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‘The Country Is Not Trump’s to Liquidate’: New Report Details Depths of Presidential Corruption and Grift

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Article by Brad Reed republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

US President Donald Trump holds a rendering of the White House South Terrace balustrade view as he speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One on March 29, 2026. (Photo by Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

“Americans know they’re being ripped off and are demanding accountability.”

The American Economic Liberties Project and Groundwork Collaborative on Wednesday released a joint report detailing how President Donald Trump’s unprecedented corruption is padding his own pockets at the expense of US taxpayers.

The report—titled “The Price of Corruption: How Trump’s Pay-to-Play Administration is Driving Up Costs for Working Families”—explains how Trump isn’t just using the presidency to enrich himself, but leaving ordinary Americans to foot the bill for his corrupt dealings.

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The report notes that the TrumpRx website, which purports to offer Americans deep discounts on drugs, is actually a scheme for funneling even more money to large pharmaceutical companies.

“When Trump rolled out TrumpRX earlier this year, the administration claimed it was a way for Americans to access more affordable prescription drugs,” the report states. “Instead, the platform fails to disclose information about less expensive generic alternatives and, in some instances, charges consumers more for products that are available for less elsewhere.”

Rather than providing real relief, the report charges, TrumpRx “serves as free advertisement for Big Pharma and may be lining the pockets of the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., who is on the board of prescription drug platform BlinkRX, which stands to benefit from the administration’s promotion of direct-to-patient medicine sales.”

The report also highlights the way that Trump has used his tariffs, which raise the cost of imported goods for US consumers, as a personal self-enrichment tool, such as when he slashed tariffs on Switzerland “just a few days after Swiss business leaders presented him with a personalized gold bar worth more than $130,000 and a Rolex desk clock.”

Trump levied tariffs against Brazil last year in retaliation for that country convicting a political ally, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, of plotting a coup to illegally stay in power after he lost an election to current President Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva.

“Americans paid the price for Trump’s international allies breaking the law,” states the report, “as coffee imported from Brazil surged to a 40% increase in price.”

One particularly egregious instance of Trump’s corruption, the report explains, comes from the president’s unprecedented number of pardons of political allies, including hundreds of rioters who violently stormed the US Capitol on his behalf on January 6, 2021.

Beyond the high-profile rioter cases, the report shines a spotlight on a number of white-collar criminals who have received presidential clemency, including Paul Walczak, “a nursing home executive convicted of tax evasion” who was pardoned “three weeks after his mother donated $1 million to Trump at a Mar-a-Lago fundraiser,” and cryptocurrency mogul Changpeng Zhao, who received a pardon months after helping boost the Trump family’s crypto venture.

The report notes that the Trump administration has also stacked regulatory agencies in ways that directly benefit the business interests of the president’s family members, most prominently in the realm of online prediction markets tied to Donald Trump Jr.

“Over the past year, Donald Trump Jr. has served as a strategic advisor to Kalshi and a large investor in Polymarket, while the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)—the agency overseeing these firms—has acted as their ally, rather than their watchdog,” the report says. “Both firms had actively lobbied Trump’s CFTC to block states from regulating prediction markets in the same way they regulate gambling companies.”

Morgan Harper, director of policy and advocacy at the American Economic Liberties Project, called the report on Trump’s corruption “a reminder that we cannot afford to look away or pretend that any of this is normal.”

“The country,” Harper added, “is not Trump’s to liquidate.”

Molly Claflin, senior fellow at Groundwork Collaborative, made the case that Trump’s corruption and the economic pain being felt by Americans are inseparable.

“As working families buckle under the weight of Trump’s high prices, the president is further driving up costs by abusing his position to direct taxpayer-funded kickbacks to his family and political allies,” said Claflin. “His erratic policymaking is making daily life more expensive. Americans know they’re being ripped off and are demanding accountability.”

Article by Brad Reed republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Donald Fuhrump says that Amerikkka doesn't bother with crimes or charges anymore, not being 100% Amerikkkan and opposing his real estate intentions is enough. — Donald Fuhrump says that Amerikkka doesn’t bother with crimes or charges anymore, not being 100% Amerikkkan and opposing his real estate intentions is enough.

Donald Trump urges you to be a Climate Science denier like him. He says that he makes millions and millions for destroying the planet, Burn, Baby, Burn and Flood, Baby, Flood.

Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says Sundown Syndrome is a dead givaway and he wishes someone would Lock Him Up

Post author:dizzy
Post published:7 June 2026
Post category:Donald Trump Neo-liberalism plutocracy politics
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US Families Set to Pay Combined $330 Billion in Tariff Costs This Year—Over $2,500 Per Household

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Original article by Stephen Prager republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)

Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH), the ranking member of the US Congress Joint Economic Committee, asks questions during a hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, DC, on February 12, 2026. (Photo by Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Sen. Maggie Hassan said that while paying back businesses hit by Trump’s illegal tariffs, the administration “refuses to provide relief for families.”

American families could pay a combined $330 billion this year as a result of President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff policy, according to a report released Friday by the Democratic minority on the Joint Economic Committee in Congress.

Although the Supreme Court ruled Trump’s use of emergency powers to pass sweeping tariffs illegal last month, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said the government is expected to bring in “virtually unchanged tariff revenue in 2026” compared with the previous year, as Trump has continued to enact new tariffs using different legal authorities in hopes of getting around the high court’s ruling.

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If Bessent’s projection holds true, the committee’s Democrats estimated that the average US household would pay more than $2,500 in tariff costs this year, a considerable increase from the more than $1,700 the committee found Americans paid in 2025.

The minority said it reached its findings based on official data on the amount of tariff revenue collected by the Treasury since 2025 combined with independent research from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which found last month that only about 5% of tariff costs are borne by foreign entities. About 30% is taken on by domestic companies, and the remaining 65% is passed on to consumers.

There is already somewhat of an answer in the works for businesses to recoup the illegal duties they’ve had to pay. Earlier this month, the US Court of International Trade (CIT) ruled that the Treasury Department and Customs and Border Protection must return $166 billion to around 330,000 importers hit by tariffs, including thousands of companies that have filed lawsuits seeking to recover their money.

However, the Trump administration has said it could take more than 4.4 million hours to process all refund requests for more than 53 million entries subject to the now-illegal tariffs.

On Thursday, Brandon Lord, an official with US Customs and Border Protection responsible for tariff collections, informed the court that CBP is about 40-80% done creating a system that will allow importers and brokers to submit refund requests. He said in a filing last week that it could be operational as soon as mid-April.

But Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH), the ranking member of the joint committee, lamented on Friday that while businesses are going to be reimbursed with interest, “the Trump administration refuses to provide relief for families” and is instead “choosing to institute new tariffs that will push prices even higher.”

On Thursday, Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM), another committee member, introduced a bill to create a new tax rebate for individuals and families hit by tariffs.

The so-called “Working Families Refund” would provide a $600 rebate to individuals earning $90,000 or less annually and to head-of-household filers earning $120,000 or less. Joint filers earning $180,000 or less per year would receive a $1,200 rebate. Each family would also receive an additional $600 for each dependent child.

“This is money that belongs to working families—not the CEOs of Walmart or Amazon or any other big corporation,” Heinrich said.

Trump has pressed ahead with his tariffs despite their rising unpopularity. In an NBC News poll last week, 55% of voters said the tariffs have hurt the economy, while just 33% said they have helped. And as his newly launched war with Iran has heightened economic instability, 62% of voters said they disapproved of his handling of inflation and the cost of living.

Seeking to stop Trump from squeezing a political win out of his policy’s failure, Heinrich’s bill also forbids the president from putting his own name on the tariff rebate checks, as he famously did with Covid-19 stimulus checks sent months before the 2020 election.

“The president may call the affordability crisis a ‘hoax,’ but working people feel it every time they pay for groceries or everyday essentials,” Heinrich said. “This bill will return the money lost to Trump’s tariffs back to the people who paid the price.”

Original article by Stephen Prager republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)

Orcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an obviously insane, xenophobic Fascist.

Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.

Post author:dizzy
Post published:13 March 2026
Post category:benefits Donald Trump Neo-liberalism new authoritarianism the filthy rich
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‘More Chaos’: Trump Hammered for Plan to Double Down on Tariffs After Supreme Court Ruling

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Original article by Brad Reed republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

US President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference at the White House, Washington, D.C., US on February 20, 2026. (Photo by Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“Donald Trump illegally stole your money,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren. “He should give it back to you.”

