Category: Shady Deals

Trump Family Backs $12,000 UFC Coins at White House

President Trump and his sons Eric and Donald Jr., through the Trump Organization, partnered with UFC to sell commemorative coins ranging from $250 to $12,000 ahead of a UFC event scheduled for June 14 at the White House during Trump’s birthday celebration. The coins, branded “Freedom 250” and featuring Trump’s and UFC promoter Dana White’s likenesses, launch Tuesday and are marketed as commemorating both America’s 250th anniversary and what the marketing describes as a “defining patriotic moment” between Trump and the UFC.

Trump Coins, the vendor, claims the Trump Organization does not manufacture or directly sell the medallions despite the partnership, leaving the financial benefit to Trump’s organization unclear. The website asserts Trump “designed” the coins, though Trump has publicly backed the merchandise while his likeness is cleared for commercial use. The timing positions the coin sales days before the White House UFC event, which will air on a streaming platform operated by a Trump-aligned executive.

The merchandise rollout exemplifies Trump’s use of official government events and venues to benefit himself and his business interests. The UFC Octagon construction on the White House South Lawn for the June 14 event timed to Trump’s birthday demonstrates the overlapping commercial and governmental promotion that has become routine under his administration. A watchdog group lawsuit seeking to block the event remains under judicial review.

This scheme mirrors Trump’s pattern of leveraging his presidency for personal and family financial gain. Earlier in 2026, Trump awarded a $5 million no-bid contract to gild statues near the Lincoln Memorial, bypassing competitive bidding for a July 4 deadline, further demonstrating how he converts public resources and national celebrations into vehicles for self-promotion and enrichment.

The coin sales proceed as Trump’s unpopular military action in Iran has driven gas prices upward and eroded economic confidence among Americans facing financial strain. His promotion of high-priced merchandise bearing his image while economic conditions deteriorate underscores his indifference to constituents’ material circumstances.



(Source: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-organization-ufc-selling-freedom-250-coins_n_6a26db25e4b0626f4fe031e5?ncid_tag=fcbklnkushpmg00000013&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&utm_campaign=us_politics&d_id=12028784&fbclid=IwdGRjcASVAWpleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEeHrD_hYJhv2SCWlEdkt9rJrGbH2llUjXajLTPNiEKqByXuf2aDfPjfHib3WU_aem_DUZAMzFk8FZV3-TD8lSSyg)

Trump’s Plan to Meet With AI Companies Was News to AI Companies – NOTUS — News of the United States

President Donald Trump announced Friday he had scheduled a meeting with major artificial intelligence companies to discuss the government acquiring equity stakes in their firms. The announcement blindsided the companies themselves, who learned of the purported meeting only through Trump’s comments to reporters on Air Force One, according to three sources familiar with private deliberations. As of Monday afternoon, the White House had provided no details about timing or location for the supposed meeting.

Trump stated he would meet with “all of the companies” to discuss how “the American people can benefit from the success of AI” through government ownership of “pieces” of their businesses. However, leading AI firms including OpenAI, Anthropic, SpaceX, and Google declined to confirm any scheduled meeting or prior coordination with the administration. The companies’ surprise at Trump’s public announcement underscores his pattern of using press statements to announce policy positions without advance notification to affected parties.

The proposal to nationalize equity in major AI companies would constitute one of the most consequential federal interventions in the private sector in modern history, forcing firms to forfeit billions in company value and creating novel legal and regulatory complications. Trump has already moved to claim equity stakes across American corporations, including a 10% share of Intel, and has signaled intent to execute similar deals. The AI companies face pressure to comply, as they depend on federal government support for logistics and regulatory matters, making direct confrontation with Trump administratively costly.

Internal disagreement exists within the tech industry about the nationalization proposal. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman pitched the idea to Trump in early 2025 and discussed it again with senior officials recently. However, Anthropic, now valued at $900 billion as the world’s most valuable AI company, had not yet engaged in such discussions as of last week. David Sacks, Trump’s former AI czar, publicly opposed the plan, warning that government ownership would accelerate “corporate-government fusion” and risk establishing “a CCP-style social credit system in the U.S.”

Trump’s unannounced equity nationalization scheme demonstrates his authoritarian approach to governing, using public pressure and coercive threats rather than legitimate negotiation. By announcing policy to the press before consulting affected companies, Trump forced firms into a position where resistance becomes publicly visible and administratively risky. The schem(Source: https://www.notus.org/technology/trump-blindsided-ai-companies-equity-meeting-plan)e consolidates Trump’s control over critical technology sectors essential to national defense and economic competition, embodying his drive toward state control of private enterprise.

