Do not fear, MAGA faithfuls of Lewis County. Dear Leader Donald will not be going to prison. No, when the going gets tough, Trump will get going. To Saudi Arabia.
Faced with probably four indictments, Trump will weigh his options. On the one hand, spend the rest of his life behind bars, staring at the mirrorless walls of a small cell, deprived even of gazing upon the image he loves the most.
On the other hand, a luxurious villa on the back nine of some sun-drenched golf course in the Kingdom of Saud which has no extradition treaty with the United States. Perhaps the new championship course at Qiddya designed by Trump’s pal and ardent supporter, golfing great Jack Nicklaus. It is in a mountainous desert region that reminds many of Scottsdale or Tucson, Arizona.
Trump and the Saudis have a lot in common. They share an affection for autocratic government and piles of money and the status money brings. They share an equally dim view of the contributions of women and journalists, though I doubt Trump has authorized the dismemberment of any of his press opponents.
Shortly after Trump left the White House in 2021, son-in-law Jared Kushner received a $2 billion investment to his Affinity Partners group from the Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund. It was personally authorized by Muhammed bin Salman (MBS), a good pal of Kushner’s, over the objections of the Fund’s financial officers who considered Kushner too inexperienced, and a “bad risk.” Kushner led the Trump Administration’s effort to downplay MBS’s ordering of the murder and dismemberment of Saudi and Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey in October 2018.
Trump has developed a strong relationship with the new Saudi-backed LIV Golf Association. He hosted two LIV tournaments at his American courses in 2022 and three in 2023 over the strong objections of the surviving families of 9/11 victims. In the conflict (before they merged) between the old PGA and LIV much acrimony developed between the players who accepted the highly lucrative LIV offers and those who remained loyal to the PGA. Trump called the players who refused the Saudi money out of loyalty to the PGA “stupid.” Trump likely already took his money.
The document Trump flashed around on his tape recording was the U.S. military’s war plans for a possible attack on Iran. The Saudis have an extremely keen interest in such plans. That document is still missing.
Many are puzzled why the government did not take Trump’s passport or place any international travel restrictions on the former president at his arraignment in Miami. Unusual for a defendant who has his own private jet. It is likely the government wishes him to leave. Spare the country the terrible turmoil of four Trump trials.
In the one brief week that President Lincoln lived after the end of the Civil War, he was told that former Confederate President Jeffferson Davis was trying to flee to Europe. Lincoln laughed and said, (paraphrasing) “Why should I stop him?”
Marty Ansley
Cinebar
