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Here is what might be the relevant text. Can't remember where I pulled it from, sorry -- it might have been the sea2sea website:

Section 5021 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 amended Section 721 of the Defense Production Act of 1950 to provide authority to the President to suspend or prohibit any foreign acquisition, merger or takeover of a U.S. corporation that is determined to threaten the national security of the United States. The President can exercise this authority under section 721 (also known as the "Exon-Florio provision") to block a foreign acquisition of a U.S. corporation only if he finds:

there is credible evidence that the foreign entity exercising control might take action that threatens national security, and
the provisions of law, other than the International Emergency Economic Powers Act do not provide adequate and appropriate authority to protect the national security.

In other words, the President can stop this only if he can prove both that DP World IS a current security threat to us, AND he can show that existing law wouldn't be able to stop DP World from being a threat.

There is no evidence that ANYBODY considers DP World a security threat. And there is no evidence that existing U.S. law (including the declaration of war) aren't adequate to handle any possible security issues that might arise from the sale.

I'm not a lawyer, but it seems clear that if this is the operative law, Bush was pretty much stuck with this decision.

Note though that he isn't claiming he was forced against his will here, he SAYS this was the RIGHT decision. I'm just pointing out that if he had gone the other way, the Democrats were surely ready to drag out this law and use it to say Bush was simply breaking more laws and should be impeached.

I think Schumer/Clinton had the job of attacking a pro-UAE decision, and I think Kerry/Kennedy would have jumped on an anti-UAE decision along with Dick Durbin who would have pointed out Bush's "racist" assumptions in rejecting the deal.

The nice thing about not having a single leader, and not having to say ANYTHING about anything until after the fact, is that you always have someone to take any position you need. That is the game the Democrats are playing with our national security.