A Family Affair: Ripping Off the Country to Become Super Rich
By the end of 2025, President Trump had ripped off the presidency and the American people, reportedly to the tune of some $4 billion. This included huge sums from cryptocurrency at the same time he was
consistently setting national policy extremely favorable to the crypto industry. But it goes far beyond that.
A Family Affair
As we approach the 250th birthday of our country, there is no example in our history to how Trump is profiting off the presidency. And it is not just the President. This is a family affair.
Two Sons
Donald, Jr. and Eric spent a good part of 2025 roaming the world and making real estate deals for the Trump organization. However, they just took the money grab to another level. They are joining up with a new drone company, Powerus, which plans to sell their drones to the Pentagon. (What was it again that congressional Republicans were so concerned about with Hunter Biden’s business dealings?).
There is little doubt about how Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth or another Pentagon political appointee will respond.
Forbes has estimated that Eric Trump has become 10 times richer and Donald Trump, Jr. has become six times richer since their father became President. Both are reportedly now worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
The Son-In-Law
During President Trump’s first term, his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, served as a White House senior adviser to Trump. He was responsible for Mideast negotiations and developed a close relationship with Saudi Arabian Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Six months after leaving the White House, Kushner’s newly created private equity firm, Affinity Partners, was rewarded by the Saudis with a $2 billion investment from its sovereign wealth fund Kushner eventually raised nearly $5 billion by the end of 2024 with large amounts raised from foreign sources, including Abu Dhabi and Qatar sovereign wealth funds.
The New York Times reported last week that Kushner was seeking to raise another $5 billion for his private equity firm, which again is seeking funding from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. The firm reportedly is also expected to seek funds from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar sovereign wealth funds.
At the same time, Kushner along with Steve Witkoff has been negotiating U.S. policy on behalf of President Trump in the Mideast and other parts of the world.
Seeking $5 billion from Mideast countries at the same time he is representing the United States in negotiating national policies with Mideast potential financial benefactors is an enormous conflict of interest.
The Father
Trump’s insatiable thirst for personal financial gain or political money apparently never stops.
He is again selling access to himself. To qualify for a lunch with Trump next month at Mar-a-Lago, you need to be one of the top 297 investors in Trump’s personal memecoin. And if you are one of the top 29 investors, you will get to attend an exclusive reception and champagne toast with Trump himself.
Following the announcement of this event, the Trump memecoin increased overnight in value by 60 percent.
And then there is the depraved use in a Trump Super PAC fundraiser of a White House photo of Trump at what should be a dignified transfer of six fallen U.S. soldiers. This is a sacred ceremony to honor soldiers who have made the ultimate sacrifice by giving their lives to defend our country. Trump and his PAC are using this event and the Trump photo as props for political money.
The Spouse – with a guest appearance by Jeff Bezos
Weeks after Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez had dinner in December 2024 with President-elect Trump and Melania Trump, Amazon paid $40 million for a documentary about the First Lady. According to the Wall Street Journal, this was the most Amazon had ever spent on a documentary and nearly three times the next-closest offer. Amazon spent $35 million to market the film.
Published reports state that 70 percent of the payment for the documentary, or some $28 million went directly to Melania.
This raises major questions. Did Bezos use the documentary to pay to play with President Trump? Did Bezos greatly overpay for the Melania film as a way to get $28 million directly to the First Lady and curry favor with President Trump. (It’s worth noting that Amazon also gave $1 million for the Trump Inauguration.)
Conclusion
Apparently, the Trump family never has enough. Again and again, they trade off the presidency for personal financial gain, turning the highest office in the land into private business ventures.
We never had a President or presidency like this. We never will again.
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Fred’s Weekly Note appears on Thursdays in Wertheimer’s Political Report, a Democracy 21 newsletter. Read this week’s newsletter, and other recent editions, here. And subscribe for free here and receive your copy each week via email.
