In this news:
People cannot get enough of Trump and his political moves! It is safe to say that even though the tabloid headlines claimed millions of negative things about him, people were obsessed with him long before he came back to power again. Before the 2024 presidential elections, concerns grew about Donald Trump’s various money-making ventures. A Washington Post report highlighted how Trump was selling $100,000 watches—purchasable with bitcoin.
This news indirectly raised fears that wealthy donors could bypass legal limits by buying expensive items instead of making direct contributions. MSNBC’s Steve Benen pointed out that Trump could then use these funds to support his campaign, as there are no restrictions on how much a candidate can spend on their race.
Moreover, billionaire business magnates like Elon Musk directly support Trump. They could legally pour hundreds of millions into his campaign, use his social media platform X for influence, and leverage his brand—all without major regulatory hurdles and with the introduction of new schemes.
As per the New Republic, Trump is going to mint a lot of cash, and his past ventures, such as NFTs, golden sneakers, and other branded merchandise, seem small. Meanwhile, one of Donald Trump’s biggest steps was taking Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), the parent of Truth Social, public in March 2024 after he was banned from X (then Twitter) on January 8, 2021, following the January 6 Capitol riot.
He then launched Truth Social, where he could refrain from being censored. Hence, in February 2022, as a Twitter alternative, promoting free speech” and attracting conservative users. Through the company, Trump made immense wealth as its stock skyrocketed. In addition, Trump owned over half of it, which was nearly $3 billion.
Furthermore, as elections neared, Trump dropped a crypto venture called World Liberty Financial (WLFI), and when he won the elections, his wealth and dealings increased. Sun invested another $45 million, and on January 20, the day of his inaugural, Trump’s team launched an official cryptocurrency, $TRUMP, which sparked a new frenzy in the digital world.
View this post on Instagram
The Trump administration launched $TRUMP under CIC Digital LLC, an affiliate of the Trump Organization. In addition, Trump Media & Technology Group announced another crypto called Truth—Fi, which invested $250 million in tokens. However, the crypto space is known to be a strict regulatory industry.
Therefore, Trump’s administration actively worked towards simplifying the rules. Eventually, Trump’s Justice Department dropped corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams in exchange for his help with immigration enforcement, among other measures.
View this post on Instagram
However, this sudden move also affected other sectors of work, such as attorneys’ fear of losing work. Subsequently, corporations poured money into Trump’s family. Companies paid millions to settle lawsuits Trump had filed or made new business deals. Melania Trump landed a $40 million Amazon documentary deal, wrote a book, and negotiated with Jeff Bezos at Mar-a-Lago residence.
Eventually, Elon Musk also joined in and paid Donald Trump $10 million to settle a lawsuit over his ban after January 6. Musk joined his administration as an adviser and became the volunteer head of his new department, DOGE. Therefore, we can conclude that instead of reducing corruption, Trump’s second term made influence-buying more open, with corporations, tech leaders, and investors finding new ways to funnel money into his circle.
.png)
