Trump's massive corruption, Part Deux: So much more bigly this time!

One of my biggest gripes about Donald Trump's first term was the inability of the media or congressional Democrats to wrap their minds around the flagrant corruption that was happening right before their eyes. Yes, stories were written and some investigations undertaken. We all learned what the word "emoluments" means. But it seemed there was no way to deal effectively with a political figure so shameless that he didn't even try to hide his conflicts of interest, and nothing was ever done to hold him to account.

As we learned during that first term, the president and vice president are not subject to the conflict of interest laws that apply to every other government official and employee. The idea was that the president should be able to act in the national interest even if it happens to benefit him personally. (Mar-a-Lago meet-and-greets for hundreds of thousands of dollars are surely in the national interest, right?) Various entities sued Trump for violating the aforementioned "emolument clause," which prohibits payments and gifts from foreign governments, but the courts dragged their feet as usual and by the time the issue reached the Supreme Court Trump was out of office and the justices court dismissed the cases as moot. Trump's lucky that way.

The government spent massive amounts of taxpayer money ferrying Trump around to his commercial resorts, where he essentially sold access to the members and promoted his own properties while in the world spotlight. His hotel in Washington, since sold, served as a meeting place for political players and foreign agents of all kinds who spent lavishly to curry favor with the proprietor. One ethics organization described the place as a "sinkhole of corruption." Foreign governments rented out entire floors in Trump office buildings and left them empty.

Trump's son-in-law and purported Middle East envoy, Jared Kushner, made a $2 billion deal with Saudi Arabia's Public Wealth Fund upon his departure from government and, somehow or other, Donald Trump left the White House $2.4 billion richer than when he came in.

Politics was immensely lucrative for the Trump family during the first term, but that looks like chicken feed compared to what they're doing now. This time it's no holds barred, straight-up grift and corruption in the billions, featuring foreign governments, sleazy scam artists and a big play in the arcane world of cryptocurrency.

Mind you, some things don't change: Trump is still promoting his properties every chance he gets. This time he's also involved in LIV Golf, which is also funded by the Saudis and holds several of its tournaments at Trump's golf resorts. Trump makes money from the tournaments coming and going, both as an investor and as the host. It's a sweet little grift that gives the Saudi sponsors an easy way to stuff more money into Trump's pockets. But honestly, that's nothing compared to the rest of Trump's ongoing involvement in the Middle East.

Eric Trump has been all over the region putting together real estate deals with the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, countries whose relationships with each other may be fractious but are all crucial to U.S. foreign policy. Eric Lipton and other reporters at the New York Times have been tracking these ventures, as well as others and reported last week that the Trumps now have six projects planned in the Middle East, in partnership with a firm tied to the Saudi royal family:

“They always arrive at the word ‘yes,’ which is a beautiful thing,” Eric Trump said while in Dubai this past week, saying that it took only a month to get the required real estate permits from the government there. “They do it quickly.”

Gosh, I wonder why? In similar fashion, Donald Trump Jr. is running around Eastern Europe dining with prime ministers and striking deals for new Trump hotels within government properties — and those governments have many reasons to curry favor with the American president.

But that's not where the real action is. The Trump sons are heavily involved in crypto and are using every bit of their access to make some serious bucks. Lipton and company have reported extensively on their play with the presidential memecoin called $TRUMP, which seems like a quick and dirty con that has resulted in thousands of ordinary people losing lots of money while Trump and a few other investors made a bundle. Now they've taken it to another level, holding an auction in which whoever buys the most craptastic coins gets to have dinner with Trump and a select few get to visit the White House. This could hardly be a more obvious way for rich people to siphon money directly into Trump's coffers, and so much more convenient than a paper bag full of cash.

And then there's the Trump-owned crypto company, World Liberty Financial. Its co-founders, alongside Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., include the son of real estate magnate Steve Witkoff, who happens to be Trump's designated envoy to Russia, Israel, Iran and almost everywhere else. These guys have their hands different areas of the crypto world, but World Liberty's primary goal is to get the type of cryptocurrency called a stablecoin officially recognized as a legitimate financial instrument.

Trump has called on Congress to pass something called the GENIUS Act, which would do just that. Immediately thereafter, World Liberty started selling its own stable coin known as USD1; its price went through the roof, netting the Trumps another bundle. At the time, it was widely assumed that Congress would going to pass the law, but after the reporting in the Times, Democrats who'd previously backed it balked (along with a couple of Republicans) and this week the bill failed in the Senate. Apparently the stench of Trump at both ends of this deal — as the regulator in chief and the financier being regulated — was just too pungent.

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You can bet they'll keep trying. The Trumps' crypto play is enormous, maybe the biggest they've ever attempted, and they're not likely to give up anytime soon. (If you'd like a thorough explainer on all these crypto deals, Terri Gross' interview with Lipton for NPR is essential.)

Meanwhile, the Trump 2.0 administration has pulled back pretty much all regulation of the crypto industry and ended enforcement against a number of companies, some of which have partnered with World Liberty in various ways. It's always nice to have friends in high places.

Apparently, Trumpers in D.C. are really missing the old Trump International Hotel, which the family sold after leaving town in 2021. (It's now a Waldorf Astoria.) So Donald Trump Jr. and a few partners have decided to open a private club to fill the void. For the modest membership fee of $500,000, you can join the "Executive Club" and hobnob with all the MAGA insiders and those of their friends most eager to spend lavishly for access and special treatment. One member told Lipton that it's a "safe place" for Trump people who feel less than welcome in liberal Washington to gather and relax. Administration officials like David Sacks, Trump's crypto adviser, are founding members.

There's so much grift going on in Trump-realm that it's honestly hard to tell where the government ends and the family begins. One can only imagine what might happen in Trump's supposed trade talks as various countries and private companies appeal for carve-outs. There are already reports that foreign governments are getting strong-armed to buy Elon Musk's Starlink system if they want the tariffs lifted. That's likely to be the tip of the iceberg.

This time around, there are no more pretenses. If you want to work with the United States, you'd better be prepared to pay the Trump family and their associates for the privilege. Bring your checkbook — or, better yet, your crypto wallet. That's how business is done these days in the shining city on a hill.