President Donald Trump defiantly vowed to continue slapping tariffs on imported goods on Friday after the US Supreme Court overturned the so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs he implemented last year.

In a press conference held hours after the Supreme Court ruled against the president’s tariff regime, Trump said that he had other tools at his disposal that allowed him to hit foreign products with taxes.

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Among other things, Trump said he was going to issue a 10% global tariff using his authority under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 that allows the president to levy tariffs to address “large and serious” balance-of-payments deficits with foreign nations.

However, as a Friday analysis by the libertarian Cato Institute explains, any tariffs enacted through Section 122 expire after 150 days without authorization from Congress, which in theory could put vulnerable congressional Republicans on the spot to vote for or against the president’s signature policy this summer right before the 2026 midterm elections.

The president’s decision to plow ahead with his politically unpopular tariffs drew immediate criticism from Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who said during an interview with MS NOW that Trump was creating even more economic uncertainty.

“What he’s done is just doubled down and tried to make it worse,” Klobuchar explained, “which, of course, is going to create more cost and chaos for the American people.”

Klobuchar: "The scariest part from his press conference, in addition to the continued assault on the rule of law and the Constitution, is that he plans to continue doing this … [but] I think you're starting to see bipartisan opposition to the president's tariffs, which would… pic.twitter.com/pqniYagtyW
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 20, 2026

Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman also predicted more chaos in the months to come from Trump’s trade policies, particularly when it comes to businesses that will now lobby to get back the money illegally seized from them by the president’s unconstitutional tariff regime.

Writing on his Substack, Krugman argued that Trump finding alternative means to levy tariffs would not “obviate the need to refund the tariffs already collected,” because “if you seized money without constitutional authority, finding other revenue sources going forward doesn’t make the original seizure legal.”

David Frum, staff writer at The Atlantic, predicted that the coming lawsuits aimed at getting refunds for the illegal tariffs would be a massive mess.

“The post-tariff litigation is going to be nightmarish,” he wrote on social media. “Wrongfully taxed plaintiffs will now sue for return of their illegally taken money. Can their customers then sue for a portion of the higher prices caused by the wrongful taxes? More Trump chaos.”

However, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent downplayed the possibility of American businesses and consumers getting refunded for the tariffs.

While speaking at the Economic Club of Dallas on Friday, Bessent was asked if he expected a “food fight” for the $175 billion in tariff revenues that government has illegally collected since April.

“I’ve got a feeling the American people won’t see it,” Bessent said of the tariff money.

Bessent: I got a feeling the American people won't see the $175 billion in tariff revenue we collected pic.twitter.com/rj0Bmm0Exg
— FactPost (@factpostnews) February 20, 2026

However, some Democrats indicated that they were not simply going to let the administration getting away with money they unlawfully confiscated from US businesses and consumers.

“Donald Trump illegally stole your money,” wrote Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). “He should give it back to you. Instead Trump is scheming up new ways to force Americans to pay even more.”

Democrats on the US House Ways and Means Committee wrote that “Trump does not want to refund the money he illegally stole from you,” vowing the party “won’t stop fighting to get your money back.”

Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker wrote Trump a letter after the Supreme Court ruling demanding that the president provide every family in his state a $1,700 refund for the tariffs, which he said “wreaked havoc on farmers, enraged our allies, and sent grocery prices through the roof.”

Original article by Brad Reed republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Orcas discuss rotting brain. Front Orca says "Wish someone would lock him up". — Orcas discuss rotting brain. Front Orca says “Wish someone would lock him up”.

Post author:dizzy
Post published:22 February 2026
Post category:Donald Trump Fascism Neo-liberalism new authoritarianism plutocracy politics the filthy rich
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‘Trump’s Economic Policies Did This’: US Business Bankruptcies Surge to 15-Year High

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Original article by Jake Johnson republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick look on as President Donald Trump speaks on April 9, 2025.
(Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

At least 717 US companies filed for bankruptcy through November 2025—the highest figure recorded since the aftermath of the Great Recession.

Businesses in the United States have filed for bankruptcy this year at a level not seen since 2010 as President Donald Trump’s tariff regime has jacked up costs for companies in manufacturing and other major sectors.

