Saudi Arabia and its new Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman enjoyed a short time in the Washington sun. Bin Salman was introduced through Thomas Friedman articles and 60 Minutes specials as a visionary modernizer who would take a country with medieval traditions and bring it into the twenty-first century. Now, after the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, increased coverage of the disastrous effects of the Yemen War, and Congress’s failed attempt to pull U.S. support from the conflict, both public and political establishments are questioning Saudi influence in Washington as never before. Meanwhile, a different Gulf country’s influence is flying largely under the radar.

In the past month, President Trump has backed Libyan warlord General Khalifa Haftar in his assault against the United Nations-recognized interim government in Tripoli. The New York Times has reported that the Trump administration is working to label the Muslim Brotherhood, a longstanding pan-Islamic group that has stood in multiple Egyptian elections, a terrorist organization. The administration has also labeled the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization; the first time a foreign government’s military has been so designated by the United States. National Security Advisor John Bolton seems itching to provoke a war with Iran, claiming that when Iranian-backed groups like the Houthis attack oil pipelines in Saudi Arabia, Iran is effectively threatening U.S. interests. And one country benefiting from each of these U.S. foreign policy decisions is the United Arab Emirates.

The UAE is a federation of cities on the Persian Gulf organized into a nation-state ruled by a family in a monarchical tradition. The country sits on large oil and natural gas deposits, and has channeled its wealth into the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority—a sovereign wealth fund valued at 828 billion dollars, the third largest in the world—and two other funds that are each valued at over 300 billion dollars. These sovereign wealth funds have invested in countries around the world, from buying Manchester City football club in England to purchasing Indian airports and European and American real estate.

Contrary to popular perception, the UAE has repeatedly outspent Saudi Arabia when it comes to lobbying money in the United States. In 2017, the UAE government spent over $21 million as compared to Saudi Arabia’s roughly $14 million—a gap that persisted in 2018 as well.

The money has bought them interesting friends on both sides of the aisle in Washington, as well as in other capitals around the world. According to FARA registration, David Rothkopf, the former editor of Foreign Policy magazine and a former Clinton administration official, is being paid $50,000 a month by the UAE for media advice—a relationship that was initially not disclosed in his opinion pieces or television appearances discussing Middle East politics. The UAE has given money to the Center for American Progress, the think tank that was started by John Podesta, President Bill Clinton’s chief of staff, and which maintained links to Hillary Clinton’s campaign. The DCCC received bundled money from a lobbyist for the UAE in the first quarter of 2019 while House Democrats were unified in voting to pull U.S. military support for the war in Yemen. The UAE and its representatives have also looked to Republican and now Trump administration-tied figures like Elliott Broidy, former deputy finance chair of the RNC, and former Blackwater CEO Erik Prince, for influence.