President Trump Sits in the Swamp He Once Pledged to Drain
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Going into President Donald Trump’s second term, Trump is waving his hand at ethics measures as he and his family bury themselves in potential conflicts of interest.
- President Trump started selling his own cryptocurrency for $10 each and later up to $70 by Sunday morning. It fell sharply later Sunday after Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, posted about a meme coin for her. The Melania coin was trading for around $5 Sunday afternoon. (As reported by The Washington Post)
- This is a profound conflict of interest. Trump is launching a major multi-billion dollar venture to get richer while his administration will be regulating the crypto industry. He will directly impact his own profits. In addition, foreign nations will have the ability to pander by procuring the coin.
- Eric Trump told The New York Times in a statement: “I am extremely proud of what we continue to accomplish in crypto. $Trump is currently the hottest digital meme on earth.” He added, “This is just the beginning.”
- Donald Trump will still be privy to significant information about the Trump organization while President of the United States.
- Foreign Conflicts
- The Trump Organization’s foreign corporate deal making could allow potential foreign interests to influence Trump’s presidency.
- Foreign Conflicts
- Amazon is paying $40 million to license a documentary and a limited series on first lady Melania Trump. Amazon Chairman Jeff Bezos was front row at Trump’s inauguration.
- Trump has nominated an unprecedented 13 billionaires to his new administration, many with glaring conflicts of interests.
- The cryptocurrency industry, Big Tech and Wall Street donated heavily to Trump’s campaign and Inauguration, and all three sectors dominate cabinet posts and key administrative agencies.
- On his second day in office, President Donald Trump repealed an ethics executive order by former President Biden that aimed at suppressing lobbying interests and activities. No administration in the last 30 years has existed without a governing ethics order.
Public Citizen Co-President Lisa Gilbert said Trump’s moves are unprecedented and wrought with ethics concerns.
“President Trump just held a ribbon cutting ceremony to open his administration like it’s a new business,” said Gilbert. “Trump once pledged to ‘drain the swamp’ and rid our government of special interests, but now in his second term, Trump has left that pledge far in the rearview mirror and repealed former-President Biden’s executive order of ethics. Trump is opening the floodgates for conflicts of interest and exploiting his power in office in the hopes of making billions of dollars on the backs of taxpayers. Instead of focusing on the needs of the American people, Trump’s only interest is to secure a next deal to line his pockets.”
Public Citizen Government Affairs Lobbyist Craig Holman, Ph.D., warned of the dangers of buying favors in the Trump administration.
“The nation has never seen a president so in love with money,” said Holman. “Billionaires, millionaires and their companies from cryptocurrency to Big Tech to Wall Street have swept into Trump’s favor by throwing millions and millions of dollars into his campaign and Inaugural celebrations. They are, in turn, receiving administration posts, government contracts and sweet-deal policy preferences.”