escaped the notice of those supporters was that the reason for why many of them struggled financially in the richest nation in the world not because America was no longer a wealthy nation, which is false, but because of how wealth here is distributed here. To at least some of these same supporters, Trump's successes during his recent trip to the Middle East is a sign of Trump fulfilling his promise to make America rich again. But was it that? Were Trump's successes during his Middle East trip a sign of Trump fulfilling his promise?
Btw, for those who would object to or shy away from comparing part of Trump's campaign with Jesus's last temptation in the wilderness mentioned above, realize that I am not comparing America to Jesus or Trump to Satan, Rather, I am comparing the offers that Satan made to Jesus with what Trump made to America. And here we should note from several events, that Trump desires, if not to be worshipped, to be highly revered by the whole nation. He shows this in the film clip of his Cabinet members praising him as well as his paraphernalia and in his actions against those who oppose or who mere disagree with his policies.
We should also note Trump's penchant for exaggeration. I recently heard him claim that we are now living in a peaceful time compared how life before his second Presidency. Since not much has changed for the positive since before he was elected, that claim must at least be an exaggeration.
Trump also claimed that under Biden, the US had a $1 trillion trade deficit with China last year when the trade deficit was actually $263 billion dollars (click here for the source). In fact, America's trade deficit with China under Biden's presidency was somewhat less than Trump's trade deficit with China during his first Presidency.
And so now, what should we make of Trump's boasts about the deals he has made with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar?
According to the White House Documents, Trump secured an investment commitment in the US from Saudi Arabia to the tune of $600 billion (click here for the source). Overall, Trump claims to have secured over $2 trillion in deal designed to enrich America. But based on what was actually signed and the past, the claim appears to be an exaggeration (click here for the source). According to Reuters' calculations, around $730 billion of deals were secured. And what was noticed by others is that though Trump's mission seemed to be only financial, his mission was as much about public relations and financially enriching his organization. Also, there were no discussions on democracy or human rights in Trump's interactions with the leaders of those 3 nations (click here for the source).
But let's get back to the $730 billion of deals that Reuters calculated. Why is there a discrepancy between Reuters' figure and Trump's claims? Many of the deals are part of what is called nonbinding Memorandums Of Understanding (MoUs). Reuters quotes Justin Alexander who is the Director of Khalij Economics:
'The amounts are inflated, possible spending is counted as actual - and most of the solid deals ... would have happened irrespective of who was in the White House'
In addition, Reuters reports that during Trump's first presidential term, while $450 billion of deals was agreed to with Saudi Arabia, only $300 billion actually occurred in transactions.
Yes, there were some concrete deals made during Trump's trip. But they were mixed in with MoUs in the final calculations made.
In addition, we might look at all of the deals Trump made with those 3 Middle East nations as a way of softening the blow of Trump's tariffs with our traditional allies. That especially pertains to tariffs on Canadian oil. But Trump's desired price of oil from OPEC hurts the American oil producers which needs a higher price for oil than what Trump wants (click here for the source).
A couple of reasons why we see Trump drifting toward the leaders of these Middle East nations might be because of their political power and authoritarian ways. That is because excessive personal political power is what Trump is attempting to garner during his first few months of being President and his authoritarian ways are made obvious by his responses to any agenda or groups with whom he disagrees. And that includes his treatment of scientists who have been working to protect the environment, health, and the human rights of some formerly marginalized groups.
Will America see the economic benefits of $2 trillion over a 10-year period from those Middle East nations? Time will tell. But if some of the kinds of agreements made and history have anything to say about it, the answer is no. In addition, one other possible problem exists in Trump's dealmaking. The arms deal with Saudi Arabia puts America's commitment to Israel in terms of the sophistication of weapons being sold to Israel's neighbors into question.
And so we again return to the temptation that Trump offered to America in return for their votes. He promised to provide the return of riches and prestige to America in exchange for their votes. But Trump's first few months in office indicates, if not implies, that he had more in mind in terms of what he expected from America for the benefits he was promising. And whether Americans will be satisfied with any increase in riches and prestige that Trump actually produces depends on how much Americans value certain principles of decency and freedom. For what Trump expects in return in addition to our votes seems to start approaching worship. At least that is what his attacks on dissent and opposition to his policies indicate in addition to some of his statements he made in the past about the kind of people he wants to rule over.
And so whose business was Trump looking out for on his Middle East trip? With the publicity publishing exaggerated figures for PR purposes and his organization benefiting from the deals it secured, it seems that Trump may have benefited the most from the trip.
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