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AMERICA HAS NEVER SEEN A PRESIDENT THIS CORRUPT  
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Alex Shephard
May 13, 2025
The New Republic
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_ Trump’s brazen use of the White House to advance his family
businesses should be one of the biggest scandals in the country’s
history. _

, Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

 

Given the tumult in the Middle East, it makes sense that the first
foreign tour of President Donald Trump’s second term would be to the
region. The situation in Gaza is dire: Israel plans to “conquer”
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territory and displace millions of Palestinians, who are facing famine
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and renewed military bombardment
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The Trump administration may have reached a ceasefire
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with Houthi rebels in Yemen, who allegedly have promised to stop
attacking U.S. ships in the Red Sea, but Israel is still bombing
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the Iran-backed militia. And the administration is negotiating with
Iran itself about the fate of its nuclear program. Trump has sounded
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about those talks, but should they fail, he has made it clear that the
United States could bomb Iranian facilities and possibly trigger a
regional war.

But Trump isn’t visiting the Middle East to push for peace or really
to do much diplomacy at all. Instead, his visit to the Persian Gulf
is, one Arab official told Axios, all about
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“business, business and business.” Yes, Trump is seeking
investment
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in America: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who ordered the
murder of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi during the
president’s first term, has already pledged
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$600 billion. But one increasingly gets the sense that it’s not
America’s business that Trump is really there for: It’s his family
businesses. This swing through three Gulf states, which kicked off on
Monday, is the clearest and most damning instance yet of his approach
to governance in his second term, where official business and personal
business are fully intertwined.

Trump’s trip was tainted by massive, historic corruption even before
it began, when it was revealed
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that he would accept a “palace in the sky”—a luxury Boeing 747-8
worth $400 million—from Qatar, which he plans on using as Air Force
One. “So the fact that the Defense Department is getting a GIFT,
FREE OF CHARGE, of a 747 aircraft to replace the 40 year old Air Force
One, temporarily, in a very public and transparent transaction, so
bothers the Crooked Democrats that they insist we pay, TOP DOLLAR, for
the plane,” Trump wrote
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on Truth Social. “The Dems are World Class Losers!!!” But the
proposed gift was criticized not only by Democrats but also by
Republicans
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including Senator Rand Paul, podcaster Ben Shapiro, and far-right loon
Laura Loomer. Plus, the Defense Department isn’t really getting the
gift: Trump has indicated he plans on transferring the jet to his
presidential library foundation at the end of his term, which likely
means he can keep using it
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after he leaves office.

There are no indications that the jet—which Qatari officials have
said has not been officially gifted—is part of an explicit quid pro
quo. That hardly matters, though. Qatar is buying favor with the
president in an act of deep and brazen corruption. Trump wants to be
treated as a king, and Qatar is playing ball. Will Qatar be rewarded
by favorable treatment by the U.S. government for as long as Trump is
president? Of course it will. This is exactly how Trump has always
wanted to govern—via personal relationships, in which foreign
leaders and business magnates grovel before him. This is exactly how
he’s governing during his second term.

Trump’s businesses have extensive ties
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in the Gulf, particularly Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and
Qatar (as well as nearby Azerbaijan). It would be shocking if Trump
did not discuss his own business interests while encouraging
investment in the U.S.—indeed, it is quite clear that he sees no
difference between the two. For Trump, the business of America and the
Trump family business are one and the same.

Trump’s visit to the Gulf is following in the footsteps of his sons,
Eric and Donald Jr. The pair have been jaunting across the region
drumming up business
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and in recent weeks “announced new overseas business deals involving
billions of dollars, including a luxury hotel in Dubai, a high-end
residential tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and a new golf course and
villa complex in Qatar,” according to _The New York Times_. But the
pair are most notable for introducing cryptocurrency to their
family’s business portfolio. They are currently pushing to take
public
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American Bitcoin, a crypto firm they co-founded, which would allow
investors to directly finance a company with close ties to the
president.

Since assuming office, Trump has backed
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pro-crypto legislation and shuttered
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Department of Justice unit devoted to investigating its use in fraud,
money laundering, tax-avoidance schemes, and other crimes—all
actions that benefit his own increasing financial stake in the
industry. Most outrageously, he has repeatedly pushed crypto as a
means of buying direct access to him. $Trump, a meme coin launched
three days before his inauguration, has recently soared
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thanks to the president inviting 220 of its top investors to dine with
him in what he called
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“most EXCLUSIVE INVITATION in the world.” That ploy led to a
windfall—investors spent nearly $150 million
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buying the president’s meme coin—in a weeks-long sale that ended
on Monday. Not all of the invitees are known, but they include a
number of prominent cryptocurrency investors, including Justin Sun, a
major Trump donor who saw a Securities and Exchange Commission
investigation close
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after he spent $75 million on $WLFI, a separate meme coin peddled by
the president
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during the 2024 campaign.

Sun, who was born in China and is currently based in Hong Kong, is
just one of many foreigners
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cashing in on the ability to influence the president. As with the
Qatari jet, the absence of a quid pro quo is immaterial. These people
are buying access so they can lobby the president on crypto
regulation. The real estate and bitcoin ventures being pursued by the
presidents’ children vastly exceed—by a tune of hundreds of
millions of dollars, at least—the lobbying work
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done by President Joe Biden’s son Hunter, which Trump and many
others on the right spent years insisting was a massive scandal.

For Trump, this is what being president is all about: He is entitled
to a massive windfall and a luxury jet because he is in charge of the
world’s most powerful country. He explained the jet as a simple perk
of being the commander in chief of the American military. “I think
it was a gesture because of the fact that we help, have helped, and
continue to, we will continue to, all of those countries: Saudi
Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, and others,” he said
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on Monday. A $400 million jet he will use when he leaves office is
simply a perk of the job—as are lucrative real estate and
cryptocurrency deals. Trump calls it a gesture, but it’s clearly
something more.

What is happening now is unquestionably the biggest corruption scandal
in American history. There are signs that the Democrats are waking up
to it. The party recently blocked a bill to regulate stablecoin, one
form of cryptocurrency, and are demanding that it include requirements
barring elected officials
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from owning or promoting stablecoin ventures. Senate Minority Leader
Chuck Schumer, meanwhile, pledged
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to put a hold on all Department of Justice nominees until “we get
more answers” about the Qatari jet. In the meantime, Trump will be
jetting around the Middle East making deals for himself and his
children—and maybe, just maybe, for the country too.

___

Alex Shephard [[link removed]]

Alex Shephard is senior editor of _The New Republic_, where he has
covered politics and culture since 2015. His work has also appeared
in _New York_, _GQ_, _The Atlantic_, _The Nation_, and other
publications.  

* Donald Trump; Corruption; Middle East; Cryptocurrency;
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