When campaigning for president, Trump obsessed about the horrendous corruption in our government. He still claims elections he doesn’t win are rigged. He bragged about draining the swamp. Instead, he has created a rancid flood.
Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut) speaking on the floor of the Senate, corroborated by several articles in the New York Times and the New Yorker, said, “Over the last year and a half, our president Donald Trump, has turned the White House into a 24/7 corruption operation.” His self-enrichment has become normalized. The public hardly bats an eye. No one is stopping him including the Supreme Court which continues to expand his power and immunity. Trump’s net worth has surged dramatically since the start of his second term, more than doubling from roughly $3.9 billion in 2024 to approximately $7.3 billion.
Every president since Ronald Reagan has put their assets in a blind trust managed by independent trustees or sold their stock and other business interests to eliminate potential conflicts of interest. Trump has done neither. HIs most recent federal financial disclosure reveals more than 3,700 stock trades for tens of millions of dollars. In early January, the president’s account purchased $500,000 to $1 million worth of Nvidia stock a week before his commerce officials approved the sale of previously restricted Nvidia chips to China. He also purchased shares in Dell, and then talked about what a great company it is during a White House press session. Later Dell secured a lucrative government contract. Donald’s stocks soared. He makes millions when having the power to affect a stock’s price knowing when it will happen before anyone else does. For any other individual these actions would be prosecuted as flagrant insider trading.
Trump also uses his presidency to enrich his family. Don Jr. and Eric Trump met with foreign leaders from Serbia, Hungary, the UK, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Somaliland, Kazakhstan, and Israel to make deals. According to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the Trump Organization in 2024 earned at least $87 million through international projects with 22 Trump-branded development projects currently in the works. Lucrative federal contracts have directly enriched his sons. Recent investigative reports show that Donald Trump Jr. invested heavily in Vulcan Elements, a small rare earth mineral startup company, shortly before Trump’s Department of Defense loaned the company $620 million and gave them a large contract. Vulcan Elements was worth $200 million before these deals, but after receiving the pentagon contract, the company’s net worth jumped to $2 billion giving Don Jr. a tenfold increase in his investment. His 2025 financial disclosure also indicates the Trump family gained $1.4 billion from their shady cryptocurrency businesses.
Trump has also raised millions by blatantly offering pardons to convicted criminals in exchange for large donations to his political PAC along with the $400 million Boeing 747 luxury liner given to Trump by Quatar. Finally, the Trump Store has launched at least 622 products (sneakers, fragrances, Bibles, watches, mugs, meme coins, etc.) generating $8.8 million in 2024 alone. Trump makes merchandising the presidency seem normal. As President Truman said, “Show me a man that gets rich by being a politician and I’ll show you a crook.”
The real question is why “we the people” aren’t outraged about this blatant corruption. This is not the selfless leadership our founders envisioned. It is time to vote for congressional representatives willing to truly drain the swamp.
Carol & John Santa
Kalispell