US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he has withdrawn his nominee for UN ambassador, Elise Stefanik, to help preserve the Republicans' slim majority in the House of Representatives, which will be crucial for advancing his “America First” agenda.
Mr Trump had chosen the New York Republican to represent the US at the world body shortly after winning re-election in November.
“I have asked Elise, as one of my biggest allies, to remain in Congress to help me deliver historic tax cuts, great jobs, record economic growth, a secure border, energy dominance, peace through strength, and much more, so we can make America great again,” Mr Trump said on his Truth Social platform. “With a very tight majority, I don’t want to take a chance on anyone else running for Elise’s seat."
Mr Trump's Republican Party holds a 218 to 213 majority in the House, with four seats currently vacant. They are gearing up to extend the 2017 tax cuts and tackle the national debt, which exceeds $36.6 trillion.
Elected to Congress in 2014, Ms Stefanik was initially a moderate conservative but has shifted to the right over time and now aligns herself closely with Mr Trump's wing of the Republican Party.
She was elected chairwoman of the House Republican Conference in 2021, succeeding Liz Cheney, who became a Trump critic after his attempts to overturn the 2020 election. In this role, Ms Stefanik defended Mr Trump during both impeachment trials and frequently criticised the Biden administration on issues related to Israel and the Middle East, as well as voting against spending packages that would deliver assistance to Ukraine.
Her nomination as ambassador to the UN, regarded as one of the least controversial administration picks, progressed through the committee in late January. But the House Republicans' razor-thin majority has left her confirmation in limbo for several months. She was the last cabinet-level Trump nominee who had not been confirmed.
“There are others that can do a good job at the United Nations,” he wrote.
Dorothy Shea has been serving as the acting US ambassador to the UN since Linda Thomas-Greenfield left in January. It was not immediately clear who Mr Trump might choose to replace Ms Stefanik.
Whoever Mr Trump chooses to replace Ms Stefanik will face a complicated future at the UN. Since resuming office on January 20, the President has ceased US participation in the UN Human Rights Council, continued the suspension of funding for the Palestinian relief agency UNRWA, and initiated a review of the UN cultural agency Unesco.
He has also declared US intentions to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement and the World Health Organisation.
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Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
Company%20Profile
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The Perfect Couple
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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