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The summit, hosted by Saudi Arabia in its capital, Riyadh, was preceded by numerous predictions regarding the announcement that Trump referred to, describing it as a "very important announcement" during a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the White House on Tuesday, May 6.

In addition to what Trump intends to announce, the summit's agenda and the deals and agreements expected to take place have become the talk of the town, ranging from security and military deals to technology deals and artificial intelligence deals.

All Gulf leaders are scheduled to participate in the Gulf-US summit, with the exception of King Salman bin Abdulaziz, who has not participated in public events or meetings for a long time due to his health conditions.

Will Donald Trump recognize a Palestinian state?

A Gulf diplomatic source, who declined to be named or disclose his position, told The Media Line, "President Donald Trump will issue a declaration regarding the State of Palestine and American recognition of it, and that there will be the establishment of a Palestinian state without the presence of Hamas."

The source also added, "If an announcement of American recognition of the State of Palestine is made, it will be the most important declaration that will change the balance of power in the Middle East, and more countries will join the Abraham Accords."

The source confirmed that economic agreements will certainly be present, but many of them have already been announced, and we may witness the Gulf states being exempted from tariffs.

Ahmed Al-Ibrahim, a former Gulf diplomat, told The Media Line, "I don't expect it to be about Palestine. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and King Abdullah II of Jordan have not been invited. They are the two countries closest to Palestine, and it would be important for them to be present at any event like this."

Al-Ibrahim also said, "There will be major deals coming, perhaps similar to what happened at the 2017 Gulf-US summit, with Saudi deals worth more than $400 billion. Let's not forget that the UAE announced investments in the US worth more than $1 trillion, and Saudi Arabia announced investments worth more than $600 billion."

He continued, "This is clear because President Donald Trump intends to visit the UAE and Qatar after concluding his visit to Saudi Arabia. These are two important economies with significant financial resources and major investments in the United States."

Ahmed Boushouki, a Saudi political analyst, told The Media Line, "This is about major economic deals that will take place in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Perhaps US President Donald Trump hinted at this when he told the American people to 'buy stocks now, before his big announcement in the next two days.'"

Regarding the news of a peaceful US-Saudi nuclear cooperation to generate electricity in Saudi Arabia, Boushouki said, "Saudi Arabia has had a program announced since 2010, and it has been discussed several times before. International companies are now working to implement these projects in Saudi Arabia."

Plans are currently underway in Saudi Arabia to build the kingdom's first nuclear reactor, with several international companies competing to design and build the reactor. Meanwhile, the neighboring Gulf country, the United Arab Emirates, already owns the Barakah reactor and is the only Arab country with a four-reactor nuclear power plant, in collaboration with a Korean company.

By Danielle Kaye

Jan. 27, 2025

Workers at a Whole Foods Market in Philadelphia voted on Monday to become the first unionized store in Amazon’s grocery chain, opening a new front in the e-commerce giant’s efforts to fend off labor organizing in multiple segments of its business.

Employees at the sprawling Whole Foods store, in the city’s Spring Garden neighborhood, voted 130 to 100 in favor of organizing with the United Food and Commercial Workers union, the National Labor Relations Board said.

Store employees said they hoped a union could help negotiate higher wages, above the current starting rate of $16 an hour, and better benefits. Some longtime employees, who have been with Whole Foods since well before Amazon bought the chain in 2017, said reductions in benefits and cuts in staffing levels when Amazon took over, among other changes, had been sources of frustration.

But those leading the union campaign hinted at a broader goal: to inspire a wave of organizing across the chain’s more than 500 grocery stores, adding to union drives among warehouse workers and delivery drivers that Amazon is already combating.

“I expect others to follow, and that will increase the leverage that we have at the bargaining table,” said Ben Lovett, an employee at the Philadelphia store who has led the organizing. “We’ve shown them that it’s possible to organize at Amazon.”

