1/ I was stunned to realize that the Qatar Investment Authority was renting an empty office in Trump’s most valuable building. But I was even more surprised to see how U.S. policy changed around the time that the lease began. Here’s the timeline. vanityfair.com/news/2020/09/h…
2/ Sometime between October 2016 and March 2017: Saudi Arabia spends $270,000 at the Trump International Hotel.
3/ May 20, 2017: Trump makes first overseas trip as president, to Saudi Arabia.
4/ June 9, 2017: Back home from his trip, Trump echoes the Saudi position in a regional dispute between Qatar and other U.S. allies. “The nation of Qatar, unfortunately, has historically been a funder of terrorism at a very high level.” c-span.org/video/?c467314…
5/ Sometime after February 2018: Qatar outfits a new office space on the 43rd floor of 555 California Street, Trump’s most valuable holding.
6/ April 10, 2018: Trump welcomes Qatari ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani to the Oval Office. Trump's message about Qatar has done a 180: “Tamim and I have been working for a number of years now—actually, even before the fact—on terrorism." c-span.org/video/?443832-…
7/ July 8, 2019: Al-Thani and other Qatari officials return to DC. Trump rolls out the red carpet. Several board members of the Qatar Investment Authority, which is now renting space inside Trump’s most valuable building, attend dinner with US leaders.
8/ July 8, 2019: Steven Roth, Trump’s business partner in building the where Qatar now has office space, is on the guest list. The venue for the party is, of all places, the Cash Room in the Treasury Department, which once held America’s gold, silver and dollar bills.
9/ July 8, 2019: Trump stands up to give a message to the Qataris at the party. “I have to say that the investments that you make in the United States,” he says, “are very much appreciated.” whitehouse.gov/briefings-stat…
10/ You can read more about this—and other leases involving foreign governments—in White House Inc., which comes out on Tuesday. penguinrandomhouse.com/books/623950/w…
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1/ "I WILL NOT BE TESTIFYING ON MONDAY," Donald Trump says in an all-caps statement posted on his social-media platform, Truth Social.
He'd been slated to retake the stand in his fraud trial against the New York attorney general.
I have a lot of thoughts on this development.
2/ The likelihood that Trump was going to say anything that would help his case was close to zero. He admitted as much in his statement.
3/ There was, however, significant risk in getting on the stand again because, after all, committing perjury comes with consequences. Let's examine Trump's previous testimony. forbes.com/sites/danalexa…
1/ Donald Trump Jr. enters the New York City courthouse where he and his father on in the midst of a fraud trial. Follow along for an account of the day, including a detailed blow-by-blow on the Forbes website: forbes.com/sites/danalexa…
2/ Don Jr. is on the stand. He talks about how his family limited its international licensing business after his father became president. “In retrospect, that was probably a mistake,” he says, noting that his family did not get much credit for it.
3/ So far, Don Jr. has spent most of his time on the stand praising his father's assets. His lawyer is going through the assets one-by-one with a PowerPoint-style presentation. Now we're on Mar-a-Lago, which Don Jr. calls “one of the few sort of American castles.”
1/ Ivanka Trump just made the long walk up the stairs of the Lower Manhattan courthouse where she will face questioning this morning from the New York attorney general’s office as part of her father’s 250 million fraud suit. I’m headed inside now. Follow along here for updates.
2/ "All rise!" Judge Engoron walks into the courtroom. Other major players are mostly here, too: Trump's lawyers, the attorney general. Not here yet: Ivanka Trump, who was just called to the witness stand.
3/ "Witness entering," announces an officer. Ivanka Trump walks in smiling and approaches the witness stand. "Raise your right hand," instructs another officer. Ivanka is now under oath. She gives her name and address, on a billionaire-loaded island in Miami.
2/ First observation: There are far more people here today than we've seen in the last several weeks. The courtroom is packed. Same with the overflow room, which generally has only a handful of people. Same with a 2nd overflow room, where I'm watching.
3/ The attorney general's team arrived a little while ago, climbing up the steps for a monumental day. Trump is at the defense table in the courtroom, wearing what has become something of a uniform for him this trial--blue tie on blue shirt on dark suit.
1/ I’m back in Lower Manhattan, where Donald Trump and his associates are facing fraud allegations. Eric Trump returns to the stand this morning after tense testimony yesterday.
2/ Eric strolls into the courtroom, wearing a dark suit and blue tie. He stands at the defense table, with his hands in his pockets. The attorney general is here as well, seated in her usual front-row spot. When the judge arrives in about 5 minutes, things should start rolling.
3/ "All rise!" Judge Engoron walks in and scampers up to his perch, as he usually does. "As the day goes on, I go slower and slower," he jokes.
1/ I’m back at the courthouse in Lower Manhattan for Donald Trump’s fraud case.
His two oldest sons, Eric and Don Jr., are both expected to testify today. The security lines are longer than anything I’ve seen yet.
Should be an exciting day. Follow along for updates.
2/ Donald Trump Jr. enters the courtroom, wearing a Navy blue suit, pink shirt and light blue tie. Like yesterday, he has his hair slicked back and is sporting a beard.