In our 6/25/25 post on Trump corruption, I – begin now with a brief review:
“President Trump has more than doubled his personal wealth since starting his 2024 election campaign.”
*** “..one certainty..there is no way to access infinite wealth without rigging the system. NO one becomes a billionaire honestly.” [ Sarah Chayes: “On Corruption In America” ]
We resume providing excerpts from the 6/8/25 New York Times editorial, “The American System Is Not Designed To Resist Corruption”:
1] “During Mr. Trump’s first term, he frequently used his powers to reward himself. He held government events at his hotels, and his family business continued to make deals involving foreign governments, in apparent violation of the constitutional prohibition of enrichment from foreign leaders. But those erasures of ethical norms now look like a dress rehearsal for the ultimate production of the second term. Given the stakes, we believe..it is important to step back and document the range of self-dealing since he took office four months ago:
2] “While administration officials engage in complex negotiations in the Middle East, Mr. Trump and his family are making billions of dollars worth of deals with players in the region.
3] “During his first term, those currying favor with Mr. Trump bought drinks and dinner or spent the night at his Washington hotel. Now they can spend half a million dollars to join the private club Donald Trump jr. is opening in Georgetown.”
4]. “As his administration is negotiating with Vietnam to reduce the tariffs he imposed on the country’s goods, the government there is making way for a $1.5 billion golf complex outside Hanoi, as well as a Trump skyscraper in Ho Chi Minh City.”
5]. “Serbian officials cleared the way for a Trump International Hotel in Belgrade by using a forged document to permit the demolition of a cultural site at the location.”
6] “Mr. Trump has held meetings, including one in the Oval Office, to force a merger between the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed LIV golf circuit, which frequently holds tournaments on Trump courses.”
7]. “The right-wing activist Elizabeth Fago attended a $1 million-per-person fund-raising dinner for MAGA, Inc., Mr. Trump’s super PAC, in April. Less than three weeks later, The Times reported, he granted a full pardon to Ms. Fago’s son Paul Walczak, who pleaded guilty to tax crimes in 2014. The pardon is one of many issued by Mr. Trump to people who provided him with political or financial support or were associated with others who did.
8] “After personally suing media companies that the government regulates, including CBS/Paramount and ABC/Disney, Mr. Trump has won millions of dollars in settlements…….a baseless lawsuit Mr. Trump filed..”
9] “Amazon has agreed to pay #40 million for the right to a documentary about Melania Trump. That’s tens of millions more than such projects usually cost, Hollywood executives have said….Defense contracts for web services would be reason enough for Amazon to curry favor with Mr. Trump.”
10]. “Mr. Trump’s inaugural committee raised $239 million, mostly from large corporations and business leaders. The committee spent far less than that on the inauguration and faces few legal restrictions on ehat to do with the rest of the money.”
{Note: review items #2-#10 – this is a SMALL SAMPLE of how ‘YOUR’. president has used his public office to enrich himself and the favored few around him. In doing so, Trump has/is shredding 1779-2016 norms of ethical conduct, ignoring laws with impunity – partially because of the CORRUPT Roberts ‘court’ giving him immunity – an immunity that George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, FDR, Eisenhower didn’t need, didn’t ask for. The effect of Trump’s. NORMALIZING. corruption on American society, government, ethics and morals is not totally visible yet. But one thing is certain – the effect. WILL. NOT. BE. POSITIVE.}
*** “The consequences of turning a blind eye to government corruption go far beyond simply letting some corrupt politicians and bureaucrats walk free.” [ Tom Fitton ]
11]. “If Americans shrug this off as just “Trump being Trump.” his self-dealing will become accepted behavior. It will encourage other politicians to sell their offices. The damage will undermine our government, our society and even our economy. Historically, when corruption becomes the norm in a country, economic growth suffers, and living standards stagnate. Under Mr. Trump, the United States is sliding down that slope.”
*****. “You shall not show partiality, nor take a bribe: for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous.” [ Deuteronomy 16:19 ]
*** “A wicked man takes a bribe secretly to pervert the ways of justice.” [ Proverbs 17:23 ]
With Justice For All 