President Donald Trump has had deep business ties to the Saudi Arabian court for more than two decades.
And those ties are now being called into question over his lack of a tough response to Riyadh since journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared and was possibly killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
"Having a President with global business ties means we've got ongoing worries that policy is going to be affected by his business interests," Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, which tracks potential conflicts of interest in the Trump administraition, recently told CNN.
"We know that historically the Saudis have spent huge money on Trump properties and we know that since he became a candidate and was elected they have targeted discretionary spending at his hotels," Weissman added.
Here are some of Trump's ties to Saudi Arabia.
In 1991, Trump sold his 282-foot yacht named "The Trump Princess" to a Saudi billionaire for $20 million.
At the time, Trump was almost bankrupt and looking to make some fast cash, reportedly selling the yacht to Prince Alwaleed bin-Talal for one third less than he paid for it.
In 1995, Trump also sold New York City's Plaza Hotel to Alwaleed and Singaporean investors for $325 million. In turn, they sold it nearly a decade later for $675 million. In July, Alwaleed's Kingdom Holding Company re-purchased the Plaza along with a New York-based firm.
In November 2017, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS, launched a supposed anti-corruption purge largely seen as a consolidation of his power, arresting several Saudi princes and business leaders.
Alwaleed was one of those MBS had detained, forced to stay at Riyadh's Ritz-Carlton for 83 days. You can read more about that here.
In 2001, Trump sold the 45th floor of Trump Tower to the Saudi court for $4.5 million. In 2008, the floor became part of the Saudi mission to the United Nations.
The New York Daily News revealed the sale in September 2016 after Trump had attacked Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail for the Clinton Foundation accepting money from Saudi Arabia.
"Crooked Hillary says we must call on Saudi Arabia and other countries to stop funding hate," Trump wrote on Facebook in June 2016. "I am calling on her to immediately return the $25 million plus she got from them for the Clinton Foundation!"
But earlier, at a 2015 rally in Alabama, Trump had said: "Saudi Arabia — and I get along great with all of them. They buy apartments from me.
"They spend $40 million, $50 million. Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much," Trump added.
After announcing his presidential candidacy, Trump incorporated several companies with names indicating that they may do business in Saudi Arabia, such as "THC Jeddah Hotel Advisor LLC." Jeddah is the second largest city in Saudi Arabia.
After he was elected, Trump's company, the Trump Organization, announced that it had shut down those companies.
Source: Buzzfeed News, CBS
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