Category: Selling Access

Trump’s Truth Social Sells Wall Street Early Access to Presidential Posts

President Donald Trump’s media company announced Thursday a paid service called Truth PSI that will provide Wall Street trading firms expedited access to Truth Social posts, including those from Trump himself on topics affecting national security and financial markets. The service enables institutional investors to see posts from the platform’s highest-ranking accounts, with Trump commanding 12.9 million followers, ahead of other users, potentially allowing traders to profit from market movements triggered by his announcements. Trump Media & Technology declined to disclose pricing or whether the president’s posts would be excluded from the offering.

Kathleen Clark, a government ethics expert at Washington University School of Law, characterized the arrangement as “brazen corruption” and “improper exploitation of government power to enrich himself,” noting that Trump is selling direct access to information about his presidential decisions. Conflict-of-interest law bars federal officials from owning companies that profit by selling access to their office decisions; however, presidents and vice presidents are statutorily exempt from this restriction. Every president since the law’s passage has voluntarily complied by divesting stock holdings or placing assets in blind trusts, but Trump has refused.

Trump has used Truth Social to announce major policy decisions including military actions against Iran, tariff implementations, and immigration enforcement operations. Iran-related posts are particularly significant because investors fear oil price increases will intensify inflation and potentially trigger Federal Reserve interest rate increases. The president stands to benefit directly as the largest shareholder in Trump Media & Technology, the publicly traded parent company.

Trump Media’s stock has collapsed more than 70 percent since Trump took office, erasing $6 billion in shareholder wealth, yet Trump’s annual financial disclosures show he extracted more than $1 billion in revenue from the same companies and ventures last year. The company recently replaced longtime CEO Devin Nunes with Kevin McGurn, a seasoned media executive, who described Truth PSI as part of a strategy to “monetize proprietary assets” and predicted it would generate “meaningful, ongoing source of revenue.” Trump Media stated it plans to launch the service next month after already securing customers.



(Source: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-truth-social-access-wall-street-b3016554.html?fbclid=IwdGRjcATHN09wZG9mA2ZkaWQWUKto0BXhlicEpxh4I4QKu6fTKhvAzWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkCjY2Mjg1NjgzNzkAAR6U4pURNaAFX11kgVjUKUzbnBIC0zeXX9TJzj-ZehGvKoWBhYIu1CcfvdZVUw_aem_0g_1ZKC2GOYkeTCIkhzw_Q)

FCC Officials Took Gifts From Paramount While It Had Business Before Them — ProPublica

FCC officials who voted on Paramount’s merger accepted luxury Kennedy Center gala tickets worth over $260,000 from the company they regulate, violating federal ethics rules that explicitly prohibit gifts from entities with pending business before the agency. FCC Chair Brendan Carr attended the December 2025 gala in a private $125,000 skybox with Paramount CEO David Ellison after the company sought FCC approval for its $110 billion merger with Skydance Media, while Commissioner Olivia Trusty received tickets worth $12,000 before casting a decisive vote approving the deal.

Ethics experts, including former Office of Government Ethics director Walter Shaub and former White House ethics lawyer Virginia Canter, said the commissioners violated federal law by accepting gifts from a regulated entity with business pending before them. Shaub stated that “there’s no way that any top federal regulator should ever accept a gift from a regulated company with interests their work will foreseeably affect,” and Canter called the conduct “shocking” and “disturbing.” The experts warned that Carr and Trusty compromised the agency’s impartiality and should have recused themselves from voting on the merger.

Seven of ten FCC commissioners who served since 2016 accepted Kennedy Center tickets from CBS or its parent company, totaling over $260,000 according to ProPublica’s analysis of ethics disclosures. Carr alone has accepted tickets at least seven times since 2017, totaling over $63,000. Federal ethics rules explicitly ban employees from accepting gifts from entities that do business with, are regulated by, or seek official action from their agency, yet the FCC claimed agency ethics officers approved the practice as consistent with law—a justification Shaub dismissed as equivalent to a “school child” excuse.

The timing of the gifts intensified the conflict. Paramount filed its Skydance merger paperwork in September 2024, and the December gala occurred as the company prepared its hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery. Hours after the gala ended, Paramount launched the hostile bid. Trump has systematically pressured the FCC to strip broadcast licenses, and Carr reopened a CBS investigation days after taking office, later requiring Paramount to eliminate diversity initiatives and appoint a bias ombudsperson to secure the merger’s approval.

Multiple ethics experts told ProPublica that the Justice Department should investigate potential violations of federal ethics rules and that the commissioners’ gift-taking could become central in legal challenges to the merger. California, New York and ten other Democratic states filed a lawsuit seeking to block the $110 billion consolidation under federal and state anti-monopoly laws, citing concerns about job elimination and industry independence from consolidated ownership.



