Trump’s $2bn bonanza heralds the rise of political grifters across the west | Donald Trump

Donald Trump took office in 2017 after decades of bankruptcies and business failures. Yes, he was rich, but his latest financial disclosure, released this week, suggests he will walk away billions of dollars richer.

He made more than $2 billion in the first year of his second term from Trump hotels, Trump golf courses, Trump cryptocurrency, Trump watches, Trump cologne, Trump Bibles and more.

This means that Trump has accomplished something that none of his predecessors have been able to do, at least on this scale: turning the American presidency into a money-making enterprise.

Politicians have always enriched themselves, but the arrogance with which Trump does so increases the likelihood of a breakdown of ethics. And not just in the USA. Across the West, from Clacton to Queensland, a new breed of leader is emerging: the political hustler.

As living standards decline, making public office a ticket to the high life may seem like a tough sell for voters. But many voters seem willing to put up with fraud and even seem happy to reward it.

Nigel Farage has sacrificed his fame and influence to become the highest-paid MP in Westminster while maintaining his image as a champion of underdog Britons. He flies on the private jets of a billionaire philanthropist, like Australian populist Pauline Hanson, who has repeatedly violated posting rules.

“For decades, there was an implicit understanding that using public office for personal enrichment carried political and reputational risks,” says Tutu Alicante, a US-based human rights lawyer and global expert on kleptocracy. “This constraint appears to be eroding.”

Alicante adds: “What feels different today is the arrogance.” The shift reminds him of places like his native Equatorial Guinea, where “corruption breeds aspiration” where young people idolize flamboyant kleptocrats who drive Lamborghinis and hang out with models.

“I worry that we are starting to see echoes of the same phenomenon in parts of the west, where politicians who openly make money from public office, and the business figures and influencers who revolve around them, are celebrated by some as symbols of success rather than cautionary tales.”

‘Brazen crypto fraud’

With an ease that would have been impossible before the advent of cryptocurrency, Trump supporters can participate in this bonanza, though some may wish they hadn’t.

Trump, who once called crypto a scam, launched his own meme coin (essentially a digital trading card bearing his likeness and name) after returning to the White House. Many who bought them lost money when prices dropped. However, Trump’s statement shows that he earned $635 million.

But that’s only half of the president’s crypto game. The other is what Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren was talking about this week when she condemned “brazen crypto fraud.” This is Trump’s claim that his crypto initiatives are a way to buy political favors.

For years, the Trump family’s business was real estate. Trump’s sons, Don Jr. and Eric, who were officially in office while their father was president, signed many real estate deals during their global money-making moves. But there have been some problems, such as in Serbia, where protests and investigations disrupted Trump Tower plans. Even a project in Vietnam that receives a favorable tariff rate after inviting Eric to a new golf resort falls behind schedule.

Such disruptions do not occur in crypto deals. It was a three-way series of transactions involving Trump crypto firm World Liberty Financial, authoritarian rulers of the United Arab Emirates and a convicted crypto magnate that created the biggest backlash. As a result, $500 million of Emirati money flowed into the Trump company, the UAE gained access to powerful American AI chips, and the crypto king received a pardon.

Those involved say it was just a legitimate business. The White House says: “Neither the president nor his family have ever had or will have a conflict of interest.”

Trump himself canceled the review. “I made a lot of money before I became president,” he told reporters. The White House has long maintained that Trump’s affairs are separate from his official duties and are managed by his adult sons. “The president has no interest in running his own businesses and has passed them on to his children, so these business endeavors are none of his business,” one official said.

Farage likewise says he was given no compensation for how he made his crypto millions. He promoted dubious crypto schemes on video site Cameo and embarked on a bitcoin initiative led by Kwasi Kwarteng, who as chancellor secured Liz Truss’ end-of-premiership budget.

Beyond these personal money whirlwinds, Farage’s entire political project since Brexit has depended on the generosity of Thailand-based crypto tycoon Christopher Harborne, who gave Farage’s Reform Britain and its predecessor Brexit party two-thirds of its funds.

“Does he want anything from me?” Farage mentioned Harborne. “No. Absolutely nothing in return.”

But Farage now faces two investigations into their relationship. Labor this week called on the standards watchdog to examine whether Harborne broke parliamentary rules by lobbying the Bank of England to scrap a cryptocurrency plan that could have been costly for Harborne.

The watchdog is currently investigating Farage’s failure to declare a £5 million personal gift he received from Harborne. Farage made different statements about this payment. “This is not the people’s business,” he said.

‘The risk of state capture is increasing’

In Transparency International’s latest annual survey of how bad the public thinks corruption is in their countries, the US, UK, Canada and France recorded their lowest scores since comparable records began in 2012.

“We are seeing a concentration of wealth and power on a scale unprecedented in modern history,” says Duncan Hames, a former Liberal Democrat MP who is now head of policy at Transparency International in the UK. “The risk of those who aim to protect their own interests rather than advancing the public interest to take over the state through excessive wealth and advanced technologies is increasing.”

However, large numbers of voters embrace the scammers. This is possible because “societies with long traditions of the rule of law…have been transformed by tribal politics,” says historian Anne Applebaum, who writes for the Atlantic and recently published Autocracy, Inc.

Applebaum studied Russia and other former Soviet kleptocracies. “Followers of corrupt leaders either don’t know about corruption – the information bubbles they live in don’t tell them that – or they don’t care because they see their leaders as ‘ours’ or ‘one of us’. If they’re stealing money, then somehow it’s ‘our’ money.”

There are many on the left who blur the line between public office and personal enrichment, from union leaders to Peter Mandelson to the Democratic former governor who tried to sell Barack Obama’s former Senate seat.

But nationalists may be better able to create the kind of loyalty Applebaum describes. Trump and Farage are getting rich while fueling nativism; Hanson calls for Australia to be “monocultural”, flaunting generous perks from donors.

Trump’s ability to profit far exceeds that of his fellow fraudsters in proportion to their power. His loyalists in Congress, the justice department and watchdogs have intimidated the institutions that are supposed to protect integrity.

“We have to look across the Atlantic and say: Can our system resist the kind of takeover that the Trump administration has carried out in the US?” says Tom Keatinge, of the Center for Finance and Security at the Rusi think tank in London.