Trump’s Mideast visit comes as his family deepens business, crypto ties in region.

President’s regional trip comes after sons forged plans:
1. for Trump Tower in Dubai,
2. a deal for a luxury golf resort in Qatar
3. and two new real estate projects in Riyadh
4. and more and more

It’s not just the “gesture” of a $400 million luxury plane that US President Donald Trump says he’s smart to accept from Qatar. Or that he effectively auctioned off the first destination on his first major foreign trip, heading to Saudi Arabia because the kingdom was ready to make big investments in US companies.

It’s not even that the Trump family has fast-growing business ties in the Middle East that run deep and offer the potential of vast profits.

Instead, it’s the idea that the combination of these things and more — deals that show the close ties between a family whose patriarch oversees the US government and a region whose leaders are fond of currying favor through money and lavish gifts — could cause the United States to show preferential treatment to Middle Eastern leaders when it comes to American affairs of state.