Citing data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, the Washington Post reported over the weekend that at least 717 US companies filed for bankruptcy through November 2025, the highest figure recorded since the aftermath of the Great Recession and a 14% increase compared to the same period last year.

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“Companies cited inflation and interest rates among the factors contributing to their financial challenges, as well as Trump administration trade policies that have disrupted supply chains and pushed up costs,” the Post noted. “But in a shift from previous years, the rise in filings is most apparent among industrials—companies tied to manufacturing, construction, and transportation. The sector has been hit hard by President Donald Trump’s ever-fluid tariff policies—which he’s long insisted would revive American manufacturing.”

Recent data shows that the US has lost 49,000 manufacturing jobs since Trump’s return to office.

The bankruptcy figures add to the growing pile of evidence showing that Trump’s tariffs and broader policy agenda have harmed the US economy—weakening job growth, driving the unemployment rate up to the highest level since the Covid-19 pandemic, and worsening the nation’s cost-of-living crisis.

Democrats immediately seized on the new reporting as evidence of Trump’s failed stewardship of the US economy, messaging that’s likely to be central as the 2026 midterms approach.

Trump's economic policies did this. pic.twitter.com/tRfcNxAyAU
— Sean Casten (@SeanCasten) December 27, 2025

Ken Martin, chair of the Democratic National Committee, said Monday that “when Donald Trump signed his Big Ugly Bill into law, he cemented the Republican Party as the party of billionaires and special interests—not working families, farmers, or small business owners.”

“While millions of working families are already being squeezed to afford groceries, utilities, and rent, Trump chose to strip them of their healthcare and food assistance just so he could give his ultrawealthy friends and donors an extra buck,” said Martin. “Make no mistake: Trump’s ‘signature achievement’ will be the nail in the coffin for the Republican majority when voters head to the polls next November.”

Original article by Jake Johnson republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Post author:dizzy
Post published:30 December 2025
Post category:Donald Trump Neo-liberalism plutocracy the filthy rich
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Revealed: Forecasts of greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels soar in Trump’s first 100 days

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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/02/trump-drill-baby-drill-tariffs

Expected greenhouse gas emissions from US oil and gas fields has jumped under Trump, after previously dropping under Biden, forecasts show. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

Tariff chaos hampers Trump’s pledge to ‘drill, baby, drill’, but analysis still shows surge in planet-heating emissions

Donald Trump’s ambitions for the US to “drill, baby, drill” for more fossil fuels have ironically been hampered by the economic chaos unleashed by his own tariffs, but the US is still on track to increase oil and gas extraction, causing a surge in planet-heating emissions, a new analysis shows.

The US was already the world’s leading oil and gas power, producing more of the fossil fuels than any country in history during Joe Biden’s administration. But Trump has sought to escalate this further, declaring an “energy emergency” to open up more land and ocean for drilling and launching an unprecedented assault on environmental regulations in his first 100 days back in the White House.

This new political climate means that the expected amount of greenhouse gas emissions from active and planned projects in US oil and gas fields has jumped under Trump, after previously dropping under Biden, forecasts shared with the Guardian show.

Despite awarding more drilling leases than Trump in his first 100 days, Biden also pursued policies to combat the climate crisis that saw oil and gas companies revise down their production estimates. That situation has now reversed, threatening a pulse of new pollution that will further add to the fever of a planet already suffering from heatwaves, floods, droughts and other disasters accelerated by global heating.

“The uptick in embodied emissions from forecast US oil and gas production is worrying,” said Olivier Bois von Kursk, policy adviser at the International Institute for Sustainable Development, which tracks emissions projections from the lifetime of projects, based on data from research consultancy Rystad Energy. “The world can’t afford more climate chaos.”

…

The International Energy Agency, which has forecast that global oil and gas demand will peak by 2030, has said that no new major fossil fuel projects can occur if the world is to stay within agreed temperature limits and avoid catastrophic climate impacts. Last year was the hottest, worldwide, ever recorded and governments are collectively failing to meet targets to avert escalating disasters.

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Tariffs on solar panels from Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia have been ratcheted up to as much as 3,521%. “We don’t want windmills in this country,” the president said shortly after his inauguration in January. “We don’t want windmills. You know what else people don’t like? Those massive solar fields.”

…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/02/trump-drill-baby-drill-tariffs