💰 Is Donald Trump Corrupting the Presidency to Enrich Himself?

Session 2 — Wednesday, April 1, 2026 — The Oval at THE Ohio State University 🦅

💰 Corruption hurts citizens and breaks democracy

Your wallet: average families pay more for gas, healthcare, and food when corrupt officials and their corporate allies rig the rules in their own favor
Your safety: when leaders owe favors to foreign governments and private interests, policy serves their profit, not your protection
- Decisions about Russia, Turkey, Qatar, and China get filtered through who’s paying whom — a House Oversight report found Trump businesses received $7.8 million from foreign governments
Your voice: corruption replaces your vote with their dollar — qualified public servants get pushed out and replaced by people whose only qualification is loyalty to the boss
The founders designed a government to serve and protect the populace — corruption inverts that, making government work against the people it’s supposed to serve

Gilens & Page studied 1,800 policy issues — average citizens have a “near-zero, non-significant” impact on policy (Harvard Kennedy School)
There are really two elections in America — first, the “invisible primary” where wealthy donors and party insiders decide which candidates are “serious” enough to fund. Then the rest of us get to pick between their pre-approved choices.
And the same money funds both sides. Major corporations and industries split donations nearly evenly between parties — they’re not picking a team, they’re buying access no matter who wins
Legislators’ voting behavior is dramatically more responsive to the top 1% of donors, particularly on taxation and regulation
- Alignment with the poor has decreased
Here’s the proof that money doesn’t just follow power — it controls it: researchers tracked what happened when mega-donors died. Politicians who lost their biggest funders changed how they voted — shifting away from the donors’ preferred positions. The money wasn’t rewarding agreement. It was purchasing behavior.

Regulators enter the sectors they once oversaw; by late 2025, over 755 former congressional employees had registered as lobbyists — a 45% increase from the previous year
Former fossil fuel and chemical industry executives placed in key EPA and Department of Energy roles have dismantled air pollution and toxic chemical regulations
Former regulators-turned-lobbyists use insider knowledge to weaken the rules they once enforced

The STOCK Act — lawmakers trade stocks in industries they regulate and their trades outperform the S&P 500. Actual insider trading carries up to 20 years in prison — but Congress members are virtually never prosecuted. Miss your disclosure deadline? The fine is $200 — and ethics committees routinely waive even that
ETFs tracking Congressional Democrats (NANC) returned 73% vs. S&P’s 61% over 2023–Aug 2025
In the weeks following major 2025 tariff announcements, dozens of members traded heavily in tariff-affected companies
No member of Congress has ever been successfully prosecuted for insider trading under the STOCK Act
Citizens who learn about congressional stock profits report sharp declines in trust and view laws as “self-serving” and “unfair”

Expenditures by organizations that conceal donor identities exceeded $1 billion in recent presidential cycles
Clandestine corporate spending operates as “illicit insider trading” — using company assets for political agendas without shareholder disclosure

Taxpayer and political spending at Trump-branded properties: at least $16.1 million
- Secret Service alone spent $100,000 in the first months of the second term
Trump Organization charged government rates as high as $17,000/month for cottages plus superfluous furniture removal fees
Trump remains majority owner of Trump Media and Technology Group, personally profiting from every dollar spent by government agencies or foreign diplomats

On January 29, 2026, President Trump filed a $10 billion lawsuit against the Treasury Department and IRS for leaking his tax records
Total conflict of interest: Trump is the plaintiff demanding $10 billion from taxpayers while overseeing the Justice Department and Treasury officials who can settle the case
Senators Wyden and Warren raised alarms about a potential “taxpayer-funded settlement” functioning as a $10 billion windfall authorized by Trump’s own appointees

$TRUMP meme coin launched 3 days before 2025 inauguration, netted over $350 million in profits
Crypto.com under SEC investigation 2023–2024; after donating $10M+ to Trump super PACs and hiring White House-connected lobbyists, SEC investigation formally dismissed March 2025
- Five months later, Crypto.com entered $1 billion partnership with Trump Media where Trump family received substantial equity stake
Justin Sun (sued for fraud by SEC) invested $30 million in World Liberty Financial; federal prosecutors subsequently asked judge to pause investigation citing “public interest”
Changpeng Zhao (former Binance CEO) pardoned by Trump months after Binance-related entities invested $2 billion in World Liberty Financial

Trump family’s projected income from overseas projects: $400 million+ during second term (vs. $140 million in first term)
DAMAC Properties owner (Dubai) announced $20 billion U.S. data center investment immediately after Mar-a-Lago meeting; Trump stated investment wouldn’t have occurred without his election win
Foreign Emoluments Clause violation: China paid $5.5 million to Trump businesses in a two-year period; Saudi Arabia and Qatar paid hundreds of thousands (House Oversight Committee report)
Trump holds 30% ownership in office building with $950 million loan from state-owned Bank of China

The Foreign Emoluments Clause (U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 9) — prohibits federal officials from receiving gifts or money from foreign states without congressional approval
The Restore Trust in Congress Act — bipartisan legislation to replace failed STOCK Act transparency requirements with a total ban on congressional stock trading
Campaign finance overhaul — overturn Super PAC legality established by Citizens United, experiment with small-donor public financing like democracy vouchers
Restore regulatory independence — break the “revolving door” by prohibiting regulators from entering industries they oversee for 5+ years