Almost nothing that Donald Trump does or says as a president is bereft of the charges that he, or his family, personally benefits from it. Even in the case of diplomatic rifts and ego clashes between him and the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, the personal wealth has crept in. Among the growing number of theories to explain the tensions, Jake Sullivan, the former National Security Advisor of the US, has added personal wealth, war and border twists. “And now, in no small part, I think because of Pakistan’s willingness to do business deals with the Trump family, he (the president) has thrown the India relationship over the side,” said Sullivan. His finger pointed at a series of agreements inked between World Liberty and
Pakistan Crypto Council to promote investment and innovation in the crypto industry. The former firm is backed by Trump and his affiliates, who together hold a 60 per cent stake in it. For a decade, both during his first presidency and the second one, there were several allegations that Trump and his family used the former’s post to enhance their personal wealth. There is enough evidence too. “Many payments now flowing to Trump, his wife, and his children and their spouses would be unimaginable without his Presidencies: A two-billion-dollar investment from a fund controlled by the Saudi crown prince; a luxury jet from the Emir of Qatar; profits from at least five different ventures peddling crypto; fees from an exclusive club stocked with Cabinet officials and named Executive Branch,” said a recent article in The New Yorker.
In March this year, an American business magazine estimated that Trump’s net worth had doubled within a year to surpass $5 billion. A few months later, the country’s most respected newspaper totted up the figures, and doubled it to $10 billion. The New Yorker was more sceptical: “Yet both estimates included billions of dollars in paper profits that would almost certainly disintegrate if the Trumps pulled out of certain investments.” As the magazine speculated: What is Truth Social (the president’s personal social media platform) worth without him? But then, the figures relate to personal wealth, and he, as an individual, entrepreneur and president, is an integral part.
However, there are two aspects about Trump’s wealth that are largely ignored, or get buried under the allegations. The first is that even tax experts, auditors and financial forensic analysts are unsure about the president’s riches. This is because he touts different figures at different times, and to different audiences. To the tax authorities, he bloats the liabilities. To the potential lenders, he bolsters the assets. To the public, damn, does it matter what they know? His ventures are shrouded in layers of complex corporate veils.
Second, there is invariably more hype than truth about Trump’s wealth, both when he is in office, and when he is out. In their book, Russ Buettner and Susanne Craig concluded that by 2015 the yet-to-be president had wasted much of his fortune. Between 2011 and 2017, he raked in more than $250 million in TV and real estate deals, but reported a negative cash flow of almost $50 million. This was largely due to his overspending on himself and properties.
“By the start of his second term, he owed nearly five hundred million dollars to New York state, which had sued him for fraud, and more than $88 million to E Jean Carroll, who had sued him for sexual assault and defamation,” said The New Yorker. Both the appeals are pending, but the president at the start of his second term was in a fix and financial mess. Six months later, his fortunes have improved. It is as if he saw the presidency as a way out of a muddle, a quicksand that threatened to engulf him and his family forever.
More importantly, he and his loyalists have several past precedents to justify the president’s actions. Almost every president in recent times, and in the distant past, has sold access for campaign money, and rewarded donors in various forms. As is the case in India, the sons and daughters, nieces and nephews, uncles and aunts of ruling politicians have signed lucrative business deals. The problem is that Trump does it openly and brazenly. He has no qualms about what the media or critics think. His voting constituency remains loyal.
For this trait too, there is a reason. According to his family members, during the first term, Trump tried hard to stay out of situations that stank of conflicts-of-interest. His advisors declared that he would not do anything that was “perceived to be exploitive of the office of the Presidency.” Yet, during his reign, and even after he lost the elections in 2020, critics kept accusing him and the family of “profiteering.” Hence, there was no point in holding back. The enemies were going to badger him, no matter what.