1. United States
2. Ohio
3. Letter

As America enters yet another war for regime change, there is an eerie silence about whether it’s for our best interests or those of Middle Eastern elites who invested billions in our president. Regardless of the Trump Administration’s lies, the United States was not at imminent risk of being attacked by Iran. Our own intelligence suggests they were years away from having the capacity to fire missiles at our soil. They did, however, clearly pose a greater danger to Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The ruling families and governments of these nations have massively enriched Donald Trump and his family. They’ve poured billions into his son-in-law’s private equity firm and teamed up with Jared Kushner and the Trump Organization on multiple multi-billion dollar projects. The Emirati national security adviser owns 49% of the Trumps’ cryptocurrency company. The state of Qatar even gave him a $400 million jet. We have already seen them get deeply suspicious benefits in the wake of these bribes, including an unprecedented security guarantee to Qatar and the okay of an AI chip sale to the UAE that could allow China access to our technology. The Trump White House could not be bothered to seek the approval of Congress or the public before sending our sons and daughters into combat, but they consulted closely with these nations as regional allies during the weeks leading up to the strikes. Only one in four Americans supported striking Iran, but the Saudi and Emirati governments were all on board, and unlike us they got what they asked for from this administration. American servicemembers and countless civilians are dying, and there is plenty of bloodshed still ahead of us. There should not be any doubt as to why or who it will serve. And can anyone really believe that the billions of dollars at play for Donald Trump will have zero influence on his decision-making? How did the Gulf states’ sponsorship of Trump impact his choice to take us into this unnecessary war? How will his personal financial gains be weighed against what’s good for the country as the war goes on? Is this about America, or is it a payoff? We need to know. And not enough powerful people are asking. At the very minimum, we need members of Congress to speak up about Trump’s conflicts of interest. But more than that, please push for a full investigation into the President’s ties with these states and his administration’s consultations with them ahead of the war. His and his team’s financial ties should be fully exposed, and they should be held to account for them. Furthermore, please be sure to use your position to spotlight any way Trump personally profits from his wartime decisions in the months ahead.