Trump’s Middle East gamble: Why sidelining Israel empowers Iran and Hamas

 https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rkkesdxzgx

 Qatar is the primary funder of the hate campaign on Ivy League campuses. If Qatar had invested in the Palestinians, the vast amounts of money it has given universities for their advocacy, all of the Palestinians would be living in big houses and owning farms or factories. 

But the Palestinian flag is not in the service of the Palestinian people. It is in the service of progressives and Islamists. Qatar, led by the Muslim Brotherhood, is the source of the destructive ideology. 

'If this were Biden, we'd be furious': Republicans slam Trump for Qatar 'bribe'

 https://www.israelhayom.com/2025/05/13/if-this-were-biden-we-would-be-furious-republicans-slam-trump-for-qatar-bribe/

Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro echoed these concerns. "Taking sacks of goodies from people who support Hamas, Muslim Brotherhood, Al Jazeera, all the rest, that's not America First," Shapiro said. "I think if we switch the names to Hunter Biden and Joe Biden, we'd all be freaking out on the right. If you want President Trump to succeed, this kind of skeezy stuff needs to stop."

Even staunch Trump supporter Laura Loomer expressed reservations about the arrangement. "I love President Trump. I would take a bullet for him. But, I have to call a spade a spade. We cannot accept a $400 million 'gift' from jihadists in suits," Loomer stated.

Trump’s Disgraceful ‘Palace in the Sky’

 https://www.thefp.com/p/trumps-disgraceful-palace-in-the

And here, there is much more than the plane to report.

The number of conflicts of interest and fresh foreign business entanglements for the Trump family—especially Trump’s sons, Donald Jr. and Eric—since their father won the White House is quite something. Here is a partial list, limited to just the past few weeks.

The Qatari plane is not an exception but the rule for the second Trump administration so far. Both foreign friends and foes are now treating this as a pay-to-play presidency. Why else would Iran dangle a potential trillion-dollar economic opening in the early stages of nuclear talks?

This is precisely the kind of self-dealing in the executive branch that Congress is supposed to check and balance, according to our Constitution. But the Republican Party, so outraged over Hunter Biden’s corruption, has been mute. And the Democrats, for the most part, have been too busy screaming about every other Trump tweet and policy action to focus on the scandal in plain sight.

Trump’s free plane is not so free

 https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/12/trump-qatar-air-force-one-taxpayer-costs-00342299

The aircraft would need to be torn down and rebuilt from the inside out — including overhauling electrical wiring, avionics and power systems — to install secure presidential communications, self-defense tech and electromagnetic shielding.

“The cost of a retrofit like this would likely be on the order of a heavy maintenance cycle for a VC-25A, which is in the tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars,” said former Air Force acquisitions chief Andrew Hunter.

Add to that the significant cost of sweeping the aircraft for software modifications or embedded foreign tech. “That’s not a trivial thing to do,” Hunter said. “That alone would cost tens of millions of dollars.”

Hamas Welcomes US-Israel Rift After Offering 'Goodwill Gesture' to Trump

 https://www.newsweek.com/hamas-welcomes-us-israel-rift-after-offering-goodwill-gesture-trump-2071698

A senior Hamas official tells Newsweek that the Palestinian militant group saw "positive" potential in signs of a growing rift between President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after offering the U.S. leader a political win in the form of an American hostage release ahead of his Middle East trip.

"Given the unlimited support of the American administration for the entity, any disagreement between them would certainly be a positive development that would weaken Netanyahu's stubborn position and open the door to the possibility of reaching an agreement to end the war," Hamas Political Bureau member and spokesperson Basem Naim told Newsweek.

Ben Shapiro, Laura Loomer lead rare MAGA backlash to Trump's Qatari jet

 https://www.axios.com/2025/05/13/trump-qatar-plane-ben-shapiro-loomer

Top MAGA influencers Ben Shapiro, Laura Loomer and Mark Levin broke sharply with President Trump Monday over his decision to accept a $400 million private jet from the Qatari government.

 The revolt marks one of the few times since Trump's return to power that key voices in his base have publicly questioned his judgment — revealing cracks in a MAGA coalition built on unwavering loyalty.

Haley on Trump’s Qatari jet: ‘If this were Biden, we would be furious’

 https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5297853-nikki-haley-donald-trump-qatar-airplane/

Former GOP presidential contender Nikki Haley dinged President Trump on Tuesday over his decision to accept a palatial $400 million jet from Qatar to temporarily replace Air Force One.

“Regardless of how beautiful the plane may be, it opens a door and implies the President and US can be bought,” Haley, who served as ambassador to the United Nations during Trump’s first term, wrote in a post on the social media platform X. “If this were [former President] Biden, we would be furious.”

