Grifters Gonna Grift

Trump's Pay-to-Play Masterclass

Jun 07, 2025

June 7, 2025 ~ Vol. # 27

Remember when we were upset about Trump selling bibles? Or sneakers? How quaint. How about a gift of a 747, or hundreds of millions of dollars paid into his latest crypto currency venture, all associated fees going directly into the family coffers. I suspect that many people look at these indiscretions under the heading of “all politicians do it” so the Trump family is no different than (insert Hunter, Bill, etc.) and as long as the offending transaction does not really ring a bell, then we just go on reading our paper. Even so, Trump’s grift & conflict blitz during his second administration has left even some of his supporters in awe. During the last month alone, Trump or his family and business partners have pulled fast ones that make Tea Pot Dome look like “Billy Beer”, Jimmy Carter’s ne’er do well brother’s adventure in brewing. While many past presidential family members have been accused of trading on their family names, none have been so blatant about selling access—brazenly including access to the White House in the marketing of their business ventures.

During the first administration, Trump Central in DC was the family hotel, Trump International, which functioned like Mar-A-Lago North for allies and supporters, media types looking for a quote or a story, and of course, anyone looking for an opportunity to feather the Trump family nest by booking parties and rooms by the floor-full, Saudi style. That hotel was sold when Trump left office, leaving an opening for the newest and most opportunistic of Trump family ventures, “Executive Branch”, a by-invitation, members only, social club with a $500,000 entry fee. You really can’t make this stuff up.

Last month Don Jr. made the media rounds hawking the new club, whose very name told the story and its raison d’être – access to power, specifically the power of the Executive Branch. No hiding the show behind the curtain, you pays your money (to the Trump family and their business partners) and you are rewarded with the opportunity to have drinks in “the room where it happens”, MAGA style—no Dems, no libs, no MS media to memorialize the transactions. I have not read what I am sure is my soon to arrive invite with the membership rules, but I would make sure that Trump Inc. also gets a cut of any transactions negotiated on premise.

That brazen master class in grift was superseded immediately by the story of a new 747 size grift, which included an actual 747! Tell me that you were not surprised when you first heard about it. If you were like me, you scurried immediately to look up the full text of the Constitution’s emoluments clause to see if the framers included anything about planes. They did not, but they did say this:

“No person holding any office of profit or trust under them , shall, without the consent of Congress, accept any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind whatsoever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.”

The offending 747 was described as “a gift” from Qatar, and specifically as a gift to the Air Force to be used as “Air Force One”. I am not a lawyer, but I am going to count “gift” as the “present” proscribed in the emoluments clause. Air Force One is, by definition, the plane (any plane) used by the President of the United States, which would mean the exclusive use of President Trump. Re-enforcing that exclusivity is the addendum that at the completion of Trump’s term in office, ownership of the plane will be transferred to the new Trump Presidential Library, in other words, DJT. (The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board cautioned that Trump does have a habit of changing his mind.) The announcement of the transaction invoked howls of protest from both sides of the aisle, including a rebuke from hard-right activist Laura Loomer, who described the gift from Iranian ally Qatar as “a stain on the presidency”. (I suspect that this will be the last time you read a quote from Loomer in this newsletter.) The White House countered with the assurance that the gift from Qatar had been approved by the White House Counsel, David Warrington and Attorney General Pam Bondi, who in a prior employment engagement had worked as a registered foreign agent with lobbyists, Ballard Partners, representing…. wait for it….the government of Qatar. You really can’t make this stuff up either.

But wait, there’s more.

On May 22, President Trump and his business partners held a “Gala Dinner” at Trump National Golf Course in Virginia, to welcome the top buyers of his recently launched meme-coin. He flew to the event on a military helicopter and spoke to the assembled guests from behind a lectern adorned with the Presidential Seal. Those in attendance were the top 220 bidders for President Trump’s new memecoin, $TRUMP. Meme coins are digital cryptocurrency with zero intrinsic value and with zero utility. Their value is established by the most recent purchase, and since the majority of the currency is owned by the President and his family and partners, they are the primary beneficiaries of the entire exercise. The singular purpose of anyone’s attendance at the affair was to have proximity to the President, and hopefully to have a moment to lobby Trump with your views on cryptocurrency trading and regulations. Trump has embraced crypto with the fervor of the reformed crypto-sceptic that he was two years ago, before he figured out how to use it to his own advantage.

