Presidency for Profit

By Rob C.

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Hey folks, I’m back. Sorry for the radio silence—shoulder surgery benched me for a bit. But while I’m recovering, Donald Trump is busy doing his own kind of surgery—on America’s wallet. And let me tell you, he’s not using a scalpel. He’s hacking away with a rusty chainsaw. So let’s catch up on how the Cheater-in-Chief is turning the Oval Office into his personal ATM, while we—the taxpayers—pick up the tab for his military cosplay and crypto carnival.

Loot the Coffers, Send in the Troops

According to The New Yorker, Trump and his family have made a staggering $3.4 billion from their return to power. Two-thirds of that haul comes from crypto schemes: meme coins with his face on them, stablecoins backed by shady foreign investors, and the family’s shiny new “World Liberty Financial” empire.

Other highlights from the grift parade:

• $2 billion from a Saudi-controlled investment fund.

• A luxury jet from Qatar, because Air Force One just isn’t tacky enough.

• Real estate deals in the Persian Gulf where the Trump name sells like cheap cologne.

• Membership clubs and souvenirs—think of it as QVC for autocrats.

And let’s not forget: Trump still holds stock in firms like Apple and Nvidia, all while his policies conveniently boost their bottom lines. No blind trust, no ethics, no shame. The Trump brand doesn’t just cash in—it multiplies like mold in a Florida condo.

Jackpot and Jumbotron

While Trump rakes in billions, he’s spending our billions on authoritarian theater. In Los Angeles alone, his deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines will cost at least $134 million—to intimidate protestors and sweep up immigrants in raids that look more like ethnic cleansing than law enforcement.

And Washington, D.C.? Trump flooded the city with over 2,000 National Guard troops from six GOP-run states, despite the fact that crime in the city is down 26%. The goal isn’t public safety—it’s optics. Tanks in the streets, choppers overhead, soldiers standing watch while Trump plays Commander-in-Chief for the cameras.

This is the definition of “spending taxpayer dollars like an incel at a strip club”—shoveling cash into something that looks powerful, but leaves the rest of us broke and disgusted.

Fortunes & Foot Soldiers

Here’s the rub: Trump’s grift doesn’t end at the White House door. The billions flowing into Trump properties, his crypto playground, and his family’s foreign investments are directly subsidized by the very public he’s militarizing against.

This is the merger of profit motive and police state—a subject I’ve written about in Democracy for Sale, where I detail how the military-corporate complex always finds ways to funnel public money into private pockets. Trump has just cut out the middleman. He’s the general, the contractor, and the profiteer—all rolled into one.

The Price of Authoritarianism

Trump isn’t just making a fortune. He’s making us pay for the privilege of watching democracy burn. We’re footing the bill for his crypto empire, his foreign gifts, his military occupations, his immigration crackdowns, his giant authoritarian selfie.

So here’s the deal: Trump’s America is one where the president gets rich, the billionaires get richer, and the people get the bill. It’s not democracy—it’s an oligarch’s playground, dressed up in camo and wrapped in an American flag.

And when the history books are written, they won’t call this “leadership.” They’ll call it what it is: the most expensive scam in American history.