Trump says no golf, real estate talk in Saudi meetings
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US President Donald Trump speaking to reporters on board Air Force One en route from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to Doha, Qatar, on May 14.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
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ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE - US President Donald Trump, whose family has major business interests in the Gulf countries he is visiting this week, said there was no talk of building a Trump Tower in Syria or golf during his meetings in Saudi Arabia that ended on May 14.
Mr Trump met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa during his first stop in Riyadh on May 13 and 14 before heading to Qatar.
The President made a surprise announcement on May 13 that the US will remove longstanding sanctions
“We’ll have to wait a little while until things calm down,” he said, according to a pool report from the Washington Post.
Mr Trump also said he did not know how the deal for a firm backed by the Abu Dhabi government to use the Trump family company’s digital coins for a US$2 billion (S$2.6 billion) investment in a crypto exchange came about.
“I really don’t know anything about it, but I’m a big crypto fan, I will tell you,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One as he travelled to Qatar. He was scheduled to visit the United Arab Emirates on May 15.
Asked if PGA or LIV golf came up in his meetings with Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Mr Trump told reporters: “No.”
Mr Trump, whose company owns a number of golf courses, has tried to broker a deal
Mr Trump's family has forged multi-billion dollar business deals in the Gulf, moves that Democrats and other critics say could open pathways to improperly influence the President.
Qatar is considering giving Mr Trump a US$400 million plane,
The White House has said there is no conflict and that the President is acting in the interests of the American public and not his own. The Trump Organisation has said Mr Trump’s adult children manage his assets. REUTERS
