If Volodymyr Zelensky wanted a side gig, he could add to Ukraine’s defence budget by teaching world leaders a crash course in international diplomacy.
The syllabus? Just two words: "Thank you."
It’s sage advice, especially when the US sends money, to show a little thanks and other leaders, like Bangladesh’s interim ruler Muhammad Yunus, would do wise to take note.
Just this past February, Trump detailed how a two-person outfit in Bangladesh had, incredulously, received $29 million from USAID. In response, Yunus’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs shot back and dismissed Trump’s claim as “not true.”
Clearly, Zelensky has a student in need on his hands.
In fairness, Yunus is a newcomer to politics on the global stage. In January - when Trump returned to the White House for his second term as President - a student-led uprising had, five months before, installed Yunus as Bangladesh’s new leader after a violent end to the 15-year rule of the country’s former Prime Minister.
A darling of the liberal elite, Yunus is a softly-spoken, previously apolitical, grandfatherly and quickly aging banker. He won a Nobel Prize in 2006, joined Nelson Mandela and his group of global ‘Elders’ in 2007, and rose to prominence on the adoration of progressive intelligentsia, earning a Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama along the way.
Recognizing his elite connections may now work to hinder rather than help, Yunus offered feeble congratulations following Trump’s monumental comeback. He has since continued to endear himself to the administration via continued overtures to Elon Musk whose telecommunication company Starlink, he has eagerly invited to set up in Bangladesh.
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Just how successful Yunus will be in earning the goodwill of Trump’s administration is up for debate. If his history is any indication however, he faces a steep uphill battle.
A longtime friend and ally of both Bill and Hillary Clinton, Yunus first met the Clintons back when Bill was Governor of Arkansas. Over the years, the threesome’s relationship blossomed under an extremely lucrative 'quid pro quo' dynamic.
For one, the Clintons got to parade Yunus around as the pinnacle of moral and philanthropic excellence (despite the high interest rates Yunus’s micro-finance bank foists on the poor, often without their knowledge) to their rich pals.
In return, Yunus used the funds donated to his Grameen Bank enterprise to funnel somewhere between $125,000 and $300,000 back to the Clinton Global Initiative.
By way of thanks, Hillary seems to have used her position as Secretary of State to advocate for $164.2 million of USAID taxpayer funds to be sent directly to Yunus’s enterprises. The pair were drawn even closer together when, in 2011 Yunus ran afoul of Hasina; he called Hillary for help and she sent her aids scurrying to find ways to support him.
And, as Yunus’s local and international reputation grew (he describes that the first time he made a loan to local villagers, they “looked at me as if I was an angel from heaven”) he became an ideal ally for the Clintons’ foundation's work which sought to address issues like “economic opportunity and growth” for the world’s poor. And their support for Yunus did not end there.
But not one to forget a favor, indeed Yunus used the funds donated to his Grameen Bank enterprise back to the Clinton Foundation in advance of Hillary’s 2016 presidential campaign, snubbing Trump.
To add insult to injury, Yunus gave a public speech where he described Trump’s first win as an “eclipse” which brought on a depression.
To Trump though, Yunus is known simply as “the microfinance guy from Dhaka” who “donated to see me lose”.
Most disturbing however, are Yunus’s links to serial and unrepentant child sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein.
While direct links to Epstein cannot be confirmed, Yunus claims Isabel Maxwell among his advisors, sister of Epstein conspirator and manipulator extraordinaire Ghislaine Maxwell.
It’s alarming to think that had a connection between Yunus and Epstein been facilitated, just what Yunus would have asked for - certainly money, perhaps more.
When the people of Bangladesh first took to the streets in June 2024, it was students and young people who were at the helm of the movement. They were demanding an end to nepotism and the introduction of real democracy.
Seven months later, Bangladesh has been left stagnant, with an interim government led by a couple of geriatric financiers with deep links to Democratic shills in the US, none of whom seem to know what they're doing.
The economy is facing greater instability than ever before and whilst Yunus may hope for positive relations with the new leader of the free world to help alleviate his problems at home, Trump would be wise to see things differently.
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