SEN CHRIS MURPHY: In Trump's first 100 days, he has normalized corruption. It must stop

A Tesla showroom connected the White House Lawn. $5 cardinal for 1-on-1 meetings with the president. Illegally firing Inspectors General. Special tariff exemptions for affable corporations. The archetypal 100 days of the Trump medication person been filled with non-stop acts of brazen corruption, bribery, and favors for President Donald Trump’s billionaire friends. 

When you deliberation of corrupt politicians, you mightiness ideate smoke-filled rooms wherever concealed deals are brokered and bribes are exchanged. But what makes Trump’s corruption unsocial is that helium isn’t trying to fell what he’s doing. He brags astir it. After helium posted connected Truth Social, "THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!!," and past paused his across-the-board tariffs, he brought Charles Schwab — yes, the aforesaid Charles Schwab (net worthy $12.9 billion) of the slope Charles Schwab — into the Oval Office connected April 9th and announced Schwab had made $2.5 cardinal that time acknowledgment to immoderate suspiciously well-timed banal purchases.

Why is Trump doing each of this retired successful the open? It’s not due to the fact that helium believes successful transparency. No, it’s due to the fact that Trump thinks that if helium publically engages successful capable corruption and grift, it volition commencement to consciousness mean to people. As the media fails to support up with the sheer gait and measurement of corruption, astir of it flies nether the radar. He volition effort to person america this is normal. But it’s not.

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Let’s instrumentality 1 example, which whitethorn beryllium the astir corrupt of them all: the Trump meme coin. For astir people, the crypto manufacture is an enigma. That’s what makes it a cleanable conveyance for corruption. 

Right earlier the inauguration, Trump launched a meme coin called $TRUMP. It has nary existent worth -- its worth is simply related to however overmuch request exists, and arsenic president of the astir almighty state successful the world, Trump is successful a presumption to usage his tremendous authoritative powerfulness to make request for the coin, and successful turn, profits for himself and his family.

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Last week, the crypto coin ungraded went nuclear. Trump posted connected the coin’s website: "HAVE DINNER WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP. The astir EXCLUSIVE INVITATION successful the World. Only for the TOP 220 $TRUMP Meme Coin Holders." The terms of the coin jumped much than 50%. Its marketplace worth soared to $2.7 billion. To foodstuff the terms adjacent more, they announced the apical 25 coin holders would besides beryllium invited to "an Exclusive Reception" earlier meal with Trump implicit with a "Special VIP Tour" of the White House. 

In conscionable 2 days pursuing the announcement of the dinner, Trump and his allies made astir $900,000 successful trading fees alone. It’s truthful brazen arsenic to beryllium hard to judge -- the president selling entree to the White House arsenic a mechanics to enrich himself personally.

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The get-rich-quick strategy isn’t adjacent the worst part. The biggest scam is that we volition ne'er cognize who precisely is buying the Trump coin and putting currency straight into his pocket. It is arsenic if Trump has posted his Venmo oregon CashApp online for each firm involvement and overseas authorities to funnel wealth straight to his slope account. Tech billionaires, Russian oligarchs, Saudi princes, CEOs of lipid companies, oregon executives looking for exemptions from the tariffs — they tin each acquisition Trump’s meme coin and curry favour with the president by making him adjacent richer. There is adjacent a leaderboard tracking who buys the astir coin but the usernames are wholly anonymous. 

Trump’s meme coin is conscionable 1 of the dozens of examples proving that Trump has nary involvement successful keeping the promises helium made to the American radical astir lowering costs. 

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It’s nary wonderment he’s done thing to tackle prices -- helium is spending each time trying to fig retired however to usage the powerfulness of the presidency to marque himself and his friends richer. In fact, Trump has done much to enrich himself and his ultra-wealthy friends successful the archetypal 100 days of this presidency than helium did successful his full past term. 

America doesn’t request to judge this level of corruption. It’s up to america whether we let him to marque each of this consciousness normal. 

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