The senator accused President Donald Trump of being involved in “corruption of US foreign policy.”
A group of US Senators is about to suspend the sale of $3.5 billion in arms sales to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
Two “disapproval resolutions” were introduced in the United States on Thursday with Democrats Chris Murphy, Chris Van Hollen, Brian Schatz and Tim Kane, and independent Senator Bernie Sanders, who often votes as Democrats.
Lawmakers also issued a statement denounced President Trump for concluding his trip to the Middle East, accusing him of actively engaging in “corruption of US foreign policy” in the timing of sales and recent investment transactions.
The State Department this week approved $1.6 billion in sales of Chinook helicopters and equipment to the UAE, components for F-16 aircraft, and spare and repair parts to support Apaches, Blackhawks and Chinook helicopters. In the first report, the figure cited nearly $1.3 billion, but the $1.6 billion figure was used in a statement from lawmakers. Lawmakers are also looking to block $1.9 billion in sales to Qatar of MQ-9B Predator drones, associated with MQ-9B Predator drones approved by the State Department in March.
Lawmakers accused Trump of accepting the bounty in exchange for transactions, citing news that Emirati’s investment firm MGX will use stubcoin — saying it will use cryptocurrency whose value is fixed to another asset.
The Trump family has reportedly created millions of people from niche cryptocurrencies like $Trump’s “memecoin” since the president returned to the White House in January.
I know Trump’s crypto fraud seems hard to understand. So I went to the Senate floor and disassembled the most outrageous things.
Foreign governments are investing $2 billion in Trump coins to get favorable treatment from the administration. Wild rot.
How does this work? pic.twitter.com/pxlslzh2qn
– Chris Murphy🟧 (@chrismurphyct) May 13, 2025
In addition to business transactions, the senator expressed fear that US weapons sent to the UAE could fall into the hands of Sudan’s paramilitary, swift support forces.
“The United States should not deliver weapons to the UAE to support and violate this humanitarian disaster and total human rights violation,” Van Hollen said, citing the civil war in Sudan.
The senator also cited the Qatar Boeing 747 Jumbo offer for temporary use by the president as an air force. The offer has attracted criticism from both Democrats and some Republicans. Because it will be the most expensive foreign gift ever exchanged between foreign governments and elected US officials.
“Donald Trump has nothing more to love than being treated like a king, which is why foreign governments are trying to buy his favor with his gorgeous jumbo jets and investments in Trump’s crypto fraud,” Murphy said in a statement.
When asked about the aircraft offer, Trump blamed the lack of progress in building Boeing’s new air force, saying he was “silly” to reject free planes.
“It’s not a gift for me, it’s a gift for the Department of Defense,” he said.
It is unclear when the vote will occur in the joint “disapproval resolution,” but the US political news outlet said Democrats are likely to force them to the Senate floor due to the nature of the bill.
