26tth May 2025 – (New York) The Trump presidency has redefined political graft

The Trump presidency has redefined political graft in modern democracies, transforming the Oval Office into a lucrative marketplace

The Trump presidency, known for its brazen disregard for norms and ethics, has reached new lows with the president’s blatant promotion of the $TRUMP memecoin. Named after the president himself, the valueless token is being sold to cryptocurrency speculators who are granted special access to the administration in return for their investments.

This brazen pay-to-play scheme was unveiled by anti-corruption group Transparency International, which obtained internal documents detailing the administration’s efforts to capitalise on Trump’s image in the hopes of boosting the floundering dollar.

Trump’s presidency has been marked by a disdain for traditional financial institutions and a preference for new technologies. This is evident in his administration’s close ties to the cryptocurrency industry, which is largely unregulated in the U.S.

Earlier this year, Trump hosted a black-tie dinner at his Virginia golf club exclusively for the top investors in $TRUMP, requiring minimum purchases of $670,000 for entry. The event, which was denounced by watchdog groups as “pay-to-play politics incarnate,” reportedly raised $148 million, directly benefiting Trump’s private coffers.

Among the attendees was Chinese billionaire Justin Sun, who purchased $20 million in $TRUMP tokens to secure VIP access despite facing unresolved SEC charges for market manipulation.

“It’s a grotesque irony that President Trump is simultaneously overseeing financial regulation while personally profiting from investors his administration shields from accountability,” said Columbia Law professor Richard Briffault. “This isn’t merely corruption – it’s commercialising the presidency itself.”

The Trump family’s World Liberty Financial (WLF) has also become a conduit for foreign influence, with the administration finalising a $2 billion partnership between WLF and Abu Dhabi’s MGX sovereign fund and the scandal-plagued Binance exchange just weeks before Trump’s state visit to the UAE.

This deal positions WLF’s USD1 stablecoin as central to Middle Eastern crypto infrastructure despite Binance’s 2023 guilty plea for money laundering violations.

The arrangement raises acute national security concerns. Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, recently released from U.S. prison, now seeks a presidential pardon while retaining control of the platform. Meanwhile, WLF’s UAE-backed expansion grants Gulf states unprecedented leverage over digital finance systems critical to dollar dominance.

Trump’s fusion of governance and greed extends to systematic regulatory dismantling. Within months of taking office, he installed crypto lobbyists to lead the SEC and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), agencies now accused of abandoning investigations into major platforms like Tether and Coinbase.

The Department of Justice simultaneously disbanded its crypto enforcement team, citing Trump’s executive order prioritising industry growth over fraud prevention.

This deregulatory blitzkrieg directly benefits Trump’s interests. WLF’s valuation skyrocketed to $2.9 billion within a year of launch, with the Trump family entitled to 75% of token sale revenues.

Meanwhile, the administration’s proposed “Genius Act” legislation – spearheaded by crypto-aligned Republicans – would permanently insulate digital assets from stringent oversight, creating a Wild West financial landscape ripe for exploitation.

By prioritizing meme coin promotion over anti-money laundering safeguards, Trump accelerates the dollar’s retreat from global finance. BRICS nations now conduct 28% of cross-border transactions in local currencies via alternative payment systems, while Chinese regulators capitalize on U.S. regulatory chaos to position the yuan as crypto’s stable anchor.

Simultaneously, Trump’s Gulf dealings strengthen authoritarian alliances antithetical to American values. The Qatari government’s “gift” of a $200 million Boeing 747 for Trump’s post-presidential use – the largest foreign present ever received by a U.S. leader – underscores the transactional statecraft defining his tenure.

As Saudi Arabia and the UAE pour billions into Trump-linked ventures, critics fear irreversible policy capture: “These regimes aren’t investing in businesses – they’re purchasing White House influence wholesale,” notes former FEC counsel Larry Noble.

Perhaps most alarmingly, Trump’s graft has metastasized into broader democratic decay. Republican legislators who once crusaded against Hunter Biden’s minor foreign dealings now tacitly endorse presidential profiteering, blocking Democratic efforts like Senator Jeff Merkley’s Anti-Crypto Corruption Act.

Meanwhile, the conservative media ecosystem dismisses ethical breaches as “elite obsessions,” reframing brazen self-dealing as entrepreneurial savvy.

By allowing foreign powers and speculative investors to purchase policy influence, Trump erodes the foundational principle that public office serves collective rather than personal interests.

The $TRUMP phenomenon epitomizes this decay: a financial instrument with no utility beyond monetizing presidential access, marketed explicitly to bypass campaign finance laws.

While Trump dismantles U.S. institutional integrity, China positions itself as a bastion of regulatory stability. Beijing’s stringent crypto bans and anti-corruption drives – however authoritarian –