***. “Government is a trust, and the officers of the government ae trustees; and both the trust and the trustees are created for the benefit of the people.” [ Henry Clay; 1829 ]
This post, and the next, BEGIN to examine the “unprecedented” CORRUPTION of Donald Trump and those around him in monetizing the U.S. presidency. They are doing things commonly seen in “banana republics” and other authoritarian states. This is just one more way that the Trump DICTATORSHIP is debasing America and what it was understood that America stood for. They have NO. SHAME.
Following are excerpts from some of many articles providing the facts:
I. “In many ways, Gorman said, his acts are a “betrayal of the American social contract: that those who lead the country prioritize country over self. – a premise that goes back to George Washington.” [ “Moneymaking run unrivaled in U.S. presidential history”; Eric Tipton; New York Times; 7/2/26 ]
*** “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty; power is ever stealing from the many to the few.” [ Wendell Philips ]
II. 4] “It is impossible to know how often Mr. Trump makes official decisions, in part or entirely, because he wants to be richer. And that is precisely the problem. A culture of corruption is pernicious not just because it is a deviation from government in the public interest; it also destroys the state’s democratic legitimacy. It undermines the necessary faith that the representatives of the people are acting in the interests of the people.” “Trump’s Cash Grab Undermines Our Republic”; New York Times editorial; 1/25/26 ]
5] “The demands of avarice gradually corrupt the work of government as officials facilitate the accumulation of personal wealth. Worse, such a government corrupts the people who live under its rule. They learn by experience that they live in a society where the laws are written by the highest bidder. They become less likely to obey those laws and to participate in the work of democracy. – speaking, voting, paying taxes. The United states risks falling into this cynical spiral as Mr. Trump hollows out the institutions of government for personal gain.” [1/25/26′ Times editorial]
1] “One year ago, Donald Trump took an oath to serve the American people. Instead, he has focused on using the presidency to enrich himself. President Trump has never been a man to ask what he could do for his country.”
[ 1/25/26; Times editorial ]
2]. “ALL TOLD, MR. TRUMP HAS PROFITED FROM HIS RETURN TO THE PRESIDENCY BY AN AMOUNT OF MONEY EQUAL TO 16,822 TIMES THE MEDIAN U.S. HOUSEHOLD INCOME.” [ 1/25/26; Times editorial ]
3]. “Mr. Trump’s hunger for wealth is brazen. Throughout the nation’s history, presidents of both parties have taken care to avoid even the appearance of profiting from public service. When President Harry Truman left office in 1953, he did not even own a car. He and his wife returned to Missouri by train and lived for a time on his Army pension. he refused to take any job that he regarded as commercializing his public service..” [ 1/25/26; Times editorial ]
***. “He is a man of splendid abilities but utterly corrupt. he shines and stinks like rotten mackerel by moonlight.”
[ John Randolph ]
III. 3] “The Trumps. – and the Kushners, and many others associated with the first family. – have gaslighted the American public with such bogus “explanations” of their grift-gorging for many years. Everyone in the Trump circle, including Cabinet officers such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, has long known that the president is a crook.”
[ Joe Conason: “The Ultimate Insider’s Massive Stock Trades”; The Progressive Populist; July, 2026 ]
1] “A new filing with the Office of Government Ethics, released on May 14, showed more than 3,500 specific trades in Trump’s name during the first quarter of 2026, with a value between $220 million and $750 million. this represents by far the largest series of securities transactions by a sitting president in American history….it adds up to 60 trades per day, while he issues executive orders, talks with foreign leaders, shifts tariffs, and gives policy directives that directly affect the value of his holdings.” [. Conason ]
2] “What outraged ethics experts was not just the volume of Trump’s market activity but the obvious overlaps between his actions and policies and the equities that he bought and sold.” [ Conason ]
***. “Wherever there is power, greed, and money, there is corruption.” [ Ken Poirot ]
IV. 1]. “Mr. Trump’s profits are a haul once unimaginable for any leader of a liberal democracy, particularly a sitting American president….The Trump family’s earnings, experts said, have moved him into an echelon of enrichment more associated with strongmen in Russia and Turkey.” [ Jason Horowitz: “Trump’s Profit In Presidency Shatters Norm”; New York Times; 7/5/26 ]
2]. “That reluctance to acknowledge any conflict now makes it harder, experts said, for anti-corruption investigators in countries big and small to combat behavior that the United states, until Mr. Trump’s presidency, once condemned. “How the U.S. behaved was quite influential in shaping international norms”…Now Mr. Trump’s windfall has undermined the idea “that there is a standard to which we should all be aspiring”…” [ Horowitz ]
3] “Since Watergate..the United States had helped set the international anti-corruption norms. Now..Mr. Trump was setting a different standard that could have the effect of demolishing democratic guardrails and clearing the way for others’ conflicts of interest. “This,’ mr. Sanchez said, “is what is being lost.” [ Horowitz ]
***. “The first of qualities for a great statesman is to be honest. And if it were possible that this opinion were an error, i should rather carry it with me to my grave that to believe that a man cannot be a statesman without being dishonest.”
[ John Adams; 2nd U.s. President ]
V. The Good News!!! American are catching on to †his Trump CORRUPTION. A Washington Post-Ipsos poll July 8-13, 2026, revealed this: “Trump’s overall approval rating stands at 37 percent, identical to what it was in April. His disapproval is 61 percent.” Of 28 categories of Americans, only 4: “Republican,” “Lean Republican,” “White evangelical Protestant,” “White Catholic”. favored Trump. “Rural’ was split: 50-48%.
[ Washington Post Weekly: “Broadly negative reviews for Trump”; 7/19/26 ]
VI. The Bad News: “Fed Shows Working Families Fall Behind As Trump Chooses To Keep Prices High”. “The Beige Book, a monthly report on consumer spending…showed a continuation of the trend that accelerated after President Donald Trump joined Israel in attacking Iran…The report notes that regional contacts at the Federal Reserve’s districts described middle-income households as “squeezing more life out of every dollar before deciding to spend it,’ while low-income families and individuals “showed greater financial strain..” { Dispatches; Progressive Populist; July, 2026 }
[NOTE: “Your’ president has monetized the U.s. presidency to the tune of over $2 billion in his second term, and counting…… YOU are struggling to feed and house YOUR family. – as are over 60% of Americans. Not only Trump’s war, but A.I. will increase YOUR electric bills and prices of consumer goods – and – pollute YOUR water, and YOUR peace of mind. These are SOME of the costs of enduring the Trump DICTATORSHIP…………….. ]
With Justice For All 