(Source: https://www.propublica.org/article/paramount-mergers-fcc-kennedy-center-gala?fbclid=IwdGRleATEdV1wZG9mA2ZkaWQWUKl7HV6hSpBeYhKKEUCD5qTfb1VVhGV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkCjY2Mjg1NjgzNzkAAR5j5tj7vuKcNF4EYkiA-zdtgiNLF39w-xW5ou0h_zK0uZfJ56eQA2uIrEgulg_aem_j4wlCLmUFGCAM_E3ngC6aw)state anti-monopoly laws, citing concerns about job elimination and industry independence from consolidated ownership.

‘Wow!’ Trump Wakes Up Basking In Glow of New Trump Airport

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation in March 2026 requiring Palm Beach County to rename its airport to President Donald J. Trump International Airport, triggering widespread backlash over the use of public funds for rebranding costs including new signage, uniforms, software updates, and airport identifier code changes. The Trump Organization has filed federal trademark applications claiming exclusive rights to the airport name and related merchandise, raising concerns about potential financial kickbacks to the Trump family through approved vendor requirements for branded goods.

Local residents and pilots filed lawsuits challenging the renaming as illegal, citing safety risks from the airport identifier code change and violations of local home rule authority. The legal action reflects substantial opposition to the rebranding initiative within the Palm Beach community and aviation sector, though the airport officially became the President Donald J. Trump International Airport in July 2026.

Trump responded to the renaming with social media posts on Saturday morning celebrating the airport change, describing Palm Beach as “a special place” and sharing photographs of the airport’s signage. The posts came hours after Trump had spent Friday night issuing threatening warnings about Iranian assassination plots, including claims he had ordered military strikes against Iran, demonstrating a sharp tonal shift in his public messaging.

Critics have characterized the renaming as a corruption scheme designed to benefit the Trump family financially while burdening taxpayers with millions in rebranding expenses. Legal experts and local opponents argue the arrangement creates pathways for Trump Organization profits through merchandise licensing and vendor approvals tied to the airport’s new branding identity.



(Source: https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/wow-trump-wakes-up-basking-in-glow-of-new-honor-after-going-to-bed-raging-about-assassination-plans/)

Donors won $50B in contracts after giving to Trump ballroom project, report says – The Washington Post

More than half of the identified donors to President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom project secured new or expanded federal contracts totaling over $50 billion within six months, according to a government watchdog report released Thursday. The pattern demonstrates Trump’s systematic use of federal procurement to reward financial backers, directly linking private donations to government spending decisions that benefit the donors themselves.

Trump’s ballroom project, housed in the White House East Wing, has become a vehicle for channeling taxpayer money to his political allies. The $50 billion in contracts awarded to ballroom donors represents a direct return on investment for those who funded the construction, establishing a quid pro quo arrangement between private contributions and federal contracts that contradicts basic principles of competitive procurement.

The watchdog group’s findings document how Trump weaponizes federal contracting authority to consolidate loyalty and enrich his network. This contracting pattern follows Trump’s demand that Senate Majority Leader John Thune fire Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough after she blocked $1 billion in taxpayer funding for the ballroom project from a budget reconciliation bill, indicating Trump’s willingness to attack institutional independence when it impedes his financial interests.

Trump has repeatedly misrepresented the ballroom project’s cost and scope. While Trump claimed the $400 million project would be completed ahead of schedule and under budget, Senate Republicans simultaneously requested $1 billion in additional taxpayer security funding tied to the construction, exposing the gap between Trump’s public statements and the actual financial burden on taxpayers.

The $50 billion in contracts awarded to ballroom donors exemplifies how Trump transforms the executive branch into a personal enrichment apparatus. By funneling federal money to those who fund his projects, Trump corrupts the procurement process, ensures absolute loyalty through financial dependency, and establishes the institutional mechanisms necessary for perpetuating his control beyond a single term.(Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/06/04/donors-won-50b-contracts-after-giving-trump-ballroom-project-report-says/)

Ellison Hosts Trump Dinner as Paramount Seeks Merger Approval

David Ellison, billionaire head of Paramount, hosted a private dinner at the U.S. Institute of Peace on Thursday to honor President Trump and senior administration officials, including Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who oversees the Justice Department’s antitrust review of Paramount’s pending $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. The event featured CBS News executives and journalists, including Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss, who sat at Trump’s table alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Stephen Miller, and the First Lady.

The dinner created immediate conflict within CBS’s newsroom. Multiple journalists expressed concern that Paramount was hosting an event designed to honor politicians whom CBS News is tasked with covering objectively, particularly while the company awaits federal regulatory approval for its massive media merger. CBS staff said the event risked creating a perception of inappropriate closeness between the news division and the Trump administration at a critical moment for the deal’s fate.

