Former US president Donald Trump promised to “finish what we started” in another term, even if he is indicted and despite polls showing many Republican voters want an alternative, at a high-profile gathering of party members and supporters on Saturday.
Mr Trump's speech to close the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbour, Maryland, was his biggest public appearance since announcing his third White House bid in November.
“We are going to finish what we started,” he said to an enthusiastic crowd in a ballroom that was about two-thirds full.
“We’re going to complete the mission, we’re to going see this battle through to ultimate victory. We’re going to make America great again.”
The former president is facing multiple investigations, including for his handling of classified documents and his role in the January 6 Capitol riot, but he told reporters before the speech “absolutely I wouldn’t even think about leaving” the race if he is indicted.
Before Mr Trump took to the stage, it was revealed that he had won the convention's straw poll of potential Republican leaders with 62 per cent of the vote — with Ron DeSantis, the Republic Governor of Florida, a distant second at 20 per cent.
Mr Trump did not draw direct contrasts with Mr DeSantis and other rivals in his speech, instead emphasising the achievements of his first term and promising to fight for his aggrieved supporters if voters put him back in the White House.
"In 2016, I declared: I am your voice. Today, I add: I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed: I am your retribution," he told the gathering.
"I will totally obliterate the deep state. I will fire the unelected bureaucrats and shadow forces who have weaponised our justice system. And I will put the people back in charge of this country again."
Mr Trump was the biggest draw at the conference. Mr DeSantis and former vice president Mike Pence skipped it, while the only other declared or potential candidates who spoke at the four-day event were former ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, former secretary of state Mike Pompeo, and businessmen Perry Johnson and Vivek Ramaswamy.
Ms Haley got a warm welcome from the CPAC crowd but mostly polite applause throughout her speech, and she was heckled by chants of “we love Trump” after exiting. She made no direct contrasts with Mr Trump, focusing instead on President Joe Biden, “socialist Democrats” and the threat from China.
Mr Pompeo also avoided mentioning his former boss, besides criticising the $8 trillion added to US debt during the Trump administration. He took some veiled jabs at the former president, including saying, “We can’t become the left, following celebrity leaders with their own brand of identity politics, those with fragile egos who refuse to acknowledge reality".
In his speech, Mr Trump recited the “witch hunt” investigations he faces and his familiar grievances and false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. He said the first reconciliation bill he would sign if elected would be “a massive increase” in the border patrol and number of immigration agents.
He also touched on many of the policy proposals he has outlined in campaign videos in recent weeks, including plans to “protect children from left-wing insanity”, to “stop the America last warmongers and globalists” and “a new trade plan to protect American workers” that calls for ending imports of essential goods from China over four years and stopping US companies from investing there.
He also highlighted a plan released on Friday touting “a quantum leap in the American standard of living” that calls for using federal land to build up to 10 new “freedom cities” and to ensure that the US leads in the development of flying vehicles.
CPAC was until recently the premier gathering of conservative thought leaders in America, but it has become dominated by Mr Trump's far-right "Make America Great Again" movement, with pundits referring to the event lately as "MAGApalooza".
With reporting from agencies
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
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Barcelona: Coutinho (6'), Messi (37', 81', 84')
Countries recognising Palestine
France, UK, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, San Marino and Andorra
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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.”
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl
Power: 153hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 200Nm at 4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Price: Dh99,000
On sale: now