Trump ceased attacks on Houthis due to op. costs, risks to US assets

 https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-853743

The ceasefire between the US and the Houthis announced by US President Donald Trump last week came due to the operation's costs and dangers to servicemen and equipment, The New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing US officials. 

Operation Rough Rider, which began on March 15, during which the US said it struck over 1,000 targets, cost $1 billion in its first month, the NYT noted. 

According to the report, CENTCOM defined the success of the operation by the amount of bombs dropped, while Intelligence officials noted  the Houthis could re-establish themselves despite "some degradation."

Trump halted Houthi operation over lack of results

 https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/middle-east/artc-trump-halted-houthi-operation-over-lack-of-results-report

Last week, the President of the United States unexpectedly declared that 'we will stop bombing' and proclaimed victory over the militias, but a new report says the operation failed to secure goals

Trump surprised the world when he announced an end to the war against the Houthis without providing a significant reason for it, besides saying that they "capitulated." Despite this, the new report suggests that the victory claimed by Trump actually cost more than he was willing to spend, with more than $1 billion in the month of escalating operations against the Iran-backed group. Trump expected more significant results in a short period of time and the enemy's determination combined with the high costs led him to retreat.

Trump wanted out of Houthi campaign as costs mounted with few results

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/report-says-trump-wanted-out-of-houthi-campaign-as-costs-mounted-with-few-results/

The Trump administration has portrayed the ceasefire, which included no guarantees regarding continued attacks against Israel or other non-US assets, as a victory, claiming the Houthis sued for peace after being degraded by two months of intense strikes.

But according to the report, Trump had sought an off-ramp from the campaign after the Houthis continued to successfully resist US forces, who lost a number of Reaper drones and two F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets, giving the Pentagon 30 days to show results rather than pressing ahead with the original proposed plan for an eight- to 10-month engagement aimed at disabling the group. The paper, relying on unnamed former and current officials, reports that the campaign cost the US over $1 billion in its first month alone, and sparked fears that the US would be short munitions it could need to defend Taiwan against China, leading Trump to seek a way out.

Suicide: Attempted Is there an Obligation to save his Life?

 Igros Moshe (YD 2:174.3)  Question: Saving the life of an attempted suicide?Answer It is clear and obvious that you are obligated to save his life even if this involves profaning Shabbos!

The Great Trump Tariff Rollback

 https://www.wsj.com/opinion/u-s-china-trade-deal-tariffs-donald-trump-xi-jinping-a561d16b?mod=hp_opin_pos_1

The President started a trade war with Adam Smith. He lost.

Rarely has an economic policy been repudiated as soundly, and as quickly, as President Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs—and by Mr. Trump’s own hand. Witness the agreement Monday morning to scale back his punitive tariffs on China—his second major retreat in less than a week. This is a win for economic reality, and for American prosperity.

Make that a partial win for reality. The Administration agreed to scrap most of the 145% tariff Mr. Trump imposed on Chinese goods on April 2 and later. What remains is his new 10% global base-line tariff, plus the separate 20% levy putatively tied to China’s role in the fentanyl trade, for a total rate of 30%. In exchange, Beijing will reduce its retaliatory tariff to 10% from 125%. The deal is good for 90 days to start, as negotiations continue.

Investors are cheering at this border-tax reprieve, since this is a step back from mutual assured trade destruction. Dan Clifton of Strategas calculates that Mr. Trump’s trade walkbacks add up to some $300 billion in tariff relief. That’s a huge tax reprieve.

US, Hamas secured Edan Alexander's release through secret backchannel

 https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-853777

The secret backchannel that led to the release of Edan Alexander began when a senior Hamas official abroad contacted Bishara Bahbah, a Palestinian-American businessman and political activist, according to two senior Israeli officials, a senior Palestinian official, and a senior American official.

This was the first step in a covert diplomatic effort involving multiple governments and intermediaries, according to the officials. 

The senior Hamas figure reached out to Bahbah in April to initiate a channel to Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff. Though slow to build traction, the effort accelerated last week, a senior Israeli official said.

Trump puts an American First, and Israel rejoices

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-puts-an-american-first-and-israel-rejoices/

The freeing of Edan Alexander was a wonderful instance of US and Israeli interests overlapping. But Netanyahu was sidelined, and there is daylight between the two leaderships on a widening number of key issues, just as JD Vance had warned there would be

Having ignored Netanyahu in securing Alexander’s release, the US president also appears increasingly at odds with the prime minister over the cabinet-approved imminent intense escalation of the fighting in Gaza, and the coalition’s determination not to end the war.

In October, at the height of the US presidential election campaign, Trump’s running mate, now Vice President JD Vance, warned resonantly that “America’s interest is sometimes going to be distinct” from Israel’s. He was speaking not in the context of Gaza, but of Iran: “Sometimes we’re going to have overlapping interests, and sometimes we’re going to have distinct interests,” Vance repeated. “And our interest very much is in not going to war with Iran.”