Friday Focus: Trump’s graft in the Gulf States and Bibi’s war drags on
Friday Focus: Trump’s graft in the Gulf States and Bibi’s war drags on
On this week’s Friday Focus episode Janice joins Rudyard from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where Trump made his first state visit since taking office in January. Trump’s next stop was to Qatar which came with news of a gift to the President from the small oil rich country: a $400 million dollar private jet for Air Force One, which comes on the heels of Eric Trump’s $5.5 billion dollar development deal with Qatar (this is the same country that has been funding Hamas to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars). Next up on Trump’s tour was the United Arab Emirates, which announced it will be using up to $2 billion in Trump’s meme coin to fund a crypto exchange. The graft and bribery on display is like nothing we have witnessed before. As Janice points out, this is how Kleptocracies are born. In the second half of the show Rudyard and Janice turn to Israel and the release this week of Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander. Janice believes Netanyahu is dragging on the war in Gaza to serve his own political interests even though 75% of Israelis want the war to end. It is becoming apparent that Donald Trump and Steve Witkoff are losing patience with Bibi and in the next few weeks we could see them force Netanyahu’s hand to agree to a ceasefire.
You may also like

July 3, 2025
– Listen
Munk Dialogue with Andrew Coyne: how do you negotiate with Donald Trump?

July 10, 2025
– Listen
Munk Dialogue with Andrew Coyne: irresponsible tax cuts on both sides of the border

July 15, 2025
– Listen
Munk Dialogue with Andrew Coyne: Canada seeks to diversify its trade partnerships beyond the U.S

July 23, 2025
– Listen
Munk Dialogue with Andrew Coyne: we are living through the golden age of conspiracy theories

July 29, 2025
– Listen
Munk Dialogue with Andrew Coyne: The EU-US trade deal should serve as a warning to Canada and why supply management hurts the poorest Canadians

August 6, 2025
– Listen
Munk Dialogue with Andrew Coyne: America’s checks and balances are failing to restrain Donald Trump

August 19, 2025
– Listen
Munk Dialogue with Andrew Coyne: a phony peace deal for Ukraine could put all of Europe at risk

August 26, 2025
– Listen
Munk Dialogue with Andrew Coyne: the US slides towards dictatorship and Carney clings to Canada’s peacemaking past

September 3, 2025
– Listen
Munk Dialogue with Andrew Coyne: A public display of friendship between China, Russia, and India is a searing indictment of Trump’s foreign policy

September 10, 2025