The ‘big, beautiful’ Trumpist swamp

Jorge Costa Oliveira

Presenting himself as an outsider challenging the political establishment, Trump set out to “drain the swamp” [in Washington, D.C.].

In Trump’s first administration (2017–2021), there was no swamp-draining whatsoever. In the current administration, Trump’s brazenness has broken loose, with no attempt to throw even the flimsiest veil over the naked reality of corruption, cronyism, nepotism, and conflicts of interest.

It began with appointments to key government posts. Susan Wiles, the White House Chief of Staff, was a senior partner at Ballard Partners, and Pam Bondi, the Attorney General—Trump’s former personal lawyer and past beneficiary of a generous Trump Foundation campaign contribution (in exchange for doing nothing about Trump University fraud case)—was a registered lobbyist with the same Ballard Partners, the most influential lobbying firm in Washington, D.C. since 2018, whose clients have already begun to reap benefits from its easy access to the White House.

The main financier of Trump’s reelection campaign, Elon Musk, was appointed to head the D.O.G.E., using the position to remove five Inspectors General from agencies overseeing his main companies—which have received about $20 billion in government subsidies since 2009—and to drastically reduce those agencies’ ability to act.

Trump blocked the passage of bills that would have prohibited and punished the use of privileged inside information by political officeholders for personal enrichment (as has been happening for decades); of course, those bills exempted the president—lawmakers know all too well what he’s made of.

Meanwhile, Don Trump Jr., David Sacks (the government’s “crypto czar”), and several Trump- and Vance-aligned associates and donors set up in Georgetown, D.C., an ultra-exclusive private club called “The Executive Branch.” With a $500,000 joining fee, it opens the doors to the core of Trumpist power.

The weekends dealmaking at Mar-a-Lago continues, along with $1 million-per-person dinners for anyone who wants access to Trump—starting with the cryptocurrency barons. Remember, crypto products—the meme coin $TRUMP and the USD1 stablecoin—have added billions to his family’s net worth.

Another booming Trumpist business is presidential pardons. The Intelligencer reports that “tax cheats, bribers, and crypto fraudsters convicted of fraud have offered up to $10 million to well-connected lobbyists and lawyers to help them secure a pardon.”

Along the way, Trump ordered about $1 billion in public money to be spent on refurbishing the “Qatar” plane he plans to keep after leaving office.

According to a Bloomberg News analysis, Trump has more than doubled his personal wealth since the start of his reelection campaign. Surrounded by yes-men and lackeys, Trump is building a new swamp that makes the old one look like a small puddle.

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