For most of his career, Donald Trump was a businessman — not a remarkably talented businessman — but one nonetheless. Through this way of life, he got comfortable with being monetarily rewarded: when the business succeeds, the CEO gets the biggest check. But, he has yet to realize that as a public servant, he is not entitled to a bonus.
Public servants have a basic obligation to their citizens to put the public before themselves. But, Trump believes that he deserves a prize because the concept of helping is not satisfying enough. So when Qatar Airways, an airline operated by the Qatari government, offered him a $400 million luxury jet, he had no ethical qualms accepting it.
While Trump calls the plane a gift for “a job well done,” he has already rewarded Qatar for their allegiance. Qatar offered the plane on May 11 and three days later, Trump signed an agreement to purchase $96 billion worth of products from the airline.
Trump also announced that his new golf resort will be built in Qatar, shrinking the possibility that his continuous involvement is a mere coincidence. It adds to the administration’s mounting conflicts of interest: if the president has a private company in a foreign nation, where do his loyalties lie? To his overseas business partners and shareholders or to the American people?
During his second term, Trump’s companies have grown by nearly $3 billion, primarily at the helm of his executive power. For example, the top investors in his cryptocurrency, $TRUMP, will receive a private presidential dinner.
Every time someone buys a share of $TRUMP, he takes a portion of the investment. When it first hit the market, his cryptocurrency was worth $75 a share, but it lost steam within two days, falling to $40. To incentivize investment, Trump is using his administrative influence: for the price of a few hundred million dollars, you can get the attention of one of the most powerful people in the world.
The buyers are not interested in dining with Donald Trump, star of “The Apprentice,” they are spending their wealth to cozy up to Donald Trump, president of the United States. Trump has the power to shift the market in favor of the people who support him. His proposed tax plan would give wealthy Americans the greatest share of tax cuts, boosting the 1% wealth even higher.
Trump has repeatedly demonstrated that money and loyalty are the only qualifications he considers. At his inauguration, he sat Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg — the wealthiest people in the world — in the front row and ahead of his cabinet picks. Now Musk, who donated $288 million during Trump’s campaign is the face for DOGE, the department responsible for a host of Trump’s executive decisions.
So, it is not a surprise that the companies investing in $TRUMP expect that their contribution will buy their way into the government. One Chinese company that operates through the shop tab on TikTok spent $300 million on $TRUMP amid the U.S.’s pending decision on the app’s fate.
As Trump uses his political position for personal gain, he is telling his citizens that we must cut back — in a particularly insulting manner — for the sake of his tariff policy. Trump recently acknowledged that his tariffs will affect the American people, that children might “have 2 dolls instead of 30 dolls,” suggesting that reducing personal spending is a sacrifice all people, even kids, must make.
While I believe that there is an overconsumption issue in the U.S., toddlers should not be held to higher expectations than the president. Chastising Americans for their materialism as he sits in a gilded Oval Office is peak Trump hypocrisy.
