I saw this going viral, Democrats rail against corruption after Trump financial disclosure:
Democrats are accusing President Trump of improperly profiting from his and his family’s cryptocurrency ventures after he reported more than $1 billion in income tied to the industry.
In his annual financial disclosure released Tuesday, Trump revealed about $594 million in income from World Liberty Financial, the crypto business he launched with his sons in fall 2024, and another $635 million that appears to be linked to the president’s meme coin.
“Trump made $1+ billion from his crypto ventures while in office,” Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) wrote in a social media post Wednesday.
“Today he’s taking his first flight on his illegal $400 million gift from a foreign government,” he added, referring to the new jet gifted to the president by Qatar. “This grift and corruption is staggering. Accountability is coming.”
Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) suggested that Trump has made more money in the first year of his presidency “than in the rest of his life combined,” with The New York Times reporting he raked in a total of $2.2 billion last year.
Trump’s alleged corruption is spoken as if it’s a foregone conclusion or self-evident. Or that he’s worse than past presidents, but the evidence is less clear.
It seems that “corruption” has been redefined to mean, “someone I dislike has used their influence to profit indirectly,” rather than actual corruption. By that standard, every celebrity endorsement, book deal, speaking fee, and brand partnership is corruption. Similar to labels such as “racist” or “hate speech,” the term has become so vague, partisan, or all-encompassing as to signify nothing. It’s no more corrupt than the Clintons cashing in on their brands with book deals, speaking gigs and consulting to the tune of tens of millions of dollars. No president, at least in recent history, has ever left office poorer than before entering.
So how does this not meet the criteria of corruption? Trump taking money from crypto donors and lending his likeness to the creation of “shit coins,” is not corrupt–it’s opportunistic. There is a distinction. Trump saw huge demand for crypto, and to capitalize on this he licensed his brand in the creation of $TRUMP, in which he was paid in the native token, and a second one shortly later–World Liberty Financial ($WiFi). People voluntarily buying these is not corruption; it’s just plain stupidity.
Second, Trump has failed to avail himself of the option of endorsing his coins as prices have collapsed, and scarcely any mention of Bitcoin despite having the second-most popular account on Twitter and the collective attention the world. He could have easily used his platform–or even bailed out MicroStrategy, whose CEO Michael Saylor was a major donor and supporter of Trump in 2024, similar to Intel–to at least temporarily arrest the downward spiral, but has done nothing, as other industries and companies, none of whose CEO’s and leaders campaigned or otherwise supported trump in 2024, get bailouts and handouts.
The defining feature of corruption is taking money and then returning the favor (quid pro quo). In Trump’s case, taking money from crypto donors (and being paid for $Trump and $WiFi) with the implied agreement to promote crypto while in office, and not following through on the second part, isn’t corrupt. Maybe it makes him a scammer or deceitful, but this is not an impeachable offense. I wouldn’t want to do business with Trump, and given the decades-long history of losses and bankruptcies of anything associated with him, I am sure many have come to regret having done so. It’s a mystery why anyone still gives him money. But many do, and when the loses mount, Trump is off to another deal, leaving his original investors in the rain. A story as old as time.
Trump is smart enough to know that if he shilled his crypto projects or tried to bailout MicroStrategy or Bitcoin it would invite a cacophony of accusations by the media and politicians of corruption, and deservedly so, for using the Office to advance his own financial interests, compared to bailing out Intel, where there is no conflict of interest.
Given how badly Bitcoin has performed since Trump was inaugurated–the worst performing asset class by far–I would say the ROI for donors has been pretty bad. Industries and sectors that donated nothing still got bailouts and other initiatives, such as AI, quantum, metals, and semiconductors. But nothing for crypto donors–no bailouts, or even mentions on Twitter or Truth Social. No reassuring words. Politicians can take money but they don’t have to honor their end of the deal to give anything in return.
Third, excluding the Jan 6th pardons, Trump has granted among the fewest pardons of any recent president, at only 200 between his first and second terms. Pardons are a good proxy for corruption, as it implies a willingness to override the legal order, or signifies extralegal intervention to return a favor. Reagan, H. W. Bush, Clinton, W. Bush, Obama, and Biden granted 406, 77, 459, 200, 1927 and 4244 pardons, respectively. In general, Republicans grant far fewer pardons compared to Democrats, and Trump fits this trend.