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In this mailing:
* Con Coughlin: Trump Must Reject Qatar's Dubious 'Flying Palace' Offer
* Amir Taheri: Leo and the Modern Attila


** Trump Must Reject Qatar's Dubious 'Flying Palace' Offer ([link removed])
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by Con Coughlin • May 18, 2025 at 5:00 am
* [Trump's] soft approach, however, to the Saudi Crown Prince -- that he was welcome to join the Abraham Accords "in your own time" -- could easily be a "never"....
* "This is Qatar's classic game: support the Islamist terrorists and then present itself as a mediator, liaison, and even peacemaker – the arsonist playing firefighter. As in Afghanistan, as in Egypt in 2010, and as in every Muslim country." — Yigal Carmon, a former Israeli intelligence officer and founder and president of the Middle East Media and Research Institute (MEMRI), May 15, 2025.
* "Mr. Trump revealed the essential philosophy behind his foreign-policy decisions: He hates war and loves gold. That's it. To hear it fully, to get near its meaning and debate its sufficiency, you had to step over so much broken glass. 'Flying Palace' Violates Emoluments Clause. Sons Enjoy Steep Profits From Trump Presidency." — Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal, May 15, 2025.
* If Trump is really serious about achieving his goal of bringing peace to Gaza, then his first course of action should be to persuade the Qataris to end their funding of Hamas, which has allowed it to maintain its murderous war against Israel. Trump should also once again demand that Qatar's client, Hamas, release all remaining hostages by the end of the week.
* "The President is offering a foreign-policy realism built on commerce, but shorn of American idealism." — Wall Street Journal Editorial Board, May 16, 2025.
* Also, what precedent is being set? Would the first gesture toward all future administrations be to bestow lavish tributes on the president and his family members to gain preferential treatment from the US?
* Trump's political rivals may well be hoping that their chance has finally come to impeach him again -- this time with $400 million dollars' worth of evidence. "Sorry," the New York Post noted, ([link removed]) "this 'gift' is far from free; Qatar will surely expect something in return."
* Trump would be well-advised to reconsider their gift of a luxury jet and reject this highly questionable offer.

Given the Qataris' history of double-dealing with the West, negotiating lucrative contracts with Western firms while at the same time funding Islamist terror groups, US President Donald Trump would be well-advised to reconsider their gift of a $400 million luxury jet and reject this highly questionable offer. Pictured: The Boeing 747 that Qatar intends to give as a gift to Trump sits in Palm Beach International Airport on February 15, 2025. (Photo by Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)

If US President Donald Trump is really serious about bringing peace to the Middle East, then he should rethink again accepting the gift of a luxury $400 million aircraft from the rulers of Qatar. The country is renowned for its continuing support for Islamist terror groups, for continuing to fan the flames that would reignite the fundamentalist Arab Spring, for anti-US terrorist activity and for attacks on the US.

Far from being allies of the US, the Qataris have, in recent years, done their level best to undermine American efforts to bring peace to and stability to the Middle East, not to mention radicalising US higher education. The Middle East Forum's Benjamin Baird has detailed how, since 2012, "Qatar's $40 Billion Spending Spree Buys Influence and Control of Elite Institutions."

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** Leo and the Modern Attila ([link removed])
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by Amir Taheri • May 18, 2025 at 4:00 am
* Since we are now used to a new kind of journalism, let's call that the journalism of what might be, as opposed to what has actually happened. In it, projection, not to say fantasy, often replaces the reporting of facts.
* [W]e were immediately told that Leo XIV will continue the path traced by Pope Francis by supporting the Palestinian cause, showing an understanding of "alternative lifestyles", becoming a defender of the poor and illegal immigrants and an anti-Trump activist, in short a very woke pope.
* The first Pope Leo, who headed the Catholic Church from 440-461, was canonized a saint because, according to lore or legend, he met Attila the Hun and persuaded the ruthless invader of Europe to spare Rome. Today, Leo XIV may be facing another Attila in the shape of the woke movement that tries to re-write history, redefine faith and remold the world by championing fake noble causes.

Pictured: Pope Leo XIV arrives in St Peter's Square on May 18, 2025, in Vatican City. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

He had hardly finished addressing the crowd in front of Saint Peter's Basilica in Vatican City that Robert Provost, as the newly minted Pope Leo XIV, was transformed into a blank face on which interest groups and lobbies of all kind could draw the image they would like him to become.

Since we are now used to a new kind of journalism, let's call that the journalism of what might be, as opposed to what has actually happened. In it, projection, not to say fantasy, often replaces the reporting of facts.

So, we were immediately told that Leo XIV will continue the path traced by Pope Francis by supporting the Palestinian cause, showing an understanding of "alternative lifestyles", becoming a defender of the poor and illegal immigrants and an anti-Trump activist, in short a very woke pope.

One of Trump's most prominent Catholic allies, Steve Bannon, called Leo the "worst pick for MAGA Catholics," casting him as the "anti-Trump pope."

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