'If you go after me, I'm coming after you': Trump makes threats day after arraignment

Former US president Donald Trump on Friday appeared to threaten people going “after him” a day after his arraignment in a Washington federal court over his alleged involvement in a conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

“If you go after me, I'm coming after you,” he posted in all capital letters on his Truth Social platform.

It was not clear whether Mr Trump was speaking to his political opponents in the 2024 election or witnesses and prosecutors involved in the criminal cases against him.

Inflammatory language from Mr Trump is far from new, but he is now in a precarious situation, as he faces a number of criminal charges amid a tightening presidential campaign.

He is currently the leading candidate for the Republican Party's nomination, but the campaign field is crowded.

The former president has also previously threatened elected Republicans by saying that those that do not show enough support for him and his campaign against “Democratic fraud” should be “primaried”.

On Thursday, Mr Trump pleaded not guilty to four criminal charges over his allegedly leading a plot to overturn the 2020 election results, including his role in the deadly January 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol.

The charges were brought by independent special counsel Jack Smith, who is also leading another case in which Mr Trump is accused of obstruction of justice and other charges over his alleged mishandling of classified documents.

Appearing in court in both federal cases, Mr Trump was advised not to speak with anyone who may be a witness.

In addition, a New York judge requested that Mr Trump and others avoid inflammatory rhetoric during an arraignment in a case involving hush-money paid to an adult film star in 2016.

Mr Trump went on to call the district attorney an “animal”, among other insults.

The former president may also soon face criminal charges in a Georgia case over alleged election interference.

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Fixtures All matches start at 9.30am, at ICC Academy, Dubai. Admission is free

Thursday UAE v Ireland; Saturday UAE v Ireland; Jan 21 UAE v Scotland; Jan 23 UAE v Scotland

UAE squad Rohan Mustafa (c), Ashfaq Ahmed, Ghulam Shabber, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Shaiman Anwar, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Mohammed Naveed, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan

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.”