Trump Corruption Watch

Political cartoon by Jim Morin, Miami Herald

Flagrant insider stock trading. A quid pro quo deal with Dell Computer. A stake in a precious minerals mine in Kazakhstan. A DOJ stay-out-of-jail card. Trump is grifting the quiet part out loud.

Unprecedented Corruption

I believe Donald Trump covets the title of the most corrupt president in American history. The man is making history, right? For a narcissist with no moral compass, the notion that he’s number one in something probably suits Trump just fine.

Trump is grifting the quiet part out loud, fortified by the Supreme Court’s blanket of immunity and enabled by a spineless Republican congressional majority.

That congressional majority will likely favor Democrats come November. Is Trump following a “Get it Now!” playbook, knowing that checks and balances will reconvene in the coming year?

Trump’s milking the presidency for self-enrichment has worked out spectacularly well for him in his second term, yielding upwards of $4 billion for the Trump family business. It seems that the presidency and the Trump family business are one and the same.

The Dell Quid Pro Quo

Trump and Michael Dell. Source: ABC News

If Trump’s friendships are purely transactional, Michael Dell could do a lot worse than Donald Trump. Here’s the art of the deal: On February 10 of this year, Trump bought up to $5 million in Dell Computer shares. He purchased more shares in the weeks that followed. In speeches Trump gave on February 19 in Georgia and again on February 27 in Texas, Trump said out loud, “Go out and buy a Dell Computer.”

On May 28, the Pentagon disclosed a $9.7 billion deal with Dell Computer for digital services, claiming it was its “largest to date.” They call this an insider buy-and-pump scheme.

The Ultimate Insider Trading

On several occasions this year, Donald Trump has vigorously promoted certain companies in speeches and public appearances, while failing to mention that he purchased stock in those very companies beforehand or on that same day. Here are some examples:

Apple CEO Tim Cook and Trump. Source: msn.com

• In March, Trump visited Ohio-based Thermo Fisher Scientific, a medical supply company. In remarks to the company’s workers, Trump gushed, “It’s a great honor to be here. It’s an incredible company. You have done a fantastic job and I congratulate you.” In the month leading up to his appearance, Trump bought up to $215,000 of Thermo Fisher stock.
• After visiting Thermo Fisher, Trump flew to Kentucky to make a speech at a facility that manufactures the glass for Apple devices. Trump went out of his way to sing the praises of Apple CEO Tim Cook. “He’s done a good job, Tim Cook,” Trump said. That same day, March 11, 2026, Trump purchased between $250,000 and $500,000 in Apple stock (disclosure forms require only purchase-price ranges).
• On March 25, Donald Trump bought between $50,000 and $100,000 of semiconductor giant Micron Technology stock. The next day, Trump called in to the Fox News program “The Five” to tout Micron’s prospects. “I just left the head of Micron. It’s one of the hottest companies,” Trump said.

Kazakhstan Calling

Opportunity knocks! The Trump family business is launching a foray into precious minerals, courtesy of $1.6 billion in taxpayers’ dollars. Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) gives us the skinny:

Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) Photo by Eric Lee, NYTimes

Last September, the president of Kazakhstan calls Donald Trump and says he wants to grant tungsten mining rights to an American company. The very next month, Eric and Don, Jr. [Trump] get a 20% stake in Skyline, the American company pursuing the mining deal. Six days later, Kazakhstan announces the company will get ‘the largest known undeveloped tungsten resource in the world.’

It was reported that the US government, through the Export-Import Bank, is committing up to $1.6 billion to support the project, of which Skyline and another company linked to the Trump sons control a majority share. Ossoff: “The US government puts aside $1.6 billion of taxpayer dollars to finance a mining project in Kazakhstan all while Americans pay more for gas, for groceries, [and] for health care.”

In another development on the subject of mining, Don, Jr.’s firm 1789 Capital last year purchased an ownership stake in a precious minerals company called Vulcan Elements. Shortly afterwards, the Pentagon awarded Vulcan a $620 million government loan that bypassed competitive bidding or an independent technical review.

Trump on trial with personal attorney Toad Blanche, who is now acting attorney general. Source: ABC News.

Slush Fund Aftermath

Remember the $1.8 billion slush fund that began as a lawsuit against the IRS (“Trump v. Trump”) that would allow a vengeful Trump to be paymaster to all sorts of MAGA characters allegedly victimized by the “weaponization of government,” including the felons who sacked our Capitol on January 6, 2021? Fierce resistance from what’s left of guardrails in Washington, DC, put that scheme on the back burner.

Instead, Trump was dealt a “stay out of jail” card courtesy of Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who used to be Trump’s personal lawyer. Here’s a summary of the text that would prevent any future government inquiry into any corrupt activity of the Trump family business:

The settlement agreement forever protects Trump and his family from all claims or causes of action or requests for any relief including examinations that could have been asserted by the United States against Trump, his children or affiliated individuals or parties which arise out of any matters that could be pending including tax returns before the United States or its agencies and departments. The United States is FOREVER BARRED and PRECLUDED from prosecuting “any and all claims…”

The Constitution, through its Emoluments Clause, strictly forbids the president from receiving any financial benefits from the government he commands.

Coda: Accountability

It’s no secret that the road to holding Trump accountable for his lawlessness runs through the midterm elections, and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) is saying the quiet part out loud. “If we lose the midterms, heaven forbid, these Democrats…will turn every committee of Congress into an investigative body, and they’ll go after the president’s family, his cabinet, his donors, his friends, and half of you in this room will be targeted,” Johnson said the other day. “I run the protection program. We’ll take care of you, okay?”

An interesting choice of words. Responding to Johnson was California Congressman Mike Levin. “You don’t need a ‘protection program’ for people who did nothing wrong,” Levin said. “You need one when you’re afraid of what the books will show. Congress is supposed to be a check on power, not the muscle protecting it. November can’t come fast enough.”

Indeed.