Trump is openly cashing in on the presidency

Trump is openly cashing in on the presidency
The multibillion-dollar profiteering is snowballing in an anything-goes presidency

By Heather Digby Parton
Columnist
Published February 3, 2026 9:25AM (EST)


(Salon) Donald Trump announced last week that he is suing the Internal Revenue Service for $10 billion because a contractor leaked his tax returns. This isn’t the first time the president has sued the federal government. He has already filed claims against the Justice Department for $230 million over the investigations into Russian collusion and the stolen classified documents. In each of these cases, it will be up to the agencies, which he oversees, whether to settle — with him. Gosh, I wonder what he’ll decide?

When asked about this curious arrangement over the weekend, Trump told the press, “I’m supposed to work out a settlement with myself… We could make it a substantial amount, nobody would care, because it’s gonna go to numerous, very good charities.” Evidently, American taxpayers are going to have to pay for yet more of Trump’s grievances — and give him what will almost certainly be a nice tax write-off. That’s assuming these “very good charities” aren’t along the lines of his defunct Trump Foundation, for which he was sued by the state of New York for funneling funds to himself and barred from ever running a charity in the state again. onald Trump announced last week that he is suing the Internal Revenue Service for $10 billion because a contractor leaked his tax returns. This isn’t the first time the president has sued the federal government. He has already filed claims against the Justice Department for $230 million over the investigations into Russian collusion and the stolen classified documents. In each of these cases, it will be up to the agencies, which he oversees, whether to settle — with him. Gosh, I wonder what he’ll decide?

....(snip)....

When the Times asked him why he was openly doing deals in his second term after largely adhering to long-held norms against conflicts of interest in his first, Trump wasn’t wrong in his response: “Because I found out that nobody cared. I’m allowed to.” (He went on to claim that he previously prohibited his kids from doing business and didn’t get any credit for it, and then he saw “what went on with Biden.” Trump also noted that he “has a very honest family.”)

....(snip)....

Now he is openly fast-tracking pardons, handing them out to everyone from drug kingpins to personal business associates willing to pay top dollar to lobbyists who will advocate for them. The going rate is reportedly set at a million dollars. The money mostly goes to the middle men, but one can assume it gets spread around in various ways. ..............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2026/02/03/trump-familys-4-billion-graft-shows-no-signs-of-stopping/