Perhaps the best known crypto investor at the dinner was Justin Sun, a Chinese billionaire who runs the crypto platform Tron. He spent more than $40 million on $TRUMP coins, earning himself the top spot on the leaderboard. He was “very excited to meet President Trump and to discuss cryptos’s future”. Another crypto executive who had bought enough of the $TRUMP coin to earn a place at the table, Sangok Oh, had flown into the dinner from Seoul. “It’s kind of a fund raiser for Mr. Trump”, he was quoted as saying in the New York Times, in understated eloquence, and that Trump “would always be good to his sponsors.” No doubt.

The $TRUMP meme coin was introduced to coincide with the President’s inauguration. It opened for trading on January 17 at $28.93 and peaked at $44.28 four days later on January 21. It now trades around $12, down 73% from the January high. Not to be outdone, $MELANIA, the First Lady’s very own meme coin was launched for trading on January 19 at $8.88. It trades now at 38 cents, according to CoinGecko. Do the math. While investors saw the value of their meme coins collapse, The Trump family and their business partners raked in over $300 million in fees on the venture, according to the New York Times. And Congress looks on, and does nothing.

Meanwhile in Vietnam, the Trump family is negotiating the construction of a new $1.5 billion golf resort outside of Hanoi, which required the usual approvals and property variances to move forward. The Vietnamese government fast tracked the approvals, explaining them in a letter made public by the NY Times. The project requires special support from the Vietnamese government because “it was receiving special attention from the Trump administration and President Trump personally.” Left unsaid in the letter is the tariff that the White House is threatening to impose on Vietnamese exports, which are currently on a 90 day pause. No conflict there, eh? And Congress looks on, and yawns.

Meanwhile in Mar-a-Lago, where the cost of admission is now seven figures according to the Guardian, the President can negotiate foreign affairs and Trump family investment opportunities in the same conversation. The LIV Golf League, wholly owned by PIF, the Public Investment Fund, is the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) is its chairman–MBS of Jamal Khashoggi assassination fame. LIV has held an annual tournament at Trump’s Doral course and has also paid and staged tournaments at Trump’s Bedminster and Washington DC courses. Proximity to power. Feather the nest.

While Trump was in the middle east last month visiting his new friends, the Trump family was negotiating to build a resort in Oman on land owned by the government, with the Saudi real estate firm Dar Al Arkan as partners in the project, according to the Times. Billions of dollars are in play with these investments with the Saudis, who also happen to be in negotiations to purchase US F-35 fighter jets and nuclear technology, acquisitions that would require government approval. No quid pro quo going on there, I’m sure.

I could go on, and on: Trump’s use of Truth Social, his family’s own company, to make all official Presidential announcements. Using Trump family-owned hotels and resorts to house government employees at a cost of millions of dollars. MGX, a United Arab Emerites (UAE) Investment Fund is investing $2 billion in Trump issued crypto currencies, and let us not forget the Saudi Investment Fund’s $2 billion investment in Jared Kushner’s startup private equity fund, Affinity Partners. A 1% investment management fee generates $20 million—annually! The Trump family also owns 60% of World Liberty Financial, a crypto currency trading firm that issued two additional crypto coins in addition to the $TRUMP and $MELANIA meme coins. WLF collects a fee anytime that any of these cryptocurrencies are traded.

And Congress does nothing. Congress does nothing because they too are enthralled by the proximity to power. Trump’s MAGA supporters seem as enthusiastic about his tactics as ever. Either they do not understand, or they do not care, or they are willing to look the other way because they really do not like immigrants, or Democrats. But I have no doubt that this will not end well—for him. When this all comes tumbling down— and it will all come tumbling down in Berlusconi like fashion, and there is an impeachment, the cryptocurrency grift will be Article One.

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