The arrest of Trump’s friend Tom Barrack has drawn attention in the United Arab Emirates

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Tuesday’s arrest of a key Trump ally, accused of illegally lobbying for the United Arab Emirates, helps illustrate how deeply the oil-rich Middle East country started in America during the Trump administration. .

Between arms agreements and diplomatic agreements, the UAE, a small crescent of land located between Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf, has played a large part in former President Donald Trump’s policy in the region.

A lawsuit filed Tuesday in New York federal court says Tom Barrack, a longtime friend and business partner of Trump, worked for years to develop that relationship through the secret development of interests of the UAE through his influence on Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and his administration.

Barrack, a 74-year-old equity billionaire who is chairman of Trump’s 2017 start-up fund, was arrested in Los Angeles on Tuesday morning.

The seven -count indictment also accuses Barrack of obstructing justice and making multiple false statements in a 2019 interview with federal authorities. The lawsuit also includes Matthew Grimes, 27, of Aspen, Colorado; and a 43-year-old UAE national, Rashid Sultan Rashid Al Malik Alshahhi.

A judge ordered Barrack and Grimes to be incarcerated, set for bail hearings for Monday.

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“Mr. Barrack has been voluntarily made available to investigators from the very beginning. He is not guilty and will be pleading not guilty,” a Barrack spokesman told CNBC in a statement.

The indictment says Barrack formally advised American officials about Middle East policy, and also sought to be appointed to a senior role in the U.S. government, including as special envoy to the Middle East.

A spokesman for Trump did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment about Barrack’s arrest.

The UAE a federation of seven Arab monarchies, with a shy population of just 10 million is home to many sovereign funds, such as the nearly $ 700 billion Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. Between 35% and 50% of ADIA’s investments are parked in North America, according to the fund’s website.

Barrack is not the first person in Trump’s orbit whose relations with the UAE have been examined.

While he was a counselor in the UAE, George Nader, who later pleaded guilty to child sex and pornography charges in a case that emerged from Robert Mueller’s special counsel in Russia, wired $ 2.5 million at Trump’s Elliott Broidy fundraiser, the Associated Press reported in 2018.

Nader paid the money to Broidy, AP sources said, to promote efforts to persuade Washington to solidify its stance against Qatar, an ally of the U.S. but a bitter rival of the UAE.

The New York Times, citing hundreds of pages of correspondence between the two men, also reported in 2018 of a campaign by Saudi Arabia and the UAE to influence the Trump White House.

Broidy in October 2020 pleaded guilty to a number of conspiracies to act as an unregistered alien agent.

A US Air Force F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter will approach Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.

US Air Force photo by Samuel King Jr.

A dealmaker

The UAE, where Trump forged business ties before becoming president, has established itself as a key partner for the U.S. in the region during the Trump administration.

The UAE has signed into the 2020Abraham Accords, which take steps towards normalizing diplomatic relations between Arab countries and Israel. The agreement made the UAE the first Persian Gulf state to normalize relations with Israel and the third Arab country, after Egypt and Jordan.

In November, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the Trump administration would sell more than $ 23 billion worth of military equipment to the UAE “in recognition of our deepening ties” and “the country’s need for advanced defense capabilities to thwart and defend itself against increased threats from Iran. ”

In April, President Joe Biden’s administration reported the report to Congress that it would resume arms sales during the Trump era. The deal includes dozens of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 combat aircraft, America’s most expensive weapon platform, as well as General Atomics ’armed MQ-9Reaper drones.

The United States, the world’s largest arms exporter, ships half of its weapons to the Middle East, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Arms imports to the Middle East were 25% higher in 2016 to 2020 than in 2011 to 2015.

After Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the UAE is the next largest consumer of U.S. arms in the Middle East.

Amanda Macias reports from Washington. Reported by Kevin Breuninger from New York.

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