Ex-president has pledged regulatory changes and other policies to boost big donors’ businesses, watchdogs say

As Donald Trump has ramped up fundraising from mega-donors for his 2024 presidential campaign and allied Super Pacs, he has increasingly pledged regulatory changes and other policies to boost their businesses, campaign-finance watchdogs have warned.

Experts say Trump’s political pitches and maneuverings are a clearly “transactional” chase for big checks, and pose a serious danger of major corruption in a US political system already flooded with powerful donors and lobbyists.

Trump’s transactional fundraising style has accelerated, and is underscored by his intense efforts to corral backing and big checks from Elon Musk – the billionaire who owns the social media platform X and is worth $263bn– plus fossil-fuel and crypto currency moguls, while dangling favorable federal policies and perks, say critics.


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  • EleventhHour
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    2 months ago

    Corruption “dangers“? The guy’s fucking corrupt all the way to the core. It’s not a “danger“, it’s a certainty.

    • @BreadstickNinja
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      12 months ago

      And there’s no danger in corruption if his administration has no intent to prosecute it. It’s the goal.

  • @AbidanYre
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    382 months ago

    Trump ’s court i ng of big donor s poses major corrupt ion dangers, experts warn

    There. I think that covers it.

    • @Hawke
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      282 months ago

      I mean shit, if corruption were the worst of him we’d be in a lot better shape than we are now.

      • @AbidanYre
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        42 months ago

        I did my best with the headline they gave me.

        • @Hawke
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          32 months ago

          You did fine, but man is the headline underselling the problem. They got Al Capone for tax evasion, too, so here’s hoping history repeats.

  • Th4tGuyII
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    252 months ago

    You telling me that a corrupt conman businessman with basically no morals is taking blatant quid pro quo bribes as part of his presidential campaign?? I can’t believe it! /s

    Seriously though, it’s not a danger of him using the presidential seat for corrupt motives, it’s a certainty. The world got lucky last time that his shoddy handling of Covid basically kneecapped his plans, but even then he still did near irreversible damage to the executive branch in the form of the now also blatantly corrupt SCOTUS judges. Don’t give him a second chance.

  • Rentlar
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    172 months ago

    To the compromised six on the Supreme Court, a plain interpretation of the Constitution would indicate that it’s gratuities when Trump does what are bribes and corruption to everyone else.

  • @DarkCloud
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    102 months ago

    Oh they’re solving this in maine with a clause in the 2010 SuperPAC laws that states that if there’s a reasonable expectation of favors coming from donations than it’s not allowed.

    • Orbituary
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      22 months ago

      I imagine the burden of proof is an issue.

      • @DarkCloud
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        12 months ago

        Apparently they’re going to use preexisting verdicts against some governor and one against Trump himself as the proof.

  • @snekerpimp
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    2 months ago

    Too late, he’s already corrupt, as is everyone that associates with him. Every politician, every judge, every business owner that speaks his name in a positive light is corrupt to the core.

  • @[email protected]
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    2 months ago

    If they’re trying to act like every politician isn’t completely owned, good luck with that.

    Everyone is corrupt in a fundmentally corrupt system.

  • Orbituary
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    42 months ago

    Cute to think the United States finally cared about donor corruption.