“Trump’s Moneymaking Run: Unrivaled in Presidential History.”
So read the headline in Wednesday’s New York Times, after the release of President Donald Trump’s financial disclosure report showing that he had reaped at least $2.2 billion in gains since returning to the White House, largely due to the cryptocurrency businesses set up by his sons Eric and Donald Jr.
But it’s not just the moneymaking that’s unrivaled. It’s also the flagrant appearance of corruption that those billions represent.
You do not need to think Trump is the end of American democracy, or that everything he does is evil, to see this for what it is: the biggest grift in American history. For all the condemnation of the so-called “Biden Crime Family” by Republicans—and Burisma and Hunter Biden were not high moments—it pales in comparison to what is happening in this presidency.
It’s true that Trump is far from the first president to profit from the office in our country’s now 250-year history. But most of them waited until they left office, and stuck to cushy board seats and speaking gigs. Bill Clinton reportedly earned more than $75 million on the speaking circuit in his first decade out of office. George W. Bush’s net worth increased by some $50 million after leaving office.
But there is no modern parallel for the scale and shamelessness with which Trump has enriched himself while in power. Most Americans should understand what is happening: a transfer of wealth from them—and perhaps foreigners—to the president.
