Wertheimer Political Report, September 17, 2026

Trump and his family members have perfected the art of the grift.

Led by President Trump, the family uses the grift and their proximity to the presidency to extract millions and billions of dollars for their personal enrichment.

Here are this week’s news stories featuring the Unholy Three.

Donald Senior

Bloomberg reports that Trump has made nearly 28,700 securities trades for the period from January 20, 2025, to June 30, 2026. That exceeds the 22,200 trades that members of Congress combined made during the same period.

Bloomberg found that many of Trump’s transactions involved large companies that do business with the federal government.

This creates extraordinary potential conflicts of interest. The president routinely makes decisions that can affect companies whose stocks he owns. Trump should be making NO securities trades.

And then there is the $1.4 billion that Trump made from cryptocurrency in the first year of his second term.

Donald Junior

ProPublica has an explosive story about how a Russian oligarch, Umar Kremlev, secretly spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to help pay for Donald Trump Junior’s three-day wedding in the Bahamas.

Forbes has estimated Trump Jr.’s net worth to be around $300 million.

Why in the world would Don Junior cozy up with the Russian oligarch when Russia is reportedly providing Iran with intelligence on U.S. military targets. The Russian oligarch was at Trump Jr.’s wedding, reportedly along with a large group of Russians. Why would the oligarch voluntarily pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for the wedding of the president’s son?

There is a Russian concept known as a “useful idiot,” defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary  as “a naive or credulous person who can be manipulated or exploited to advance a cause or political agenda.” It appears that the Russians have targeted Trump Jr. to play that role.

The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee has now opened an investigation into the Trump Jr.–Kremlev relationship, citing national security and public corruption concerns.

The Son-in-Law

The New Yorker has a long feature piece on Jared Kushner and his extraordinary conflicts of interest.

Kushner handled Middle East policy for Trump in the first term, and he and Steve Witkoff have played leading diplomatic roles in the region during the second term. During the period Trump was out of office, Kushner was a big-time money chaser in the Middle East. He raised $2 billion from the Saudis and $200 million each from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar for his private investment firm, Affinity Partners

The New Yorker reports that while Kushner was negotiating with Iran earlier this year, he was also raising another $5 billion in the Middle East for Affinity Partners.

This creates extraordinary conflict of interest problems. The same government that Kushner deals with as an American envoy also has the ability to put huge amounts into his private business and curry valuable favor with Kushner. It is also impossible to tell when Kushner is representing the United States and when he switches to representing himself.

Trump Junior and Kushner are playing off the President to enormously enrich themselves. If their last names were instead Smith and Jones, their riches would turn to dust.

TRUMPWATCH 2.0

What Anthropic’s C.E.O. Argued in His Call for Slower A.I. Development.
“Dario Amodei’s 3,800-word letter laid out a three-step plan to rein in artificial intelligence.” — New York Times

Trump says Kennedy Center could be “ripped down” without his intervention.
“The center remained closed Wednesday as management cited ‘imminent life-safety risks’ and a federal judge ordered officials to respond to a challenge to the shutdown.” — Washington Post

Judge says government must give 30 days’ notice before demolishing Kennedy Center.
“A federal judge on Thursday declined Rep. Joyce Beatty’s (D-Ohio) request for an emergency hearing to review the Kennedy Center board’s latest vote to close the building for renovations.” — The Hill

Why Karl Rove, a father of the modern Texas GOP, is voting for a Democrat.
“How Texas Republicans abandoned their immigrant-welcoming tradition.” — Washington Post

These are the Trump investigations Democrats plan if they win in November.
“Democrats hope to retake control of the House, and to use that power to probe Trump’s business ventures, legal maneuvers and policies.” — Washington Post

Whistle-Blower: Federal Agents May Have Broken State Laws in Search for Voter Fraud.
“Agents expressed concern about being directed by top Homeland Security leaders to use private information to look up voter records in state databases.” – New York Times

Amid measles outbreaks, RFK Jr. headlines anti-vaccine conference.
“‘The Children’s Health Defense conference is a homecoming of sorts for Kennedy, who seeks to rally a splintering anti-vaccine movement ahead of the midterms.” — MS Now

MEANWHILE, ON CAPITOL HILL

Robust House majority backs sanctions on Russia and Iran. Measure now heads to White House for Trump’s expected signature. — Roll Call

Massie: GOP leaders found ‘other Republicans’ who would join Hegseth impeachment push. — The Hill

Senate Democrats press Hegseth for Iran war price tag. — Politico

MONEY IN POLITICS, VOTING, ELECTION & OTHER RELATED INFO

Republicans Reel on the Midterm Map as Deep-Red Areas Come Into Play. The party is putting up a costly defense of states and districts that President Trump won easily in 2024. And in places like Georgia, strategists wonder if it’s too. late. — New York Times

Appeals court considers reviving Missouri redistricting fight, citing murky Supreme Court orders. A three-judge panel appeared to struggle with the justices’ emergency-docket rulings on the issue. — Politico

G.O.P. Representative breaks with Trump in Ad: Hispanic voters “feel betrayed.” Representative María Elvira Salazar, a three-term representative from Miami, won re-election by 20 percentage points in 2024. Her ad suggests worry among some Republicans about their standing with Hispanic voters. — New York Times

Campaign Finance Roundup September 2026 – Pt. 1. — American Promise