Thomas Watkins is Washington bureau chief at The National
December 18, 2023
On Monday morning, I had the displeasure of reading parts of the English translation of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf to see if Donald Trump really is taking a page out of the 1925 Nazi manifesto.
The former US president – and runaway favourite to become the Republican nominee in 2024 – spent the weekend honing his strongman rhetoric and drawing comparisons to the German dictator.
He told supporters that undocumented immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country” and warned that they are “coming into our country from Africa, from Asia, all over the world.”
Forget about a racist dogwhistle. Mr Trump was literally yelling his views into a microphone. In case anyone was in any doubt, he later posted his comment on his social media platform, Truth Social.
Donald Trump's Truth Social post on December 18, 2023. Photo: Truth Social
“The crime is going to be tremendous, the terrorism is going to be [too],” he told thousands of cheering supporters at a campaign rally in Durham, New Hampshire.
Mr Trump made similar remarks on Veterans' Day last month, when he also pledged to “root out the communists, Marxist fascists and the radical thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country".
President Joe Biden said at the time that such remarks echo “language you heard in Nazi Germany in the '30s”. Several commentators made new comparisons to Hitler after Mr Trump's weekend remarks.
Hitler wrote his racist and anti-Semitic screed while in prison for a failed coup in Munich in 1923. Here's what he had to say about Jewish people:
“Look at the ravages from which our people are suffering daily as a result of being contaminated with Jewish blood,” wrote the future Nazi leader who oversaw the Holocaust.
He also wrote more broadly of “the poison of foreign races” that was “eating into the body of our people”, and had plenty to say about the “plague” of Marxism.
Mr Trump's comments at the weekend drew predictable howls of outrage from his opponents, with Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor who is also seeking the Republican nomination, calling them “disgusting”.
Pramila Jayapal, a progressive Democratic congresswoman, said his words were “dehumanising and fascist”.
Hitler also hated the very notion of democracy, something else that Mr Trump, who refuses to admit he lost the 2020 election, struggles with.
Here's the thing, though: Just as Mr Trump embraces extremist rhetoric, many of his supporters appear to as well.
According to a new poll by the Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa, conservatives in Iowa, where the first Republican caucus of the 2024 presidential race will be held on January 15, Mr Trump's recent statements actually make them more likely to vote for him.
“I don’t care what he tweets,” one poll respondent said, according to the Register.
“It’s a little off the wall, but you know? A lot of them do stuff like that,” she added, noting that she was backing Mr Trump for his policy agenda.
His supporters also appear to have shrugged off comments Mr Trump made this month when he said he would not be a dictator – with the notable exception of his first day in office.
His supporters, always willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, said he was merely trolling his rivals and members of the hyper-sensitive liberal press.
The big question for Mr Trump then is how much any of this Nazi-esque banter can help him beyond the confines of his base.
He already lost the popular vote in 2016 and 2020, and his party underperformed at the 2022 midterms.
Mr Biden is taking a hammering in the polls and the Democrats are very skilled at losing control of the political narrative and touting the President's record.
Instead of capitalising on this by reaching out to swing voters and demographics beyond his base, Mr Trump seems determined to double down on his losing formula.
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.”
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), EsekaiaDranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), JaenBotes (Exiles), KristianStinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), EmosiVacanau (Harlequins), NikoVolavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), ThinusSteyn (Exiles)
