President Trump has turned the presidency into a lucrative business venture like no other, generating $320 million in personal profits while facing 34 felony counts. Despite the staggering financial gains, public outrage remains surprisingly muted.
When Hillary Clinton served as first lady, a controversy erupted over her reported $100,000 profit from a $1,000 investment in cattle futures years before Bill Clinton’s presidency. The scandal dominated headlines for weeks and prompted a White House review. In contrast, Jeff Bezos recently agreed to fund a $28 million promotional film about Melania Trump after a dinner at Mar-a-Lago, a deal that directly enriches the former first lady. This figure dwarfs Clinton’s cattle futures profit by nearly 300 times, yet it has barely raised an eyebrow in Washington.
The Trump family’s approach to profiting from their time in power is unprecedented in scale and scope. Over the past several months alone, the family has collected $320 million from a new cryptocurrency, brokered international real estate deals worth billions, and launched a private club in Washington called the Executive Branch, which charges half a million dollars for membership. Just last week, Qatar gifted a luxury jet valued at $200 million for Trump’s use, not only during his presidency but also for his future presidential library. This gift exceeds the total value of foreign presents given to all prior U.S. presidents combined.
Days before his inauguration, Trump hosted an exclusive dinner for 220 investors in the $TRUMP cryptocurrency, selling access based on investment amounts to benefit his private business rather than a campaign fund. This blatant intertwining of business and government stands out even in the often murky world of Washington ethics.
Experts in corruption say this administration may represent the most brazen use of the presidency for personal gain in U.S. history, surpassing even notorious scandals such as Teapot Dome and Watergate.
Michael Johnston, a professor emeritus and longtime corruption scholar, said, “After 50 years of studying corruption, my head is still spinning.” Yet the Trump era has normalized these profiteering schemes that would have once triggered extensive investigations and public outrage. The expected backlash has largely failed to materialize, signaling a shift in what Washington and the public consider acceptable conduct.
Trump, the first convicted felon to serve as president, has dismantled ethical safeguards, firing inspectors general and ethics watchdogs, installing loyalists across regulatory agencies, and maintaining control of a Republican-led Congress that shows little interest in oversight. This has left critics struggling to hold him accountable amid a constant stream of controversial news and actions that rarely remain in the spotlight long enough to galvanize sustained opposition.
Paul Rosenzweig, a former counsel on the Clinton investigation, wonders if the public ever truly cared about government ethics. “Either the general public never cared about this, or they cared but are now overwhelmed and exhausted,” he said. “Outrage was always a figment of elite imagination.”
The White House insists Trump is following applicable conflict of interest laws, though these laws explicitly do not apply to the president. Meanwhile, Trump’s sons openly reject limiting their business activities, arguing their family faced criticism even when they restrained themselves during Trump’s first term.
Recent public pushback is emerging, especially over the $200 million jet gifted by Qatar. A Harvard/CAPS Harris poll found 62 percent of Americans see the gift as raising ethical concerns. Even some right-wing voices like Ben Shapiro and Laura Loomer have expressed discomfort.
Tucker Carlson, once a staunch Trump ally, admitted during a podcast that the family’s business dealings raise “corruption” concerns. Yet Democratic responses vary, with some focusing on economic issues instead of Trump’s profiteering. Senator Christopher Murphy has led calls for public mobilization, warning that traditional investigations are unlikely. “If Republicans keep losing special elections over this corruption, maybe they’ll rethink their stance,” Murphy said.
Trump campaigned in 2016 on promises to “drain the swamp,” criticizing the Clintons for accepting money from Middle Eastern sources, which went to charity. Now, the Trump family’s earnings from the region flow into personal accounts through various business ventures.
Despite pledges to restrict his business dealings abroad during his first term, Trump’s second term shows no such limits. Convicted on 34 felony counts for falsifying records and liable for civil fraud, Trump operates without ethical restraint, earning his place in what some call the “hall of fame” for exploiting the presidency for personal profit.
While Republicans aggressively pursued investigations into Hunter Biden’s business dealings, no comparable scrutiny has been directed at Trump’s family finances. Conservative voices like former appeals court judge J. Michael Luttig say Americans have “had no choice” but to accept Trump’s corruption because his party refuses to act.
The president openly benefits from interests that influence government policy. For example, Chinese billionaire Justin Sun, who holds $40 million in $TRUMP coins, attended an exclusive event where Trump promised lighter crypto regulation. Sun’s previous fraud allegations were shelved by the Securities and Exchange Commission after Trump took office.
Gifts from Bezos and Qatar also reflect their interests in maintaining favorable relations, with Trump having targeted these entities aggressively in his first term but refraining from attacks during his second.
The Trump administration has installed allies with clear conflicts of interest, including NASA’s administrator linked to Elon Musk, whose company benefits from billions in contracts. Attorney General Pam Bondi, a former Qatar lobbyist, approved the legality of the luxury jet gift.
Zach Witkoff, a founder of the Trump family’s crypto firm and son of the president’s special envoy, announced a $2 billion UAE deal just weeks before Trump’s presidential visit.
Fred Wertheimer, founder of Democracy 21, said Trump “holds the top spots on the list of presidential graft” and warned that public anger will eventually build. “It will take time, but it will catch up with him.”
