How Trump Became the Biggest Crook in the History of Democracy
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Politics
/ February 2, 2026
How Trump Became the Biggest Crook in the History of Democracy
The penny-ante bribes of his first term have given way to billions in graft.
Jeet Heer
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Donald Trump speaks to reporters and members of the media at Mar-a-Lago on February 1, 2026 in Palm Beach, Florida.
(Al Drago / Getty Images)
Donald Trump is not given to regret, but he does get rueful when he thinks about how modest his corruption was in the first term. When he was first elected as president in 2016, Trump was primarily a real estate magnate and television personality who licensed his brand for money. He held on to both his properties and his branding practices in his first term, which meant that business people and foreign governments could indirectly enrich his coffers by staying at Trump-branded hotels. Foreign governments also handed kickbacks to the president by granting trademarks to the Trump Organization. Though both practices clearly violated the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, the bribery went on with impunity during Trump’s first term; predictably, the Supreme Court refused to review the matter.
It’s now clear that, in the grand scheme of things, Trump’s first-term corruption was penny-ante, involving tens of millions of dollars rather than billions. It’s not that Trump was less greedy; he simply lacked the imagination and connections to realize how the presidency could really be milked on a grand scale. But his four years out of office allowed him to remake his business empire, moving into realms like social media (with Truth Social) and cryptocurrency (with World Liberty Financial, founded in September 2024 with the Trump family owning 75 percent). During these years, the Trump family also deepened its ties to the wealthy elites of Middle Eastern petro-states such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). These shifts allowed Trump to move from being a relatively small-scale con man to his current position as perhaps the most corrupt elected official in human history.
In an interview last month for The New York Times, Trump lamented that he didn’t do business deals as president in his first term. He changed his position on this, he said, because “I found out that nobody cared. I’m allowed to. You know, George Washington, when he was president…had two desks. He had a business desk and he had a president desk, and he did both. It’s OK to do that.” (Trump has been using this line about Washington for many years; it won’t shock anyone to find out that it is nonsense.)
The New Yorker has calculated that Trump’s business deals leveraging his …
Law enforcement shouldn't be political.
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Current Issue
Politics
/ February 2, 2026
How Trump Became the Biggest Crook in the History of Democracy
The penny-ante bribes of his first term have given way to billions in graft.
Jeet Heer
Share
Copy Link
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Edit
Ad Policy
Donald Trump speaks to reporters and members of the media at Mar-a-Lago on February 1, 2026 in Palm Beach, Florida.
(Al Drago / Getty Images)
Donald Trump is not given to regret, but he does get rueful when he thinks about how modest his corruption was in the first term. When he was first elected as president in 2016, Trump was primarily a real estate magnate and television personality who licensed his brand for money. He held on to both his properties and his branding practices in his first term, which meant that business people and foreign governments could indirectly enrich his coffers by staying at Trump-branded hotels. Foreign governments also handed kickbacks to the president by granting trademarks to the Trump Organization. Though both practices clearly violated the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, the bribery went on with impunity during Trump’s first term; predictably, the Supreme Court refused to review the matter.
It’s now clear that, in the grand scheme of things, Trump’s first-term corruption was penny-ante, involving tens of millions of dollars rather than billions. It’s not that Trump was less greedy; he simply lacked the imagination and connections to realize how the presidency could really be milked on a grand scale. But his four years out of office allowed him to remake his business empire, moving into realms like social media (with Truth Social) and cryptocurrency (with World Liberty Financial, founded in September 2024 with the Trump family owning 75 percent). During these years, the Trump family also deepened its ties to the wealthy elites of Middle Eastern petro-states such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). These shifts allowed Trump to move from being a relatively small-scale con man to his current position as perhaps the most corrupt elected official in human history.
In an interview last month for The New York Times, Trump lamented that he didn’t do business deals as president in his first term. He changed his position on this, he said, because “I found out that nobody cared. I’m allowed to. You know, George Washington, when he was president…had two desks. He had a business desk and he had a president desk, and he did both. It’s OK to do that.” (Trump has been using this line about Washington for many years; it won’t shock anyone to find out that it is nonsense.)
The New Yorker has calculated that Trump’s business deals leveraging his …
How Trump Became the Biggest Crook in the History of Democracy
Law enforcement shouldn't be political.
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How Trump Became the Biggest Crook in the History of Democracy
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Current Issue
Politics
/ February 2, 2026
How Trump Became the Biggest Crook in the History of Democracy
The penny-ante bribes of his first term have given way to billions in graft.
Jeet Heer
Share
Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Email
Edit
Ad Policy
Donald Trump speaks to reporters and members of the media at Mar-a-Lago on February 1, 2026 in Palm Beach, Florida.
(Al Drago / Getty Images)
Donald Trump is not given to regret, but he does get rueful when he thinks about how modest his corruption was in the first term. When he was first elected as president in 2016, Trump was primarily a real estate magnate and television personality who licensed his brand for money. He held on to both his properties and his branding practices in his first term, which meant that business people and foreign governments could indirectly enrich his coffers by staying at Trump-branded hotels. Foreign governments also handed kickbacks to the president by granting trademarks to the Trump Organization. Though both practices clearly violated the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, the bribery went on with impunity during Trump’s first term; predictably, the Supreme Court refused to review the matter.
It’s now clear that, in the grand scheme of things, Trump’s first-term corruption was penny-ante, involving tens of millions of dollars rather than billions. It’s not that Trump was less greedy; he simply lacked the imagination and connections to realize how the presidency could really be milked on a grand scale. But his four years out of office allowed him to remake his business empire, moving into realms like social media (with Truth Social) and cryptocurrency (with World Liberty Financial, founded in September 2024 with the Trump family owning 75 percent). During these years, the Trump family also deepened its ties to the wealthy elites of Middle Eastern petro-states such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). These shifts allowed Trump to move from being a relatively small-scale con man to his current position as perhaps the most corrupt elected official in human history.
In an interview last month for The New York Times, Trump lamented that he didn’t do business deals as president in his first term. He changed his position on this, he said, because “I found out that nobody cared. I’m allowed to. You know, George Washington, when he was president…had two desks. He had a business desk and he had a president desk, and he did both. It’s OK to do that.” (Trump has been using this line about Washington for many years; it won’t shock anyone to find out that it is nonsense.)
The New Yorker has calculated that Trump’s business deals leveraging his …
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