During his recent trip to Saudi Arabia, President Donald Trump announced an array of economic agreements between the U.S. and the Middle Eastern kingdom, saying it would usher in “jobs, jobs, jobs” for both oil-producing powerhouses.

While the $350 billion, 10-year arms deal garnered most headlines, a lesser-noticed agreement was also signed between ExxonMobil and the state-owned Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) to study a proposed co-owned natural gas refinery in the Gulf of Mexico. Under the deal, signed at the Saudi-U.S. CEO Forum, the two companies would “conduct a detailed study of the proposed Gulf Coast Growth Ventures project in Texas and begin planning for front-end engineering and design work” for the 1,300-acre, $10 billion plant set to be located near Corpus Christi, Texas, according to an ExxonMobil press release.

In addition, ExxonMobil's press release for the agreement mentions that Darren Woods, the company's CEO, was in the room for the signing of the pact alongside ExxonMobil Saudi Arabia CEO Philippe Ducom and SABIC executives. Missing from that release: After the forum ended, Woods went to the Al-Yamamah Palace for an agreement-signing ceremony attended by both President Trump and recently retired ExxonMobil CEO and current U.S. Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson.

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“The President's Saudi trip was a bizarre Art of the Deal-esque foreign policy disaster: a sleazy mix of conflicted government-arranged corporate endorsement deals,” Slocum told DeSmog. “Most troubling of all was Tillerson's presence and role in accommodating Exxon's deal with the House of Saud, thereby violating the former CEO's recusal agreement. Trump and Tillerson's Riyadh embarrassment is just another sad indication of the administration's prioritization of crony corporate access masquerading as a jumbled assembly of foreign policy and economic development.”

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/05/30/rex-tillerson-exxon-saudi-arabia-trump-visit-deal

Worst Kept Secret: The Master Timeline of Donald Trump’s Relationship with Russia
This timeline helps clarify the relationship between Donald Trump, his associates, and Russian leadership. The timeline cites primary sources as often as possible and uses mainstream media reports as secondary sources.

Fresno authorities say they’ve uncovered the biggest beehive theft they’ve ever seen. They recovered nearly a $1 million worth of bees belonging to a dozen victims.

Sgt. Arley Terrence of the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department Agricultural Crimes Task Force said detectives got a tip about some stolen hives.

When they showed up at an orchard on the outskirts of town, they found 51-year-old Pavel Tveretinov in a beekeeper suit tending to a motley assortment of beehives.

“It was like a chop shop of stolen bees,” Terrence said Thursday. “There were just lots and lots of different bee boxes.”