Trump’s Diplomacy: Peace, Power & Profit Deals

Donald Trump’s approach to foreign policy differs sharply depending on whether he is campaigning as a candidate or governing as president. While campaigning, Trump presented himself as a champion of peace, promising to end conflicts in places like Gaza and Ukraine, but his actions in office have drawn criticism for escalating tensions and prioritizing deals that benefit his family business.

In depth: ‘One quick way to please Donald Trump is by enriching his family business’

Allegations that the Trump administration shared a peace plan with Russia before presenting it to Ukraine sparked condemnation, but Trump defended his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, stating that his actions were simply “what a dealmaker does.”

Supporters point to renewed ceasefires in Gaza and peace initiatives in Thailand, Cambodia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, India, and Pakistan as evidence of Trump’s successful approach. Critics argue this reduces diplomacy to leverage, disregarding sovereignty and international law.

Mohamad Bazzi, director of the Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies and an associate professor of journalism at New York University, argues that Trump’s business mindset and diplomacy have become dangerously intertwined.

“It’s difficult to keep up with all the ways that Trump and his family have been profiting from the presidency,” Bazzi said. “A lot of the deals that have emerged are with international players – whether they’re companies, billionaires, governments – that want to make nice with the US president. They’ve seen that one quick way to please Donald Trump is by enriching his family business.”

A family affair

Since the 1970s, US presidents have voluntarily adhered to rules designed to prevent conflicts of interest, typically by placing their businesses into blind trusts. Trump argues he is not directly involved with his business because his children manage the Trump Organization, despite profits flowing back to him.

Bazzi pointed to the Trump Organization’s increasing real estate deals with companies in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE, which have connections to sovereign wealth funds or royal families. These partnerships involve billions of dollars in real estate transactions and golf course developments.

“In many of those cases, the Trump Organization isn’t putting up its own capital. They are branding deals where the Trump Organization leases the Trump name to these developers and they put in all the capital and investment to create these developments. The Trump family gets a licensing fee as well as a 20- or 30-year operating licence to manage these sites,” he added.

Recent disclosures showed Dar Al Arkan, a Saudi real estate developer, paid the Trump Organization $21.9m (£16.4m) in license fees in 2024 for projects in Dubai and Oman.

The Trump family also launched a dollar-sign Trump meme coin before his second inauguration. Bazzi said the coin’s value is speculative but has proven profitable for the family. “Ultimately, Trump and his family are raking in millions of dollars in fees as the coin is being traded back and forth. And so the crypto ventures provided the Trump family with new ways to profit from being in office,” he said.

The prodigal son

Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, was heavily involved in his first term, working on foreign policy, Covid-19 policy, and prison reform. Kushner had pledged not to get involved in a second administration, focusing instead on his private equity firm, Affinity Partners.

However, Kushner has reemerged as a central player in negotiations over the ceasefire in Gaza and between Russia and Ukraine.

“He’s a private citizen who is negotiating some of the most important foreign policy agreements on behalf of the US government,” Bazzi said. “Yet at the same time, his diplomatic work overlaps with his business dealings.”

The peace agreement for Gaza includes a framework for postwar redevelopment, and the Arab states likely to fund it – Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE – also fund Kushner’s private equity firm.

“Is there a way to separate Kushner’s role as the diplomat peace broker from his role as the head of a private equity firm that’s funded by some of the same governments that he’s negotiating with? The lines are blurred in ways almost never seen before in the US,” Bazzi said.

Expensive friendships

Trump rolled out the red carpet for Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) in November. Shortly after his re-election, the prince pledged to invest $600bn (£449bn) in the US economy over four years, later increasing that pledge to $1tn.

Bazzi was asked what countries such as Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations were receiving in return for these pledges.

“In Saudi Arabia’s case, it’s been this guaranteed defence pact that Trump announced when MBS visited him at the White House. He announced something similar, through executive order, for Qatar last October. Trump has promised the US will come to their defence if attacked, and promised to sell advanced US weaponry,” he said.

However, these countries now view Israel as a greater threat to their security than Iran. “They see Israel under Benjamin Netanyahu as willing to attack Doha and willing to cross all of these supposed red lines, sowing chaos and instability throughout the region,” Bazzi said. “But Trump and US foreign policy are still largely tilted toward Israel.”

Despite this, investments continue. “They want to stay in Trump’s good graces and to show him that they’re dependable allies who will keep the money flowing to the US and to his own family business as well.”

Bazzi does not believe Trump’s transactional approach will lead to a shift away from hawkish foreign policy, particularly towards the Middle East.

“It seemed to me for a time that Trump’s transactional instinct and eagerness to make a deal and have the photo op would work toward achieving a bit more stability and solving some thorny problems in the Middle East, such as making a deal with Iran,” Bazzi said. “But then he carried out the direct US attack on the three major Iranian nuclear facilities.”

He added that Trump’s desire to be aligned with the stronger power influences his decisions. “That’s one way that Putin and Netanyahu have been able to appeal to him, by projecting a sense of strength. He wants to be a winner.”