Trump Declares Fake Emergency to Ram Through $8.1 Billion Raytheon Arms Sale to Saudi Arabia

On May 24, 2019, the Trump administration invoked a rarely-used emergency provision of the Arms Export Control Act to bypass congressional review and ram through 22 separate arms sales worth $8.1 billion to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Jordan. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared an “emergency” based on alleged Iranian threats, claiming the sales were necessary to “deter further the malign influence of the Government of Iran throughout the Middle East region.” The emergency declaration circumvented Congress’s standard 30-day review period for major arms sales, preventing lawmakers from blocking weapons transfers despite bipartisan opposition driven by Saudi war crimes in Yemen and the Khashoggi murder. The deals included sophisticated weapons systems from Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and Boeing, with Raytheon benefiting from contracts for precision-guided Paveway munitions and an unprecedented technology transfer agreement allowing Saudi Arabia to manufacture bomb components domestically.

Fake Emergency to Bypass Congress

The Arms Export Control Act permits the executive branch to bypass congressional review only in genuine emergencies requiring immediate arms transfers. However, State Department officials later revealed that the Trump administration “reverse-engineered” justifications for the emergency declaration after deciding to proceed with Saudi sales. The alleged Iranian threat was not new—Iran and Saudi Arabia had been regional adversaries for decades—and no acute crisis necessitated bypassing normal procedures. Congressional investigations revealed the emergency declaration was designed specifically to prevent legislative action blocking the sales, not to address any genuine security threat requiring immediate weapons delivery. A State Department Inspector General investigation (which led to the IG’s controversial firing) found that the administration failed to properly assess risks to civilians from the weapons transfers, despite laws requiring such assessments. The fake emergency represented an abuse of executive authority to serve defense contractor commercial interests rather than legitimate security concerns.

Raytheon Paveway Technology Transfer

The $8.1 billion package included an especially controversial provision allowing Raytheon to transfer sensitive bomb-making technology to Saudi Arabia. The deal authorized Raytheon to “team up” with Saudi partners to manufacture guidance systems, electronics, and circuit cards for Paveway smart bombs inside the kingdom. This technology transfer was unprecedented—the United States had closely guarded precision-guided munitions technology for national security reasons, but the Trump administration granted Raytheon permission to share it with Saudi Arabia. Arms control experts warned that the deal would enable Saudi Arabia to develop indigenous bomb-making capabilities, undermining future US leverage to prevent civilian-casualty incidents. The technology transfer essentially trained Saudi Arabia to manufacture the same Raytheon weapons that had killed thousands of Yemeni civilians, ensuring the killing could continue even if future administrations attempted to restrict arms sales. For Raytheon, the deal represented not just immediate contract revenue but long-term strategic positioning in the Saudi market through technology partnership.

Bipartisan Congressional Opposition

The emergency declaration triggered fierce bipartisan congressional opposition. Senators Bob Menendez and Lindsey Graham—respectively the top Democrat and Republican on key committees—jointly introduced 22 resolutions to block the sales, an unprecedented show of bipartisan action against administration arms transfer policy. Senator Chris Murphy stated that “there is no emergency” and the declaration was “a blatant misuse of a loophole in the Arms Sales Act.” Even traditionally defense-industry-friendly Republican senators including Todd Young and Jerry Moran supported blocking the sales, citing concerns about Yemen civilian casualties and the Khashoggi murder. The Senate would later pass multiple resolutions disapproving the sales, only to have Trump veto them. The emergency declaration revealed the executive branch’s willingness to abuse legal authorities to serve defense contractor interests, while congressional opposition demonstrated that Saudi war crimes had finally generated bipartisan concern—though not sufficient to overcome presidential vetoes and defense industry lobbying.

Significance

The May 24, 2019 emergency declaration represented one of the most brazen abuses of executive authority to benefit defense contractors in modern US history. By fabricating an Iranian “emergency” to bypass congressional oversight, the Trump administration demonstrated that legal constraints on arms sales could be circumvented through executive fiat when contractor profits were at stake. The $8.1 billion in weapons—including Raytheon Paveway munitions already documented in Yemen civilian-casualty incidents—would enable continued Saudi coalition war crimes with explicit US government approval. The technology transfer provision allowing Raytheon to share bomb-making capabilities with Saudi Arabia crossed a new threshold, moving beyond arms sales to actually training a war crimes-committing regime to manufacture its own weapons. For Raytheon, the emergency declaration represented a major victory: the company secured $8.1 billion in immediate contracts, established a technology partnership with Saudi Arabia worth potentially billions more, and demonstrated that its political influence could overcome congressional opposition, human rights concerns, and legal constraints. The fake emergency revealed the Trump administration’s actual priorities—defense contractor revenue and Saudi strategic relations took precedence over congressional authority, civilian lives, and international law. Mike Pompeo’s emergency determination occurred just months after the Yemen school bus massacre and amid ongoing Yemen atrocities, demonstrating that no level of civilian casualties would prompt administration action restricting Saudi arms access. The episode established that the Arms Export Control Act’s emergency provision—intended for genuine crises—had become a tool for defense contractors to circumvent democratic oversight, with “emergency” declarations available on demand when arms sales faced congressional resistance.