Stories

Trump pursued numerous self-commemorating projects: demolished the White House East Wing for a $400M ballroom, renamed the Kennedy Center (blocked by courts), planned a 250-foot triumphal arch, proposed his face on currency, took control of cultural institutions, and hosted a UFC event at the White House for his 80th birthday.

The Trump administration systematically rewrote the rules in favour of wealthy Americans and corporate interests. Independent watchdogs — the CFPB, FTC, and SEC — were dismantled or brought under White House control, corporate bribery prosecutions paused, and a $4.6 trillion tax cut for the wealthy funded by slashing Medicaid, food stamps, and school meals. Worker protections were simultaneously stripped: the NLRB paralysed, collective bargaining rights eliminated for nearly half a million federal employees, and the Labor Department hollowed out. Billionaire donors received no-bid contracts, deregulatory favours, and policy access, while wealthy individuals convicted of fraud and financial crimes received pardons — with investigations revealing that clemency had effectively become purchasable.

Throughout his presidency Trump's family business and brand have generated unprecedented income — luxury hotel deals in Serbia and Georgia, the G-20 summit at Doral, FIFA at Trump Tower, a Qatar-gifted Air Force One, a Kazakhstan mining deal, a gold phone, branded merchandise, Truth Social financing, and a DOJ settlement barring IRS audits. Emoluments concerns have grown as foreign governments and business interests route money through Trump properties and ventures.

From the inauguration — where Zuckerberg, Bezos, and Musk occupied prime seats — America's biggest tech companies have consistently accommodated Trump: settling his social media lawsuits, pledging billions in US investment to avoid tariffs, removing protest apps at the administration's request, and joining Trump on diplomatic missions to China. The returns have been tangible: tech-specific tariff exemptions, fast-tracked federal grid approvals for AI data centres overriding community objections, and threats of EU tariffs over fines on US tech firms. Musk's businesses have benefited most directly — Trump promoted Tesla at the White House, the DOJ prosecuted Tesla vandals and intervened in a pollution lawsuit against xAI, environmental reviews for SpaceX rocket launches were relaxed, and Starlink was positioned as the primary beneficiary of a $42.5 billion federal internet programme — culminating in SpaceX's $2.1 trillion IPO making Musk the world's first trillionaire.

The Trump administration's embrace of extremism and prejudice in multiple forms: white nationalist and far-right figures including Laura Loomer and Tommy Robinson shaping government decisions, the DOJ reversing Proud Boys and Oath Keepers convictions, counter-extremism programmes defunded, and senior appointments tied to white supremacist gatherings. The administration has also promoted anti-Muslim sentiment, antisemitism, and other forms of religious and ethnic prejudice. Elon Musk has compounded this — openly endorsing far-right parties across Europe, including Germany's AfD and Britain's Reform UK, and using his platform to amplify extremist messaging.

Since taking office, Trump has wielded the presidential pardon power as a tool of political reward and financial patronage. He has granted clemency to billionaires, corrupt politicians, convicted fraudsters, drug traffickers, and political allies — with little justification rooted in justice or rehabilitation. A New York Times investigation identified a 'pardon industry' built around his White House, with wealthy inmates studying how to secure clemency. A CREW investigation found at least 20 politicians convicted of corruption, bribery, and fraud had received pardons. Recipients have included a crypto billionaire whose exchange Trump has financial ties to, a health care executive whose family had White House connections, the convicted former president of Honduras on drug trafficking charges, and a British billionaire convicted of securities violations. In several cases, federal investigations into the pardons themselves were subsequently shut down by Trump's own Justice Department.

Trump launched meme coins, created World Liberty Financial stablecoin, hosted crypto summits, established a strategic bitcoin reserve, pardoned Binance founder CZ, and signed pro-crypto executive orders — all while personally profiting from the crypto ventures whose policy environment he controlled.

A pattern of misogynistic behavior extending from Trump's personal legal history to the White House podium. A civil jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll; rather than pay, he spent years in failed appeals while his own Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into Carroll herself — an unprecedented use of federal law enforcement against a presidential accuser. Trump has also publicly called a female reporter 'piggy,' told a female ABC correspondent to 'be quiet,' and his administration fired its only two female cabinet members while male officials survived equivalent or worse scandals.

As Vice President, JD Vance has been one of the most consequential enablers of Trump's second-term agenda — casting tie-breaking Senate votes for controversial cabinet nominees, defending the mass pardon of violent January 6 rioters, and expressing contempt for judicial constraints on executive power. Domestically, he led baseless 'fraud' investigations targeting Democratic states, openly considered invoking the Insurrection Act against protesters, and dismissed racist deepfake videos and 'I love Hitler' texts from Republican operatives as harmless jokes. Abroad, Vance campaigned for Hungarian autocrat Viktor Orbán, met with Germany's far-right AfD leadership, and attacked European liberal values. Questions about personal ethics have also emerged, from public resources reportedly redirected for family convenience to federal funds flowing to his Ohio hometown. Throughout, Vance has remained Trump's most visible champion — providing the institutional cover needed to advance authoritarian policies while positioning himself as the frontrunner for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination.

The Trump administration's establishment of a $1.8 billion 'Anti-Weaponization' fund to compensate people it claimed were unfairly prosecuted by the Biden-era DOJ — widely denounced as a political slush fund. Created in May 2026, challenged in courts, and ultimately withdrawn after federal judges blocked payouts. Subsequent revelations alleged FBI Director Kash Patel directed funds to a separate slush fund, and the underlying $1.8 billion IRS settlement was later voided by a federal court.