Serving the Highest Bidder
May 30, 2025 – Opinion by DEC Vice Chair Dan Lack
After all of the corruption in Trump’s first term, it’s not surprising that he’s getting better at it. He started off term number two by getting rid of the officials who look for corruption, such as the Director of the Office of Government Ethics, and the Inspectors General of 17 government agencies.
Shortly before his inauguration, Trump created one billion virtual Trump coins. He and his family took possession of 800 million of them via companies that also get millions of dollars in trading fees when the remaining 200 million coins are bought and sold. Trump’s coins, that he got for free, are now worth billions of dollars.
The price of each coin goes up as their demand increases. Trump amps up the demand by offering to have dinner with the top purchasers. Foreign governments and U.S. oligarchs curry favor with Trump by investing in his coins.
You have to pay $1 million dollars to be a member of Mar-a-Lago. Rich people and foreign agents who join will have access to Trump and whatever state secrets he has brought there from the White House.
Trump’s sons recently concluded a deal with Qatar to build a golf resort there. Then, during Trump’s recent visit, the emir of Qatar offered Trump an old Boeing 747 that he has tried to get rid of since 2020. Trump wants to convert it into Air Force One for an estimated cost of $1 billion tax-payer dollars, and then keep it for his presidential library after leaving office.
Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution forbids the president from accepting “… any present … of any kind whatsoever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.” The Founding Fathers wisely wrote those words due to their fear that our president could be bribed by a foreign power.
By the way, Boeing is already working on two planes that will replace the current Air Force One, perhaps one year after the Qatari plane is renovated. [Editor’s note: These two planes were ordered by Trump in 2018, during his first term, at a cost of over $5 billion, and are scheduled to be delivered well before the Qatar plane would be completed.]
Jimmy Carter placed his peanut business in a blind trust while he was president, unlike Trump, who says that his kids are running his businesses. A country is in serious trouble when a president uses his office for personal gain instead of the public good. Think about that as Trump lines his pockets while selling the presidency to the highest bidder.