'World's already on edge': Trump slammed for signing massive arms deal with Gulf nation

President Donald Trump's first major international trip of his second term was to the Middle East — at which he announced a weapons deal with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

Trump's package gives $1.4 billion in arms sales to the UAE, reported Bloomberg News on Monday.

"The UAE wants to buy six CH-47F Chinook Helicopters for $1.32 billion, and parts and other maintenance for F-16 warplanes at an estimated cost of $130 million," Bloomberg detailed.

"Because nothing says 'stability in the Middle East' like handing more firepower to a petrostate while the world’s already on edge," said podcast host Brian Allen on X, where a number of critics blasted Trump for his latest deals.

Trump announced over the weekend that Qatar will give him a $400 million luxury plane to use while he waits for Boeing to finish the new Air Force One. The move quickly sparked ethics questions, National Public Radio (NPR) wrote Monday.

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Author and podcaster Majid M. Padellan, known as BrooklynDad, recalled Trump's exchange with Ukraine during Trump's first term.

"Trump was WILLING TO BREAK THE LAW by holding up the delivery of Congressionally-approved weapons to Ukraine in exchange for dirt on his opponent, Joe Biden. What's he willing to do for a $400 million luxury jet?" he asked.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), who posted on X, "I will block any arms sale to a nation that is doing direct personal business with Trump. We should have a full Senate debate and vote. UAE's investment in Trump crypto and Qatar's gifting of a plane is nuclear grade graft. An unacceptable corruption of our foreign policy."

Speaking to MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Monday, Murphy called the trip Trump's "corruption tour." Among the things Trump will get from the UAE is an investment in his crypto firm, World Liberty Financial, CNN said on Tuesday morning.

In April, UAE-based DWF Labs announced it was buying $25 million in "tokens" for cryptocurrency launched by the firm, Reuters reported at the time.

"MGX, an Emirati-backed investment firm, agreed to use a cryptocurrency launched by the firm for a $2 billion investment in crypto exchange Binance," CNN's report said, citing an announcement "from World Liberty co-founder Zach Witkoff, whose father is Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East."

The piece added that the "chairman of MGX is the deputy ruler of Abu Dhabi and UAE national security adviser."

"Kind of an elaborate thing to give Trump a plane when you can just deposit a couple billion in his family stablecoin like that UAE company did," Bloomberg's Steven T. Dennis wrote on Bluesky.

Executive director of Campaign for New York Health, Melanie D’Arrigo, noted on Bluesky, "Qatar wants: - U.S. weapons - Military protection - U.S. foreign policy influence in the Middle East - Favorable trade terms and investment opportunities. Trump wants: - bribes. So, Qatar gave him a $400 million plane and a $5.5 billion golf course deal. This isn’t complicated."

Journalist Michael Tracey commented with sarcasm, "Trump's special relationship with Saudi Arabia is really special. Dedicating his first overseas visit, twice -- eight years apart -- to this one Islamic theocratic kingdom, to which he enjoys selling tons of weapons, is a wonderful testament to religious tolerance and harmony."