FLASH
Shkruar nga Federico Fubini
Witkoff, Donald Trump's envoy and business partner, has met at least three times with Vladimir Putin without the presence of a translator or other American diplomats.
The more wars, casualties, damage to international trade and the purchasing power of ordinary people increase, the more difficult it becomes to find a connection between events.
But consider these facts: Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump's envoy and business partner, has met at least three times with Vladimir Putin without the presence of a translator or other US diplomatic representatives; the United Arab Emirates has completed a half-billion dollar deal for 49% of World Liberty Financial, the cryptocurrency company founded in the fall of 2024 by the Trump and Witkoff families; Qatar, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and Oman are among the countries that have signed trade contracts with the Trump family since he was re-elected.
But it is not just the president of the United States who reminds us that there is a connection between real autocratic political models, money, and the destabilization of international relations.
We only need to look at Qatar, its approach to Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu or to Libya. The relationship between leaders, autocracy and money exists. Even without Trump, or before him. And it is one of the least discussed factors, although among the most important, to read the chaos into which the international system is sliding. Without this factor, today we would live in a safer world and a more stable economy.
Let's see why, starting from the facts.
Lack of interpreter
Steve Witkoff, the US president's envoy and partner, doesn't speak Russian, has no previous dealings with Russia, and has no diplomatic experience. Yet on February 11, 2025, we see him smilingly enter a Kremlin hall and warmly shake Vladimir Putin's hand.
The two had never met before, but that day they talked for three and a half hours. The details of the meeting have never been made public, although it did produce at least one concrete result: the Moscow government agreed that day to release and allow the departure of Marc Fogel, an American prisoner arrested on a pretext and sentenced to 14 years in prison.
But it is quite impossible that Putin and Witkoff talked about that case for three and a half hours. What did they discuss for the rest of the time? No other meeting between the two lasted that long, nor since, but of that meeting in particular we will most likely never learn the content. The reason is simple: there are no witnesses from the American side, because there were no officials in charge of taking notes and distributing them to the administration, and there was no American translator to check the fidelity of the Russian translator's translation. In these respects, that meeting constitutes an absolute exception in decades of United States diplomatic history.
Meetings without witnesses
Witkoff, a month later and then again two months after that, Trump's envoy met again with the Russian president, again without an entourage and without an interpreter from his country. Without anyone who could report outside.
The content of the talks is unknown. We only know that the US administration has since all but abandoned Ukraine and that Trump himself is increasingly openly siding with Russia. In 2026, we have reached the point where Ukraine has supplied more weapons to the United States and its Gulf allies than the United States has supplied to Ukraine (the latter being zero).
How cryptocurrency works and businesses
We also know that a few weeks before the meeting between Putin and Witkoff in the Kremlin, another example of the modus operandi of the circle that now dominates the White House had occurred. Four days before the president was sworn in for a second term, the Trump and Witkoff families had reached an agreement with an investment fund called “Aryam Investment 1,” in which the national security adviser and member of the ruling family of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, invests.
The deal is worth half a billion dollars and sees the Abu Dhabi investor take 49% of World Liberty Financial, the newly formed cryptocurrency company of the Trump and Witkoff families.
This contract would never have been made public if not for the Wall Street Journal's revelation earlier this year. Trump received $187 million and Witkoff $31 million.
We also know that after this agreement, the United Arab Emirates received the green light from Trump to supply 500,000 advanced semiconductors per year manufactured in America. Previous export restrictions were lifted.
What does Trump give in exchange for dollars?
Therefore, the question is not whether Trump and people associated with him are getting richer after returning to the White House, because that is obvious to everyone: The New York Times estimates $1.4 billion since the start of his second presidency.
The more serious question is: in exchange for what (if anything) is the Trump family getting rich?
Kjo pyetje prek thelbin e paradoksit të viteve tona. Tridhjetë ose njëzet vjet më parë administratat e Bill Clinton ose George Ë. Bush ishin të ndryshme në shumë aspekte, por të bashkuara në një pikë: ato besonin se mund t’i bënin vendet autokratike dhe të korruptuara të ish-Bashkimit Sovjetik ose të Lindjes së Mesme më demokratike dhe më transparente, pra më të ngjashme me vendet e zhvilluara.
Në vend të kësaj, “infektimi” duket se po ndodh në drejtimin e kundërt: fuqia e parasë së autokracive kërcënon demokracitë dhe rendin ndërkombëtar, si në planin politik ashtu edhe në aksesin ndaj burimeve.
“Projekti Raven”
Shikoni rastin “Raven”, një pararendës që duhej të kishte ndezur alarmet. Në vitet 2010 shumë monarki të Gjirit zhvilluan një pakënaqësi në rritje ndaj Katarit, të akuzuar për financimin e terroristëve të Al Qaedës, ISIS-it dhe Hamasit dhe për nxitjen e pranverave arabe me qëllim rrëzimin e qeverive të rajonit në favor të një ngritjeje të Vëllazërisë Myslimane.
Qeveria e Abu Dhabit nisi një iniciativë të guximshme: punësoi ish-agjentë të NSA-së amerikane për një sulm kibernetik (të quajtur “Projekti Raven”), i cili mori mijëra dokumente nga arkivat digjitale të qeverisë së Dohas. Në vitet pasuese dolën në dritë letra që dukeshin si urdhra pagesash nga ministria e financave ose zyra e kryeministrit të Katarit për figura ose organizata me ndikim në vendet demokratike.
Dokumentet u publikuan për herë të parë nga platforma franceze e lajmeve Blast.
Fluksi i parave nga Katari drejt politikanëve perëndimorë
Kujt i drejtohen këto urdhra pagesash? Një letër e ministrisë së financave të Dohas, me shumë gjasë e tetorit 2011, përmban një urdhër pagesë për filozofin dhe aktivistin francez Bernard-Henri Lévy në shumën prej 40 milionë riyalësh të Katarit (pak më shumë se nëntë milionë euro).
Nuk ka prova që Lévy t’i ketë marrë këto para. Ai mohoi çdo lidhje me Katarin dhe paditi gazetarët e Blast për shpifje. Gjykatat franceze nuk u shprehën për autenticitetin e dokumentit, por hodhën poshtë padinë e tij duke vlerësuar se hetimi gazetaresk ishte i bazuar në verifikime të kujdesshme.
Dokumente të tjera përmendin pagesa të supozuara për Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, për Laurent Platini dhe madje edhe për organizatën Human Rights Ëatch. Gjithashtu përmenden edhe letra që lidhen me liderë politikë si Nicolas Sarkozy ose Benjamin Netanyahu, por autenticiteti i tyre nuk është provuar.
Shumë gjëra mbeten të paqarta. Por shenjat e shpërndara në sistemin ndërkombëtar tregojnë të gjitha në të njëjtin drejtim: rritja ekonomike, politike ose ushtarake e qeverive autokratike po i bën transaksionet e errëta një përbërës thelbësor të kaosit të këtyre viteve.
Është e mundur që asnjë nga luftërat që po na rrethojnë në Evropë, Mesdhe dhe Lindjen e Mesme të mos kuptohet plotësisht pa parë rrjedhën e parave, kriptovalutave apo transferimeve nga parajsat fiskale.
The transformation of America under Trump only accelerates this phenomenon. Whether he is a cause or just the latest symptom, perhaps only the historians of this century will discover. / Adapted from "Pamphlet", from "Corriere della Sera"
Lini një Përgjigje