Corruption: How Trump’s family is cashing in on his presidency
“FOUNDATION FUTURE INDUSTRIES LANDS $24 MILLION PENTAGON CONTRACT” screamed the Fox Business Network chyron Thursday morning. Host Maria Bartiromo teed up her segment, explaining that the defense tech startup was developing “autonomous humanoid robots” to help troops “breach enemy sites more safely.”
Bartiromo’s guest? Eric Trump, Foundation Future Industries’ chief strategy adviser who also happens to be the son of the man in charge of the government that doled out the eight-figure contract. The host congratulated Trump and Foundation Future’s founder Sankaet Pathat — also a guest — on landing such a lucrative payday. No mention was made of the clear ethics quandary involved in the president’s administration funneling millions in taxpayer funds toward his family through federal contracts. Then again, the amount given to Foundation Future is barely a drop in the swimming pool of wealth the Trump family has accumulated by leveraging their patriarch’s position over the last 18 months. They clearly feel no need to hide.
Trump — also referred to during the broadcast as the executive vice president of the Trump Organization — told Bartiromo that he could see “unlimited uses” for the robots, and mentioned some of his family’s other ventures: hospitality, golf, and crypto, to name a few.
The president has reportedly upped his net worth by billions since returning to the White House, but nearly every member of his immediate family — and even some of his extended family — is also raking in cash. They seem to be completely unbothered if not oblivious to the potential ethical or legal restrictions they’re trampling as they do it. [Continue reading…]