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/)

Company Tied to Donald Trump Jr. Got a Deal After White House Intervened — ProPublica

White House adviser Peter Navarro initiated a request for the Pentagon to issue a $620 million loan to Vulcan Elements, a North Carolina startup in which Donald Trump Jr.'s venture capital firm 1789 Capital holds an undisclosed stake, according to Defense Department records and interviews reviewed by ProPublica. Defense officials accelerated the loan process at Navarro's direction, with Pentagon staff working nights and under compressed timelines to complete the deal in weeks rather than the months typically required for vetting such companies.

Vulcan was one of dozens of companies the Pentagon was considering for funding, but it was the only deal initiated directly by a White House aide to the president, according to a Pentagon official. Trump Jr.'s firm invested approximately $65 million in Vulcan in August 2025, three months before the Pentagon announced the loan. Following the announcement, estimates of Vulcan's valuation jumped tenfold, from roughly $200 million to approximately $2 billion, directly benefiting Trump Jr.'s investment.

Navarro and Trump Jr. maintain a close personal relationship, with the president's son visiting Navarro in prison and later featuring him on his streaming show just a week before the Vulcan deal was announced. A Trump Jr. spokesperson claimed the president's son has no knowledge of how the deal came together and did not discuss Vulcan with Navarro, though the Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital operates under new leadership appointed by the Trump administration that prioritizes rapid deal-making through personal networks rather than competitive application processes.

The Pentagon and White House have denied preferential treatment, with a Pentagon spokesperson stating that outside affiliations and political connections play no role in funding decisions. However, Richard Painter, the chief White House ethics lawyer during the George W. Bush administration, stated that presidential aides should not intervene in agency contracting or lending decisions that financially benefit the president's family, calling such actions "corruption we pay for."

The Office of Strategic Capital is expected to deploy billions more in coming months to critical mineral and military technology companies. Additional companies tied to Trump Jr., including Unusual Machines, a Florida drone parts manufacturer where he sits on the advisory board and holds millions in shares, are reportedly under Pentagon review for funding, prompting Democratic lawmakers to demand investigations into potential self-dealing and conflicts of interest as the Trump administration deploys billions in government investments.

(Source: https://www.propublica.org/article/donald-trump-jr-vulcan-deal-white-house)

Trump Claims $400M TikTok Settlement for DC Arch

The Trump administration is negotiating a $400 million settlement with TikTok to resolve a 2024 Department of Justice lawsuit alleging the social media company violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act by collecting extensive data from millions of children under 13 without parental consent. Rather than compensating victims of the alleged privacy violations, Trump’s administration intends to direct the settlement funds toward “beautification” projects in Washington, D.C., including a 250-foot triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery that Trump has personally promoted.

The settlement, which does not require TikTok to admit wrongdoing, still requires approval by TikTok’s board. The original lawsuit detailed how TikTok allegedly allowed children to create accounts without parental notification, collected their personal information, exposed them to adult content, served them advertisements, and enabled adults to contact them directly. TikTok has disputed the claims, arguing it exceeds federal requirements and blamed children for circumventing company policies.

Trump personally intervened to save TikTok in January 2025 after the company faced a ban. He signed an executive order allowing TikTok to continue operating and later praised a $14 billion deal creating an American venture partially owned by Trump ally Larry Ellison’s Oracle, Silver Lake, and other investors including the Abu Dhabi firm MGX. ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, retains a minority stake in the U.S. version. Trump stated he was “so happy to have helped in saving TikTok” and thanked Chinese President Xi Jinping for approving the deal.

This settlement contradicts Trump administration policy established under former Attorney General Pam Bondi in 2025, which requires settlements to compensate victims or redress harm rather than fund third-party projects unrelated to the alleged wrongdoing. The Justice Department regularly reaches settlements with companies, but using settlement funds to directly finance the president’s personal capital improvement projects departs sharply from standard practice. White House officials discussed whether using the money for Trump’s triumphal arch could be done legally.

The $400 million settlement complements Trump’s proposed 2027 budget allocation of $10 billion for a “Presidential Capital Stewardship Program” while the administration simultaneously cuts the National Park Service budget by more than $1 billion and eliminates approximately 3,000 positions from the agency that manages over 400 sites.

(Source: https://abcnews.com/US/trump-administration-eyeing-400m-settlement-tiktok-dc-beautification/story?id=132707914)

Trump administration mulls payments to sway Greenlanders to join US | Reuters

The Trump administration is actively exploring direct cash payments to Greenland’s 57,000 residents, ranging from $10,000 to $100,000 per person, totaling nearly $6 billion, to induce them to secede from Denmark and potentially join the United States, according to four sources familiar with internal White House deliberations. White House officials, including national security aides, have intensified these discussions following Trump’s recent capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, with staff seeking to carry momentum from that operation toward Trump’s stated geopolitical objectives. Trump has publicly insisted the U.S. needs Greenland for national security and mineral resources critical to military applications.

Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen explicitly rejected the scheme in a Facebook post, stating “Enough is enough … No more fantasies about annexation,” after Trump again told reporters the acquisition was necessary. A joint statement from France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Britain, and Denmark asserted that only Greenland and Denmark can decide matters concerning their relationship, directly rebuking Trump’s territorial ambitions. The statements reflect the alliance’s disapproval despite NATO’s mutual defense obligations binding the U.S. and Denmark.

The White House is considering multiple mechanisms to acquire the island, including military intervention, though officials claim to prefer purchase or diplomatic acquisition. One option under discussion is a Compact of Free Association (COFA), a governance model previously extended only to Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau, which would require Greenland’s independence from Denmark and grant the U.S. military operational freedom in exchange for essential services and duty-free trade. Payments could theoretically be deployed to manipulate Greenlanders into voting for independence or accepting a COFA agreement post-separation.

While surveys indicate overwhelming Greenlandic support for independence, most residents oppose U.S. affiliation, and economic concerns about severing ties with Denmark have prevented legislative calls for an independence referendum. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt acknowledged that Trump and national security officials were “looking at what a potential purchase would look like,” and Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced plans to meet Denmark’s foreign minister in Washington. The proposal exposes Trump’s willingness to treat sovereign populations and their self-determina(Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/trump-administration-mulls-payments-sway-greenlanders-join-us-2026-01-08/)tion as commodities available for purchase.

Trump family’s crypto firm sues investor Justin Sun, escalating feud – ABC News

World Liberty Financial, the Trump family’s cryptocurrency venture, filed a defamation lawsuit in Florida state court on Monday against Chinese crypto mogul Justin Sun, escalating their legal conflict. The suit accuses Sun of orchestrating a “scorched-earth pressure campaign” against the firm, including hiring influencers and deploying fake social media bot accounts to spread what World Liberty Financial characterizes as lies about the company.

Sun initiated the conflict by suing World Liberty Financial last month, alleging the firm improperly froze his investment in its digital tokens. World Liberty Financial denies those claims and contends in its lawsuit that it froze Sun’s assets to protect its community after discovering alleged misconduct by Sun, including suspected short selling of the WLFI token and straw purchases of WLFI tokens on behalf of undisclosed third parties.

The litigation represents the breakdown of a previously profitable relationship. Sun had invested over 45 million dollars into World Liberty Financial and millions more into President Trump’s meme coin called TRUMP. Sun dismissed the lawsuit as “nothing more than a meritless PR stunt” on social media and stated he will defeat the case in court.

Donald Trump Jr., a World Liberty Financial co-founder, amplified the firm’s allegations by reposting the lawsuit claims on X to his followers, urging them to “Read this entire thread for the truth!!!!” Eric Trump serves as a newly appointed ALT5 Board Director, further entangling Trump family financial interests with the cryptocurrency venture.

Earlier in 2026, Sun resolved a civil fraud case brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission during the Biden administration by paying 10 million dollars, a settlement that critics characterized as favorable to the Chinese investor. The ongoing legal battle between World Liberty Financial and Sun signals deepening fractures within Trump family cryptocurrency operations and their reliance on foreign capital from individuals with documented regulatory violations.

(Source: https://abcnews.com/US/trump-familys-crypto-firm-sues-investor-justin-sun/story?id=132632914)

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 Blocks Bridge After Billionaire Competitor Meets Commerce Secretary

Donald Trump threatened to block Canada’s Gordie Howe International Bridge hours after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick met privately with Detroit billionaire Matthew Moroun, who controls the competing Ambassador Bridge, according to The New York Times. Two officials briefed on the meeting confirmed Lutnick met with Moroun in Washington on Monday, and Lutnick subsequently spoke with Trump by phone about the matter.

The Moroun family has spent decades attempting to prevent the Gordie Howe bridge through litigation and lobbying, including a challenge that reached Canada’s Supreme Court. The family previously urged Trump to halt construction of the $4.7 billion publicly funded bridge, which will compete with the Ambassador Bridge for over $300 million in daily cross-border trade once operational.

Trump posted on Truth Social threatening to block the bridge unless Canada addressed “a long list of grievances,” according to the Times report published Tuesday. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended Trump’s position by claiming he was “putting America’s interest first,” objecting to Canadian control of the bridge and land on both sides, and criticizing insufficient use of American-made materials.

The timing coincides with escalating tension between the nations since Trump’s election, during which he has questioned Canadian sovereignty and imposed tariffs on steel, lumber, and automobiles. The Gordie Howe bridge is fully financed by Canada and will be jointly operated by Canada and Michigan, making Trump’s threat an intervention in a cross-border infrastructure project already under construction.

(Source: https://www.rawstory.com/trump-canada-2675257271/)

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