'Funding peace or war?': UAE billionaire slams Trump for dragging Gulf into Iran war
UAE billionaire Khalaf al-Habtoor accused US President Donald Trump of dragging the US’s energy-rich Gulf partners into “danger” by unleashing a war on Iran that they did not want and betraying the American people by putting war at the “top of your priorities”.
The letter on X marks the highest-profile public censure of Trump from the Arabian Gulf since the war on Iran started on Saturday.
Habtoor is not a government official, but the Dubai-based billionaire is close to ruling circles. Public _expression_ in the UAE, particularly at this level, is tightly controlled by the government.
“A direct question: Who gave you the authority to drag our region into a war with #Iran? And on what basis did you make this dangerous decision?” Habtoor wrote on X in a post addressed to “His Excellency President Donald Trump”.
“Did you calculate the collateral damage before pulling the trigger? And did you consider that the first to suffer from this escalation will be the countries of the region itself!”
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Habtoor owns one of the UAE’s largest conglomerates, Al Habtoor Group.
The censure is all the more notable because the UAE businessman has no record of criticising Trump or his policies. On the contrary, he publicly embraced Israel after Trump brokered the Abraham Accords. The UAE normalised ties with Israel under the 2020 Abraham Accords, which also saw Morocco and Bahrain establish formal relations.
The Habtoor Group was one of the first UAE companies to look at partnering with Israeli airlines. It also signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Israeli tech company Mobileye. The UAE, in general, is seen as the Gulf state closest to Israel.
Habtoor asked in his post whether Trump had been dragged into the war by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“The peoples of this region have the right to ask as well: Was this your decision alone? Or did it come as a result of pressures from Netanyahu and his government?” he wrote.
“You have placed the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Arab countries at the heart of a danger they did not choose,” he added.
Habtoor’s letter underscores what Middle East Eye has reported as a deep sense of abandonment among Gulf ruling circles. The Gulf states have long been at odds with the Islamic Republic, and privately, many welcomed Israel’s degrading of groups aligned with Iran, like Hezbollah in Lebanon.
However, the Gulf states have tried to manage relations with Iran, out of fear that their energy infrastructure and glitzy capitals would be pummelled in a wider war in the region.
Habtoor specifically criticised Trump for starting a war with Iran when the US was lobbying Gulf states to contribute to his so-called "Board of Peace" to govern and reconstruct Gaza.
Questions for Trump
“Before the ink has dried on the Board Of Peace initiative that you announced in the name of peace and stability, we find ourselves facing a military escalation that endangers the entire region. So where did those initiatives go? And what is the fate of the commitments made in the name of peace?” Habtoor asked.
“Most of the funding proposed in those initiatives came from the countries of the region themselves, and from Arab Gulf countries that contributed billions of dollars on the basis of supporting stability and development,” he said.
"These countries have the right to ask today: Where did this money go? And are we funding peace initiatives or funding a war that exposes us to danger?”
Habtoor did not constrain himself to criticising Trump from the Gulf’s angle. He accused Trump of betraying his pledge to the US public not to enter new wars. He said that Trump had ordered at least 658 air strikes in his first year in office, more than former President Joe Biden ordered in four years.
“You have even broken your promises not to get involved in wars and to focus only on America and put it at the top of your priorities, as you ordered foreign military interventions during your second term that included seven countries: Somalia, Iraq, Yemen, Nigeria, Syria, Iran, and Venezuela, in addition to naval operations in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific Ocean,” he wrote.
He said that Trump's poll numbers had dropped nine percent since his first 400 days in office as a result of foreign intervention.
“Even within The United States, there is growing concern about being dragged into a new war, and about exposing the lives of Americans, their economy, and their future to unnecessary risks,” he wrote.
“True leadership is not measured by war decisions, but by wisdom, respect for others, and pushing toward achieving peace,” he added.
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