“This fight is far from over,” Wendell Young IV, president of U.F.C.W. Local 1776, which represents food and retail workers in Pennsylvania, said in a statement, “but today’s victory is an important step forward.”

Whole Foods said in a statement that the company was “disappointed” by the election result, but that it offered competitive compensation and benefits for employees and that it was “committed to maintaining a positive working environment” at the Philadelphia store.

The successful bid to form a union comes against a backdrop of what several workers have described as a campaign of intimidation from Whole Foods. They pointed to ramped-up monitoring of employees and anti-union messaging in the store since workers went public with their organizing efforts in the fall.

In unfair labor practice charges filed with the labor board earlier this month, U.F.C.W. Local 1776 accused Whole Foods of firing an employee at the Philadelphia store in retaliation for supporting the union drive. The union also accused the chain of excluding the store’s employees from receiving a raise that had been given this month to all of its other workers in the Philadelphia area.

Whole Foods said it had complied with all legal requirements when communicating with employees about unions. The company denied allegations of retaliation, arguing that it could not legally change wages during the election process and that it had delayed a raise until after the election to avoid the appearance of trying to influence votes.

“A union is not needed at Whole Foods Market,” the company said in a statement ahead of the election, adding that it recognized employees’ right to “make an informed decision.”

The company, which has five days to challenge the election outcome before the result will be certified, will have to bargain with the union for a contract covering the store’s unionized workers, the N.L.R.B. said in statement announcing the result.

But winning a union vote doesn’t ensure that contract talks will progress. Amazon warehouse workers who unionized nearly three years still do not have a contract.

In 2022, workers on Staten Island voted to form Amazon’s first union in the United States; it is now affiliated with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Amazon has challenged the election outcome in court, and has refused to recognize or bargain with the union. Delivery drivers, who work for third-party package delivery companies serving Amazon, have also mounted campaigns with the Teamsters.

Last week, Amazon said it was closing all of its warehouse and logistics operations in Quebec, the Canadian province where unions had gained a foothold among some Amazon workers, and would lay off 1,700 employees.

The union push in Amazon’s grocery business resembles, in certain ways, union organizing at Starbucks that has spread to more than 500 stores in the United States since 2021, said Brishen Rogers, a labor law professor at Georgetown University.

In grocery stores and coffee shops, employees work side by side, day after day, in conditions that are often conducive to getting to know one another and forming networks of solidarity, he said. Those dynamics do not always exist in warehouses, where workers tend to be under constant surveillance.

“I would not be shocked,” Mr. Rogers said, “if it had a snowball effect across different Whole Foods locations, much like Starbucks.”

Ed Dupree, who works at the Whole Foods store in Philadelphia and has been involved in the union campaign there, said he was in touch with workers at other locations across the country who were interested in unionizing. At least 10 other Whole Foods stores have started to organize, he said.

The new political landscape in Washington may pose hurdles for the Philadelphia workers as they try to negotiate a contract, or for other stores that might file for union elections. After the Biden administration’s embrace of unions, President Trump is expected to appoint a new N.L.R.B. general counsel whose approach could make it harder for organizing campaigns to succeed.

Employers typically exploit weaknesses in federal labor law to avoid reaching a first contract with newly unionized employees, said Kate Andrias, a professor of labor and employment law at Columbia University. Legal barriers to organizing and bargaining exist regardless of the government’s stance on labor, though companies might feel more emboldened to intimidate workers under President Trump, she said.

“We’re likely to see the law become less favorable to workers during the Trump administration,” Ms. Andrias said. But, she added, “even in periods when there have been hostile labor boards in the past, workers have been successful in organizing unions.”

Why It Matters

The renewed push for Donald Trump's impeachment underscores the deep political divisions in the country and the ongoing fallout from his campaign.

What To Know

An effort to impeach Trump has been launched by the non-partisan organization Free Speech For People.

