President Donald Trump seems to have discovered the key to running a corrupt administration and getting away with it.
There have been numerous White House scandals in the past, from Teapot Dome to Watergate, but roll them all together and they would not add up to much more than a day in the life of the Trump presidency. The sheer volume of corruption and brazen openness in which it is conducted seems to be Trump’s clever trick. The overwhelming sprawl of the grift makes it too hard for the average voter, or the average Republican congressman, to grasp its enormity.
Less than two years into his second term, Trump has leveraged his influential position to expand his wealth by at least $2 billion. Some estimates that include how members of his family have profited from trading on the family name put the haul at close to $4 billion. Crypto investments, deals with foreign entities, merchandising – Trump Bibles! Trump coins! Trump gold telephones! – and stock trading have all enabled the president to cash in on the unique prominence and power of his job.
The extremely lucrative stock trades, in particular, illustrate how this leverage works. The New York Times has tracked hundreds of Trump’s recent investments and, curiously, they very often come just before his government takes some action that boosts one of those stocks purchased on Trump’s behalf. The president also regularly touts companies into which he has put money, thereby bumping the stock value higher.
Now, Trump has manufactured for himself a secretive $1.8 billion slush fund to be controlled by his own minions that is expected to pay out millions to Trump allies, including many of the violent rioters from the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. He did this by settling his own lawsuit against the IRS with his acting attorney general and former personal attorney, Todd Blanche. The Justice Department was virtually certain to prevail over Trump’s weak case, but, instead of going for the win before a judge, Blanche helpfully decided to just give Trump close to $2 billion of taxpayer money.
This deal is so blatantly corrupt that even some Republicans in Congress are looking for ways to undo it. We will see if their sudden concern for ethics survives when Trump unleashes his MAGA dogs against them.
Now, I am certain there are Trump fans out there who will excuse this vast greed and self-aggrandizement by saying something like, “All politicians are corrupt,” or “They all do it.” But, guess what, that is not only untrue for most of the men who have been our presidents, it fails to recognize the singularity of Trump.
Donald Trump stands alone as the most corrupt person ever to reside in the White House, and most Republicans – and way too many moralistic evangelical Christians – still do not care.
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