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“Who Gave You The Authority To Drag Our Region Into War?”: Emirati Billionaire Khalaf Al Habtoor’s Open Letter To US President Trump
An open letter by one of UAE’s most prominent businessmen – Khalaf Al Habtoor, chairman of Al Habtoor Group, to the US President Donald Trump is making waves online.
The Emirati billionaire questioned the US President’s authority to drag the Gulf and the wider Middle East into the escalating military conflict involving Iran
He did not hold back one bit, and asked Trump whether it was solely his decision to go to war or whether he was influenced by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Our region is NOT a battlefield
While acknowledging that Gulf countries are strong and capable of defending themselves, Habtoor posed the bigger question: who gave anyone the right to turn the region into a battlefield?
“You have placed the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Arab countries at the heart of a danger they did not choose,” Al Habtoor wrote.
The businessman also pointed out the economic cost of war: noting that conflicts don’t just impact just the region, but also weigh heavily on the public.
According to figures cited in his message from the Institute for Policy Studies, direct military operations could cost between $40 billion and $65 billion, while total economic impacts could reach up to $210 billion if the conflict stretches over several weeks.
In his view, wars risk burdening citizens – both within the region and abroad – with consequences they never asked for.
سيادة الرئيس دونالد ترامب،
سؤال مباشر: من أعطاك القرار لزجّ منطقتنا في حرب مع #إيران؟ وعلى أي أساس اتخذت هذا القرار الخطير؟
هل حسبتَ الأضرار الجانبية قبل أن تضغط على الزناد؟ وهل فكّرت أن أول من سيتضرر من هذا التصعيد هي دول المنطقة!
من حق شعوب هذه المنطقة أن تسأل أيضاً: هل كان…
— Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor (@KhalafAlHabtoor) March 5, 2026
A promise of peace that was broken
Al Habtoor referenced Trump’s earlier campaign promises to avoid getting the United States entangled in foreign wars.
He argued that those commitments now appear to have been broken, pointing to a number of military interventions and airstrikes carried out during Trump’s presidency. Including his orders of external military interventions in Somalia, Iraq, Yemen, Nigeria, Syria, Iran, and Venezuela, in addition to naval operations in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific Ocean.
Habtoor shared that the POTUS directed more than 658 external airstrikes in his first year in office, which equals the total strikes over Biden’s entire term.
According to Al Habtoor, these decisions have not gone unnoticed among Americans themselves. He claimed the President’s approval ratings have declined in recent months, suggesting that many citizens are growing uneasy about the prospect of another large-scale conflict.
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Who pays the price ultimately?
Another critical question that was raised was that of accountability : “Did you calculate the collateral damage before pulling the trigger? And did you consider that the first to suffer from this escalation will be the countries of the region itself!”
The economies, security, and the stability of people have turned into an arena for settling scores among the great powers. If tensions escalate and the region suffers economic or security consequences, who would compensate the countries that were never part of the decision to fight?
He stressed that the region has always advocated stability and peace, and should not be forced to pay the price for conflicts created by the US and Israel.
A message calling for cooler heads
Al Habtoor ended his message with a call for restraint.
In times of rising tension, he believes what the region needs most is calm leadership and thoughtful decision-making – not impulsive reactions that further fuel conflict.
“True leadership is not measured by decisions of war, but by wisdom, respect for others, and pushing towards achieving peace. And if these initiatives were launched in the name of peace, then we have the right today to demand full transparency and clear accountability.”
His post has since sparked widespread discussion online, with many people across the region sharing and debating the powerful questions he raised.
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