Tucker Carlson on Trump Organization Middle East deals: 'Seems like corruption'

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson agreed with a guest on his podcast that the timing of the Trump Organization’s business ventures in the Middle East — just as the Trump administration announced new deals with those foreign governments — “seems like corruption.”

In an interview on “The Tucker Carlson Show” podcast, the far-right host asked former U.S. Navy SEAL Shawn Ryan how he thinks the Trump administration is doing so far.

Ryan, who hosts his own popular podcast, started by praising President Trump for his work rolling back diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and some of the efforts at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — though he said he thinks it might have gone too far.

But Ryan said he thinks the administration needs “a lot of work" and that he is "losing hope,” pointing to the appearance of impropriety stemming from the Trump Organization’s dealings in the Middle East.

“F‑‑‑ it, I’m going to get blasted for this, but, you know, I mean, I see all these negotiations going on in the Middle East and then — I don’t know when these buildings were approved or when these deals got done — but then I also see, like, oh, there’s a brand new hotel going up in Dubai or Abu Dhabi, and another one going up in Doha, I think,” Ryan said.

“And I'm like, did these just get done — also with the deals which just happened over there — or was this earlier?” he continued.

Trump’s family business ventures include a new deal to build a luxury golf resort in Qatar in partnership with Qatari Diar, a real estate company backed by the country’s sovereign wealth fund. The Trump family company is also leasing its brand to two new real estate projects in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and is set to build a Trump Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as well as an upcoming Trump International Hotel and luxury golf development in Oman.

Meanwhile, the president just traveled to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where he announced a series of significant economic and defense deals with the countries, including lifting previous export restrictions on artificial intelligence (AI) chip sales to the region. Trump also announced a new deal with the UAE to build the largest AI data center outside the U.S. in Abu Dhabi.

“That stuff kind of worries me,” Ryan added.

“Well, it seems like corruption, yeah,” Carlson replied.

Ryan lamented that “the U.S. has just become so tribal now,” saying it’s difficult to give constructive criticism without “getting blasted.” He said people are losing their critical thinking skills and just blindly falling in line with “whatever that tribe says they’re going to do.”

“I agree with every word,” Carlson said at the end of Ryan’s remarks.

The exchange was first highlighted by Mediaite.

The White House has pushed back on concerns about potential conflicts of interest.

Asked before he left for the Middle East if Trump might use the trip to meet with people tied to his family’s business, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said it was “ridiculous” to “suggest that President Trump is doing anything for his own benefit.”

“The president is abiding by all conflict of interest laws,” she said.

Administration officials have brushed off such concerns about the president’s policy decisions bleeding into the business interests of his family by noting that Trump’s assets are in a trust managed by his children. A voluntary ethics agreement released by The Trump Organization also bars the firm from striking deals directly with foreign governments.

 The Associated Press contributed.