Jessica Tarlov, co-host of Fox News’ The Five, slammed President Donald Trump’s recent trip to the Middle East, calling it anything but a “masterclass.”
In a segment aired this week and shared on X, Tarlov accused Trump of misrepresenting major international investments and accepting questionable foreign funds, all while finding time to go after pop star Taylor Swift.
“Not much of a masterclass”
Tarlov summarized the trip on X: “Donald Trump’s Middle East trip wasn’t much of a master class—he took credit for a bunch of Joe Biden deals, accepted a bribe from the Qataris, and attacked Taylor Swift.”
On air, she pointed out that Trump’s claims of securing $1.4 trillion in foreign investments were overstated. She said many of the deals he promoted were already announced during the Biden administration.
“Any time that we’re not talking about the $400 million bribe that he’s taking from the Qataris,” Tarlov said, referring to Qatar’s investment in a Texas energy company, “we’re getting all of this investment, like the eight and a half billion out of Qatar for Texas energy company McDermott. That was already announced in 2023 and 2024.”
She also mentioned a $200 billion cloud computing deal with Amazon, which she said was previously announced by Abu Dhabi under Biden.
Another project—a major Saudi-backed airport initiative—was announced in August 2024, not during Trump’s recent visit.
“He likes to show up and then take credit”
Tarlov said at least “a half a dozen of the contracts that he’s talking about happened under the Biden administration.”
She added, “That is something that Trump likes to do. He likes to show up and then take credit for things that other people did.”
Even when co-host Greg Gutfeld challenged her, saying that half the $600 billion Saudi investment might be legitimate, Tarlov pushed back: “Don’t go out there and say you got $1.4 trillion in investment when you didn’t, really. Or at least give a nice, you know, signal to the previous guy and say, hey, actually, Joe…”
When Gutfeld joked, “There is no previous guy,” Tarlov replied, “I mean, he does have a birth certificate, and we did see him. Yes, he’s not African.”
Poll bump or tariff reversal?
Tarlov acknowledged that Trump’s approval ratings had gone up but said it was because of his own policy reversals.
“That’s real life. I live and die by the polls,” she said. “But that is directly related to him cleaning up his own tariffs mess. So that’s moving from the 145% tariff on China to just 30%.”
She referenced concerns from retailers about rising prices. “You saw the CEO from Walmart, I presume, saying that the prices are gonna go up. So we’ll wait for that.”
Historic downgrade
Tarlov also dropped a note about an economic milestone. “While we were in the commercial break, Moody’s downgraded our credit for the first time in the agency’s history,” she said.
On May 16, Moody’s downgraded the U.S. sovereign credit rating from Aaa to Aa1, citing concerns over the country’s escalating $36 trillion debt and persistent fiscal deficits.
This marks the first time since 1919 that Moody’s has lowered the U.S. rating, following similar moves by Fitch in 2023 and Standard & Poor’s in 2011.
The downgrade reflects skepticism about the federal government’s ability to manage its debt and control rising interest costs. Moody’s estimates the U.S. federal debt could reach 134% of GDP by 2035.
Despite the back-and-forth with co-hosts, Tarlov remained firm in her view that Trump’s visit wasn’t the success it was billed to be. “All good news all around,” she said sarcastically. “Masterclass.”
Controversy over Qatari jet
The controversy over Trump’s acceptance of a $400 million luxury Boeing 747-8 jet from Qatar has intensified.
Critics argue that accepting such a gift from a foreign government violates the U.S. Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause, which prohibits federal officials from receiving gifts from foreign states without congressional approval.
The jet, intended to serve as a temporary Air Force One and later be donated to Trump’s presidential library, has raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest and national security risks.
Former White House communications director Alyssa Farah Griffin described the gift as “Qatari blood money,” highlighting Qatar’s controversial history, including links to terrorist organizations.
House Democrats, led by Rep. Jamie Raskin, have opened an investigation into the matter, questioning whether the gift constitutes a bribe and demanding transparency from the Trump administration.
Despite the backlash, Trump defended the decision, stating he’d be “stupid” not to accept such a luxurious donation. The situation remains unresolved as discussions continue.
IMAGE CREDIT: ”Donald Trump” by Gage Skidmore, via Flickr. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Image adjusted for layout.