Weekly Update: May 5

Your weekly rundown of the latest kleptocratic actions by the Trump administration

May 09, 2025

"They always arrive at the word ‘yes,’ which is a beautiful thing,” said Eric Trump marveling at the speed with which the Trump Organization has been able to receive real estate permits in Dubai.

Klepto-Outrage of the Week: Minting a Fortune

The New York Times reported that Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump are engaged in an intense round of international wheeling-and-dealing, "capitalizing on their father's name and power" to seal the deal on a wide range of international investment ventures. Six real estate projects are planned in the Middle East alone.

During his visit to Dubai, Eric Trump participated in a panel that featured a big announcement: a fund backed by Abu Dhabi committed to a $2 billion business deal using the Trump firm’s digital coins. This contribution by a foreign government to President Trump's private venture will potentially generate hundreds of millions of dollars for the president and his family.

Not to be outdone, Donald Trump Jr. also made some headline-worthy appearances last week, including participating in a panel with Antoni Trenchev, who co-founded the cryptocurrency firm Nexo. After he was fined $45 million by the SEC in 2023, Trenchev agreed to leave the US marketplace. During the panel, however, Trenchev celebrated his meeting, where he paid to be with the son of the US president, announcing that Nexo had already talked to United States regulators and was re-entering the US market.

The Big Scheme

The Trump family is engaged in business deals involving with a wide variety of foreign governments.

Currently, the Trump Organization is moving forward with the development of a $1.5 billion luxury golf resort with a Vietnamese developer with ties to the ruling Communist Party. The deal is advancing at the same time that the Vietnamese government is in discussions with the Trump administration to rebalance the trade deficit and make the concessions necessary to avoid a 46% tariff set to take effect at the end of a 90-day pause.

Foreign investors are also keen to work with Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law. His investment company Affinity Global has received at least $2 billion from a Saudi fund led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as well as a $1.5 billion commitment from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, announced a month after the 2024 election.

In Europe, Kushner is developing properties in Albania and Serbia. In Belgrade, specifically, Kushner is reportedly planning a $500 million deal for a Trump-branded hotel. Also in Serbia, Donald Trump Jr. seemingly mixed business with politics when he traveled to Belgrade recently and met with Serbian President Vucic to discuss US foreign aid to the country. Allies of Vucic touted this visit as a public show of support for the embattled Vucic, who is facing an unprecedented level of mass mobilization, calls for political reforms, the resignation of officials implicated in the deadly collapse of a railway station, and snap elections.

The Grand Scheme of Things

While relatives of other presidents have engaged in business dealings, there has never been a case like this one: a sitting president stands to benefit personally—in the range of hundreds of millions of dollars—through business ventures developed outside of the United States.

These deals raise countless conflicts of interest. When an elected official (or close family member or associate) has a business interest that overlaps with their official duties, the conflict can lead the official to act in their personal interest rather than the public interest.

Conflicts of interest involving foreign powers are a longstanding political and national security concern. To prevent federal officials from being swayed by foreign influence, the founders included the Foreign Emoluments Clause in the Constitution: Article I, Section 9, Clause 8 forbids the president to accept money payments or gifts “of any kind whatever” from foreign governments and monarchs unless he obtains “the Consent of the Congress” to do so.

Traditionally, presidents are expected to put their assets—especially stocks and other financial investments—into blind trusts to avoid conflicts of interest. However, in January, the Trump Organization shifted its ethics policy to allow deals with private foreign entities, a departure from the previous ban on foreign engagements. This change intensified concerns about potential policy influence by foreign investors seeking favor through business ties with the Trump family.

In Other Klepto News

Tariff pressure campaign to help Starlink: The Washington Post reported that the US government is pressuring countries facing tariffs to approve licenses for Elon Musk's Starlink satellites. According to an internal State Department memo obtained by the Post, “As the government of Lesotho negotiates a trade deal with the United States, it hopes that licensing Starlink demonstrates goodwill and intent to welcome U.S. businesses.” After years of regulatory hurdles, Starlink's deal-making also made remarkable progress over the last few weeks in India, Pakistan, Vietnam, and Bangladesh.

Voice of America to receive news from a pro-Trump TV channel: Despite a congressionally established statutory obligation requiring a firewall between management and editorial employees, US Agency for Global Media Senior Advisor Kari Lake has announced that Voice of America will be fed with content from One America News Network (OAN), a pro-Trump TV channel that has consistently promoted lies about the 2020 presidential election.

Weekly Wins

Trump pulls the plug on his candidate for DC's top federal prosecutor: President Trump announced he was dropping his pick for U.S. attorney for D.C., Ed Martin. Earlier this week, Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, signaled that he would vote against Martin, making it unlikely that the nomination would get out of committee. Martin's nomination was becoming increasingly controversial. In response to a committee questionnaire, Martin had failed to disclose that he appeared on Russian state television more than 150 times, amplifying anti-American propaganda and Kremlin talking points. After a 2017 chemical attack that killed 90 Syrian civilians, Martin deflected blame from President Bashar al-Assad and alluded to a Washington-led plot “by the people that want war in Syria.” During his interim stint as DC's top federal prosecutor, Martin also moved to dismiss federal prosecutors who had taken on January 6 riot-related cases.

Do not obey in advance. Defend democracy and fight corruption. Here's what happens when people join together and stick to their beliefs:

DOGE official departs CFPB after leading Trump mass-firing push [Bloomberg Law]
Court revives temporary ban on CFPB mass firings [Reuters]
FDA rehires FOIA staff after Trump-era layoffs [KFF Health News]
Attorneys general challenge Musk’s DOGE authority expansion [KARE 11]
New law firm to represent Trump’s allegedly targeted supporters [ABC News]
Keep up with the status of all of the legal challenges–many of which are winning [Just Security]
Keep track of all of the many trackers here [UCSD]

Many, Many Other Klepto Links

Listen

Trump family businesses set to profit directly from presidency [NPR]
Donald Trump Is Using the Presidency to Get Rich [New Yorker]
Nathan Tankus on DoGE and the Treasury Payments Crisis [WatchCats]

Conflicts of Interest

Trump family

Kash Patel

Weakening Checks on Power

Executive power grabs

Trump moves to ease firing of probationary federal workers [NYT]
Trump targets career civil service rules for overhaul [Reuters]
Trump insider Ivan Raiklin pushes “Secretary of Retribution” agenda [The Atlantic]

Attacking the judiciary

Attacking independent lawyers

Weakening elections and opposition

Chris Krebs: Trump planning cybersecurity executive action [WSJ]
DOJ appeals Trump’s election-related executive order [Democracy Docket]
Trump orders DOJ to investigate ActBlue over alleged foreign donations [NYT]

Helping Kleptocrats Abroad

Trump budget proposes eliminating DOJ task force that helped capture El Chapo [Newsweek]
MUS Appeals court halts funding cuts to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty [RFE/RL]
US cooperation with Rwanda and El Salvador undercuts democracy [Forking Paths]

Whew. That was a lot. What did we miss? Tell us in the comments!

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