Sen. Chris Murphy said he wants Congress to have a say in arms deals with countries that have made investments in Trump’s personal businesses.
In an interview with Here & Now’s Asma Khalid, Murphy singled out Qatar for offering to give President Trump a jet the White House could use as a temporary Air Force One.
“Qatar has been a really important ally of the United States, and so it is disturbing that a country like Qatar, who should know better, is engaging in this kind of corruption,” Murphy said. “And part of the message that we’re sending to these countries is that if you go forward with this, it will compromise in the long run your relationship with the United States. There will be a democratic president someday, and they will remember the ways in which these nations were willing to facilitate the corruption of US foreign policy.”
3 questions with Sen. Chris Murphy
What troubles you about Trump’s trip to the Middle East?
“Let’s be clear why Donald Trump has chosen these three countries as his first major foreign trip. It’s not because they’re the three most important countries in the world. He’s going to these three countries because these are the three countries that are willing to pay him. They’re literally putting billions of dollars in his pockets. And in exchange, they are asking for national security concessions. A country like Qatar is giving him a $400 million plane, and of course Qatar is going to want something in return, perhaps some pretty advanced American weapons systems that we otherwise would be reluctant to put it into the hands of a repressive dictatorship in the Middle East. The UAE wants us to relax our export controls on semiconductors. That’s a really dangerous thing because the UAE would likely pass along that technology right to China.”
What do you think about the Trump administration saying the goal is to create a more stable region and make defense and economic deals?
“This administration lies all the time, and what we see is that the biggest announcements that have come out of the Middle East relative to the United States in the last several weeks have not been announcements about broad policy concessions that they are making, but they are announcements relative to massive investments in Trump properties in Trump businesses.”
Why do you think lawmakers should vote on arms sales?
“There are many arms sales that are entered into between the United States and other countries, and Congress has a right to take a vote on those sales. But for many of them, because they’re not terribly controversial, Congress doesn’t exercise that right. But it only requires one senator to ask for that vote, and I have made it clear that on sales to these countries where countries have made personal investments in Trump’s businesses, we should have a vote on the Senate floor.”
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Jill Ryan produced and edited this interview for broadcast with Michael Scotto. Scotto adapted it for the web.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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