Bari Weiss, the network’s editor-in-chief, has drawn criticism for potentially shifting CBS News coverage toward Trump-friendly editorial directions. Trump has given mixed reviews of CBS under Ellison’s ownership, praising some moves while harshly attacking “60 Minutes” reports he deemed unfair. Meanwhile, Trump has publicly demanded CNN be sold as part of discussions about the Warner Bros. merger, effectively endorsing Ellison’s acquisition strategy.

Paramount’s chief legal officer, Makan Delrahim, also attended and sat with Trump, positioning the company’s leadership directly before the president who benefits from regulatory approval. Paramount beat Netflix in February to secure the Warner Bros. deal, which would place CNN and HBO under Ellison’s control, fundamentally reshaping the American media landscape. Shareholders approved the sale this week, but the Justice Department must still authorize the transaction.

Several dozen protesters gathered outside the Institute of Peace on Thursday opposing the merger. CBS News declined to comment on the event, the White House did not respond to requests for comment, and Paramount also refused to address the controversy. Trump is scheduled to speak at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday, where CBS News will host administration officials including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Stephen Miller.

(Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/24/business/media/david-ellison-trump-cbs-news.html)

Trump Administration Extracts $10B Fee From TikTok Deal Investors

The Trump administration is set to receive approximately $10 billion from investors who gained control of TikTok’s U.S. operations through a deal completed in January 2026. Investors including Oracle, Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi’s MGX paid the Treasury Department $2.5 billion when the deal closed and committed to making additional payments totaling $10 billion, according to sources familiar with the transaction. This arrangement represents an abuse of power, as Trump personally negotiated compensation for his administration’s role in facilitating the deal.

Trump explicitly justified the government fee by claiming the size of the deal and effort invested by his administration warranted compensation. In September, Trump stated that “The United States is getting a tremendous fee-plus” and indicated he did not want to “throw that out the window,” demonstrating his direct involvement in securing financial benefit for the executive branch. The administration’s extraction of $10 billion from private investors for brokering a transaction is nearly unprecedented, according to historians cited in reporting.

The deal structure allowed Trump-friendly investors to take control of TikTok’s U.S. operations from Chinese parent company ByteDance while the government extracted billions in fees. The new U.S. entity running TikTok operations is valued at approximately $14 billion in the deal, which tech analysts have characterized as dramatically undervaluing the company. This arrangement demonstrates how Trump weaponized regulatory authority to extract personal and governmental advantage from the TikTok situation.

Trump’s fee arrangement violates the separation of powers by allowing the executive branch to profit directly from private commercial transactions it facilitates. The payment structure, where investors loyal to Trump’s administration gain operational control while enriching the government, exemplifies how Trump uses public office for financial gain. This transaction contradicts Trump’s populist rhetoric about fighting for ordinary Americans while demonstrating his pattern of enriching himself and allies through governmental authority.

(Source: https://www.wsj.com/tech/tiktok-deal-fee-trump-administration-5aa31c9f)

Trump’s Friend Timothy Mellon Donates $130 Million for Troops

The New York Times has identified Timothy Mellon, a reclusive billionaire and grandson of former Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon, as the anonymous benefactor who donated $130 million to support U.S. troops during the recent government shutdown. This unprecedented donation has raised ethical and legal questions regarding its implementation within the framework of Department of Defense funding.

According to NYT reporter Tyler Pager, Mellon has recently emerged as a significant political donor, pouring millions into Republican campaigns, notably contributing to a pro-Trump super PAC for the 2024 election. Despite his visibility as a donor, details about him remain scarce, suggesting a deliberate choice to maintain his privacy.

During a CNN Newsroom discussion, Pager highlighted the rarity of private citizens making such large contributions to military funding. He noted that while the Department of Defense accepted the donation based on a specific regulatory provision, the actual processes through which the money would be deployed are still unclear. This lack of transparency adds to the unusual nature of Mellon’s contribution.

Pager further explained that while the donation is substantial, it does not meet the extensive financial needs of the Defense Department, which manages over a million active-duty personnel. He emphasized that this funding cannot be seen as a long-term solution to military pay, underscoring the need for a sustainable budget approach.

The incident raises broader concerns over the implications of private donations to public military funding and the associated governance issues. As the Trump administration navigates financial challenges, the legality and ethics of such contributions will likely remain in focus among lawmakers and the public.

Trump’s Fossil Fuel Favoritism

The Trump administration is offering exclusive assistance to fossil fuel companies, specifically oil and coal, described as a “concierge, white glove service,” to expedite project approvals. This new initiative starkly contrasts the administration’s treatment of renewable energy projects, which face significant slowdowns and blockades. Such preferential treatment raises concerns about the administration’s commitment to transitioning towards green energy and adhering to climate goals.

