Judd Legum3d ago
1. Yesterday, the NYT dropped a bombshell: Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) has been aggressively lobbying Trump not to end the fighting and pushing him to launch a ground operation.

Why would Trump listen?

Follow the money.
Show threadJudd Legum3d ago
2. Oddly, the NYT does not mention that earlier this year the Saudi government financed a $7 billion development with the Trump Organization.

These licensing deals are essentially all profit for Trump. It's putting money right in his pocket.

https://popular.info/p/update-after-sending-billions-to
UPDATE: After sending billions to Kushner and Trump, Saudis lobby to escalate Iran War

“I’m not going to start a war,” President Trump pledged during his November 2024 victory speech.

Popular Information
Show threadJudd Legum3d ago
3. The NYT story also does not mention that Trump’s chief negotiator, his son-in-law Jared Kushner, is being paid tens of millions annually by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), which is controlled by MBS.

And Kushner is actively soliciting MBS for billions more right now.
Show threadJudd Legum
4. Trump said that Kushner was one of a handful of top officials who convinced him to start the war.

Iran is refusing to meet with Kushner, having concluded that he is not participating in discussions in good faith.
Mar 25 at 6:55pmWeb
Show threadJudd Legum3d ago
5. It raises the question of WHY Trump entered this war and WHY he is allowing it to drag on, with no clear objective, for nearly a month.

“I’m not going to start a war,” President Trump pledged during his November 2024 victory speech. “I’m going to stop wars.”
Show threadChuck Darwin3d ago
@realjuddlegum
Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) has been aggressively lobbying Trump not to end the fighting and pushing him to launch a ground operation
@mastoreaderio unroll please
Show threadMasto Reader3d ago

@cdarwin here's the unrolled thread: https://mastoreader.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fc.im%2F%40cdarwin%2F116292787554867840

Next time, kindly set the visibility to 'Mentioned people only' and mention only me (@mastoreaderio). This ensures we avoid spamming others' timelines and threads unless you intend for others to see the unrolled thread link as well.

Thank you!

Masto Reader