State Department approves sale of $1.4B worth of helicopters, F-16 parts to UAE ahead of Trump's visit

The U S State Department communicated it has approved a prospective sale of more than billion in helicopters and F- fighter jet parts to the United Arab Emirates just ahead of President Donald Trump s visit to the Middle Eastern nation The proposed sale includes billion for CH- F Chinook helicopters and million for F- s parts the State Department reported on Monday The agency has notified Congress of the proposed sale although chosen Democrats have previously signaled they may be hesitant to give the green light to such a sale This comes as Trump is expected to trip to the UAE later this week for the final stop on his four-day trip to the Middle East He is also visiting Saudi Arabia and Qatar on his first major international trip of his second administration HOUSE DEMOCRAT CALLS FOR 'IMMEDIATE' ETHICS PROBE OF QATARI PLANE GIFT TO TRUMPThe UAE has already vowed to spend trillion in U S investments over the next decade which are expected to focus on semiconductors manufacturing ability and artificial intelligence Arms transfers and defense transaction are overseen by the Pentagon s Defense Prevention Cooperation Agency and the State Department The State Department first reviews deals wished by other countries to ensure they meet the U S government's goals If approved the agency notifies Congress of the sale Federal lawmakers may reject a proposed sale but if they elect not to the U S cabinet proceeds to negotiations Sen Chris Murphy D-Conn reported on Monday ahead of the State Department's announcement that he would block any arms sale to a nation that is doing direct personal business with Trump citing the UAE-backed capital firm putting billion into Trump s crypto venture and the U S president's administration accepting Qatar s gift of a luxury Boeing - jumbo jet to serve as Air Force One We should have a full Senate debate and vote Murphy wrote on X UAE s stake in Trump crypto and Qatar s gifting of a plane is nuclear grade graft An unacceptable corruption of our foreign strategy Normally arms sales go forward without a vote he continued But any Senator can object and force a full debate and Senate vote I will do that for any military deal with a nation that is paying off Trump personally We can't act like this is normal foreign program In January Sen Chris Van Hollen D-Md and Rep Sara Jacobs D-Calif expressed opposition to a billion arms sale to the UAE pointing to the country providing weapons to the Rapid Assistance Forces in Sudan which the U S has accused of war crimes and ethnic cleansing TRUMP DEFENDS QATAR JUMBO JET OFFER AS TROUBLED BOEING FAILS TO DELIVER NEW AIR FORCE ONE FLEETCongress has previously attempted to block Trump from completing arms sales to Gulf nations including in during his first term when lawmakers placed holds on deals with Saudi Arabia and the UAE over concerns about civilian casualties in the war in Yemen as the Saudi coalition has been accused of being responsible for the majority of civilian deaths However Trump has invoked a provision allowing sales to go through right now without a review period in cases considered an emergency