The “concierge service” was reportedly confirmed by an energy official, who highlighted how this initiative aims to streamline fossil fuel project approvals while renewable projects undergo rigorous scrutiny. This development reflects a troubling alignment with corporate interests, particularly evident under the influence of the Trump administration, known for its pro-fossil fuel stance.

This strategy targets established fossil fuel companies, likely jeopardizing future investments in solar and wind energy. The retreat from supporting clean energy initiatives echoes policies implemented during Trump’s tenure, suggesting a continued prioritization of fossil fuel profits over sustainable environmental policies.

Critics argue that this approach undermines the administration’s climate commitments and could lead to significant setbacks in reducing carbon emissions. The apparent favoritism towards fossil fuel firms showcases a broader trend of pandering to wealthy corporate interests, reminiscent of Trump’s dealings with oil executives, which included promises to act according to their demands.

As the Trump administration continues down this path, it risks alienating the very voters who supported a clean energy promise in exchange for political power. The implications of this fossil fuel favoritism extend beyond environmental concerns, potentially entrenching existing power dynamics that favor the wealthy and undermine equitable policies for the working class.

Trump Crypto Dinner Is Corruption Festival for Elites

Donald Trump hosted a gala dinner at his Virginia golf club, surrounded by guests eager to invest in his personal cryptocurrency, signaling an alarming blend of business and politics. As protesters gathered outside, condemning the event as a brazen display of corruption, attendees entered with hopes of influencing U.S. financial regulations favoring the cryptocurrency market. Many guests openly expressed their intention to sway Trump’s policies, demonstrating a blatant intersection of personal profit and presidential power.

The dinner served as a promotional event for Trump’s $TRUMP cryptocurrency, a memecoin tied to online speculation. Attendees included prominent figures from the global crypto industry, eager to network with Trump and potentially shape the regulatory environment in their favor. Critics, including Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, labeled the dinner a pinnacle of corruption, equating it with a blatant sell-out of democratic principles to foreign investors eager to curry favor with the Trump administration.

Various attendees, such as Chinese billionaire Justin Sun and other international investors, were reportedly looking to bend U.S. policies to suit their interests amid a backdrop of changing regulations. Trump’s rhetoric reinforced a narrative that previous administrations were hostile to crypto, setting the stage for his administration to embrace the industry and further his personal wealth.

The evening showcased extravagant elements such as a lavish menu and a display of wealth amid ongoing ethical concerns. Guests attended in formal attire, with some presenting foreign passports as identification, highlighting the international interest in Trump’s ventures. This event foreshadows troubling implications for democracy, as it highlights how Trump’s financial dealings continue to blur the lines between his presidential duties and personal business interests.

Notably, Trump’s family directly profits from the $TRUMP cryptocurrency, which has generated significant fees through transactions, raising serious ethical questions about their role in governance. The dinner, explicitly aimed at enriching Trump’s family and aligning with foreign interests, underscores the dangerous normalization of corrupt practices in American politics.

(h/t: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/22/us/politics/trump-memecoin-dinner.html)

Trump’s Qatar Golf Resort Deal Highlights Profits Over American Values

The Trump Organization has forged a controversial agreement to develop a luxury golf resort in Qatar, raising immediate concerns over ethical implications and foreign influence. This deal reflects Donald Trump’s unapologetic approach to prioritizing personal profit over American values while simultaneously engaging with a nation known for its questionable human rights record.

This arrangement marks a significant integration of Trump’s business empire with foreign entities, showcasing a blatant disregard for potential conflicts of interest. Even as Trump touts his “America First” agenda, his actions suggest an eagerness to capitalize on opportunities overseas, particularly in regions where his business interests can thrive despite ethical setbacks.

The implications of this agreement extend beyond mere real estate. Critics argue that this partnership exemplifies the blurring of lines between personal gain and public duty, effectively normalizing the notion that America’s leaders can operate with financial interests in nations with histories of corruption and authoritarian governance. Trump’s willingness to engage with such regimes further underscores his divergence from democratic norms and democratic accountability.

Furthermore, the timing of this deal coincides with ongoing discussions within the GOP surrounding economic policy and American jobs. As Trump seeks to expand his financial portfolio under the auspices of a political leader, the growing concern about foreign dependency showcases the Republican Party’s paradoxical existence within its own narrative of self-reliance and nationalism.

In this landscape of dubious corporate dealings and ethical gray areas, Trump’s actions epitomize a disheartening era of American politics, where personal ambition and profit often overshadow the responsibility to uphold democratic values and the needs of the working class. This golf resort project in Qatar is yet another chapter in the troubling narrative of Trump’s administration as it continues to demonstrate a profound commitment to the interests of the wealthy elite over those of the American populace.

(h/t: https://apnews.com/article/trump-qatar-deal-conflicts-saudi-arabia-emoluments-7379bee2e307d39bd43b534a05ae3207)

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