Source: Gideon’s Substack
by Noah Millman
“Q: What do Air Force One and Edan Alexander have in common? The answer I’m looking for is not ‘they were both paid for by Qatar,’ even though Qatar has historically been one of the largest funders of Hamas. The answer I’m looking for is: they were both gifts. And unlike in private relationships, where people may give each other gifts simply out of an expression of love, in public life gifts are given in order to curry favor and to induce in the receiving party the feeling of obligation. … what we’re looking at is that Qatar is trying to shape American policy by offering a personal reward to the president. I’m not so naive as to think that corruption of that sort hasn’t gone on frequently in the past in one form or another, but there’s something sobering about seeing it done so blatantly.” (05/13/25)
https://gideons.substack.com/p/do-gifts-to-trump-keep-on-giving