had once opined that Netanyahu “works for” Adelson.199 By mid-August 2016, Trump, according to Adelson, has made an ironclad promise to the Republican donor that he will indeed move the embassy.200 In May 2018, Trump does as he has promised and makes the controversial move, a decision quickly hailed by Netanyahu as “a great day for the people of Israel.”201 Lauding Trump for being “bold,” the Israeli prime minister also thanks Trump for his “leadership and friendship.”202
* * *
On July 15, 2016, the Turkish military attempts a coup of President Erdogan’s government. The coup is unsuccessful; nevertheless, it has profound consequences for the region. According to Al Jazeera, “certain Arab governments and their operatives were openly supportive of the coup plotters and even offered logistical support to FETO, the armed organisation led by the US-based Turkish national Fethullah Gulen that orchestrated the failed coup.” While Gulen will immediately deny any involvement in the coup attempt, Al Jazeera’s accusation that state actors have played a role in the event reverberates.203 Specifically, the Qatari media outlet identifies Egypt as “the most vocal supporter” of the failed rebellion, in large part because Egyptian president el-Sisi offered asylum to Gulen in the event he was forced to leave his permanent residence in the United States.204 Al Jazeera also identifies the UAE—like Egypt, a nation participating in the Red Sea Conspiracy—as a supporter of the coup, partly because MBZ adviser Mohammed Dahlan broadcasts an interview with Gulen on a television station he owns and partly because “emails leaked from the personal account of Abu Dhabi’s ambassador to Washington, Yousef al Otaiba, reveal[] that … [he] was in close contact with senior officials from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a US-based think-tank primarily financed by the pro-Israel businessman Sheldon Adelson. An exchange between the UAE ambassador and John Hannah, a senior counsellor at the foundation, provided valuable insights into Abu Dhabi’s relationship with the coup plotters in Turkey.”205 The New York Times has noted that Adelson “enjoys a direct line to [Trump]”; the Jerusalem Post reports that Adelson “pledged … to fund [Trump’s] path to [Election Day] victory” in spring 2016, subsequently donated $25 million to Trump’s campaign, and went “all in on the Republican nominee” a week before Election Day with a pledge of up to $25 million more; and the Guardian calls Adelson “the casino mogul driving Trump’s Middle East policy.”206 The Daily Beast reports that John Hannah, who would end up on Trump’s transition team just 120 days after the coup attempt in Turkey, subsequently found himself “in Mueller’s sights” as part of a “lesser-known side” of the ongoing federal investigation of the Trump campaign, “one that deals with Israeli, Emirati, and Saudi influence in the 2016 presidential elections. Hannah is one of the individuals who sits at the center of that nexus.”207 It is unknown whether Hannah is now a subject of one of the fourteen ongoing federal criminal investigations using evidence compiled by the special counsel’s office.208
While Sheldon Adelson’s influence with Trump is well established by the time of the July 15, 2016, coup attempt in Turkey, Hannah’s role in developing Trump’s pro-Saudi, pro-Emirati, and pro-Israeli foreign policy will not be disclosed until after Election Day. In late 2018, the Daily Beast will report that during the 2016 campaign Hannah had interactions with both George Nader and Joel Zamel, and that these interactions continued into the transition period, when Nader, Zamel, and Hannah “met with a top Saudi general … to discuss plans to undermine and overthrow the government of Iran.”209 Per the digital media outlet, Hannah had known Zamel prior to 2016, and introduced Nader to him in 2016, either at the June 2016 St. Petersburg economic forum in Russia or before then—but certainly before Nader and Zamel attended an August 3, 2016, meeting together at Trump Tower.210 The outlet reports that in 2016 Hannah is “close with Nader and Zamel,” and even is listed on the website of Wikistrat, Zamel’s pre-Psy-Group business intelligence firm, as a member of the company’s advisory council.211 As the Daily Beast will note, “One of Zamel’s companies, Wikistrat, was well-connected in Washington and had built up a base of high-level American military and intelligence officials to serve … as consultants to the firm.”212
The Nader-Hannah relationship predates 2016 as well, with Nader having worked with Hannah on Iraq policy as far back as the second George W. Bush administration, when Nader was working for Erik Prince in the mid-aughts.213 Former acting CIA director