Donald Trump considers UAE bailout says he is shocked 'they are really rich'

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he is considering a financial request from the UAE. While speaking to the CNBC show Squawk Box, Trump said that “he found it shocking”, but the US might consider a financial bailout with the United Arab Emirates, or some sort of financial arrangement involving a currency swap line. He also added that they were hit “hardest” with around 1400 missiles. He said that Iran was the “bully” of the region that was threatening everyone and added that "it was shocking because we thought that they [Iran] would shoot missiles at Israel but not every other country in the area.”

Trump, further responding to the query from the anchor that the UAE is traditionally considered to be rich, said, “Yeah, I mean, I am surprised because they are really rich.” But he said that it is under consideration, he added that US allies in the Gulf are “much better allies than NATO”.

Trump said that “the UAE got hit with 1,400 missiles,” and added “fortunately they had great defence, and were able to shoot down most of them, but they did get hit hard. They were hit the hardest of the group, actually. And really led by incredible people.”

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Trump also mentioned that he got a $1 trillion investment from the UAE last year for an aluminium plant in Oklahoma. “They’re very good to this country, so yeah, if I can help them, I will,”

The Wall Street Journal reported that the UAE Central Bank Governor, Khaled Mohamed Balama, initiated talks with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve officials during meetings in Washington the previous week. The report highlighted that the Emirati official suggested that they might be compelled to conduct oil sales and other transactions in Chinese yuan if not provided a dollar lifeline. The officials described that the request was "preliminary and precautionary," however, it is typical for the Federal Reserve to push back against any currency swap, unless there were chances of spillover to affect the US economy.

This development is significant as it is a reversal of the script when the White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters President Donald Trump was "quite interested" in a plan of demanding payments from the Gulf to fund the war. Now, if the US is paying for the war to the UAE, along with the daily war cost, it could affect the dollar's position as the global reserve currency.