According to the group, which is the parent organization of the "Impeach Trump. Again" campaign, Trump's return to the White House "poses an unprecedented threat to our democracy."

The group claims that Trump is disqualified from the presidency over his role in the January 6 Capitol riots under the 14th Amendment, which states that anyone, including the president, who takes an oath of office to uphold the Constitution and then engages in insurrection is disqualified from future public office.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him related to the events of January 6. A Supreme Court ruling also found that former presidents have broad immunity from criminal prosecution for actions that are considered official duties, putting a significant roadblock in the way of the case against him, which has now been dropped.

However, a report by former special counsel Jack Smith recently found that there was enough evidence to prosecute Trump had he not been reelected.

Meanwhile, Free Speech For People also claims that Trump violated the emoluments clauses of the Constitution, which limits what gifts and titles federal officials can receive.

"Trump has refused to sell his ownership stake in companies through which he is assured to receive substantial payments from foreign governments in violation of the Foreign Emoluments Clause," Free Speech For People claims.

"At least five foreign governments pay a combined $2 million per month in fees for their units in Trump World Tower; and because all five of these foreign governments are currently paying Trump these monthly fees, Trump is in violation of the Foreign Emoluments Clause from the moment he took the oath of office."

The Trump Organization previously said that Trump would hand over daily management of his multibillion-dollar real estate, hotel, golf, media and licensing portfolio to his children when he enters the White House. The same arrangement was made during Trump's first term.

Additional allegations were made by the Impeach Trump campaign. Again these include claims of campaign finance violations, including offering tax and regulatory benefits to oil and gas executives in exchange for $1 billion in contributions, concealing legal service payments, coordinating with super PACs funded by billionaires later appointed to key positions, and accepting unlawful contributions from Elon Musk through X and a lottery scheme.

The group has also highlighted Trump's use of racist and xenophobic rhetoric, such as referring to immigrants as "bloodthirsty criminals" in Colorado, spreading false claims about Haitian immigrants in Ohio that led to threats of violence and blaming immigrants for "horrendous crimes" linked to "their genes."

Additionally, they allege that Trump threatened violence against political opponents, journalists, protesters and a U.S. military commander, and that he spread dangerous disinformation about hurricane disaster responses.

Trump's Previous Impeachments

During his first stint in the White House, Trump was twice impeached by the Democrat-controlled House, the first time in 2019 over his alleged attempt to pressure Ukraine to investigate then-candidate Joe Biden and the second in January 2021 over his role in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

He was acquitted by the Senate in both cases.

Could Trump Be Impeached Again?

Impeaching and removing a president from office has never been accomplished and remains unlikely unless one party controls both chambers of Congress by wide margins.

Currently, the Republicans control both the House and the Senate, making a third impeachment very unlikely.

What People Are Saying

John Bonifaz, President of Free Speech For People, said: "Trump's return to the White House poses an unprecedented threat to our democracy. During his campaign and in the months before his inauguration, Donald Trump engaged in unlawful, unconstitutional conduct and threatened more.

"He has once more positioned himself to abuse the office for personal profit and power in violation of clear constitutional commands and at the expense of our democratic institutions, constitutional precedent and the safety of our country's most vulnerable."

What Happens Next

It is highly unlikely that Trump will see another impeachment while Republicans have control of both the House and the Senate.

But former Trump adviser Steve Bannon warned in November during an episode of his War Room podcast that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, would lead the charge to another Trump impeachment if House control flips during the midterms in 2026.

"Hakeem Jeffries could be, will be, the speaker of the House in two years," Bannon said. "And the first thing he will do in the early days of 2027 is move to impeach Donald Trump. Trust me. They're gonna put $10 billion in back of him. They have nobody else."

He continued: "… Hakeem Jeffries is just sitting there, right? He's ready to go. The [billionaire Democratic donor] Reid Hoffmans of the world are gonna put $10 billion in back of him to win a couple of seats, a handful of seats, in places that are kind of Democratic anyway."