Seven days after Donald Trump announced his intention to seek the highest office in the land, he formed more business entities than he had on any previous day, available information indicates.
All the entities were related to Trump projects in Indonesia.
A few months later, Trump was joined on the campaign trail by a delegation of Indonesian politicians — who openly acknowledged they were there because of Trump’s investments in their country. One had previously been caught on tape soliciting a $4 billion bribe.
In total, Trump has formed at least 49 business entities since he announced his bid for the presidency. He continued to form businesses not only after winning in November, but also after assuming the presidency in January.
A detailed examination of Trump’s financial disclosure forms, as well as Delaware and New York business filings, shows that Trump’s run for president likely began as more of a marketing pitch than a genuine attempt to become the leader of the free world. The problem is, he won. And it doesn’t appear his priorities have changed.
He did virtually nothing to separate himself from his businesses. In 2016, Trump owned a direct stake in more than 380 business entities — and held an indirect stake in many more. After becoming president, he transferred those direct ownership stakes to six different entities, mostly Delaware holding companies. But the transfer of ownership was meaningless; a revocable trust that was created to benefit him — and that he can assume control of at any time — sits at the center of it all.
Our current president has two jobs: leader of the free world and the owner of hundreds of business entities worldwide. The combination is toxic for democracy.
More than 70 percent of Trump’s businesses are incorporated in Delaware — a state known for anonymity and secrecy. There is often very little information on the Delaware business filings. And the ambiguity and imprecision of the federal financial disclosure form filed with the Office of Government Ethics makes it difficult to discern the detailed financial health of the president or his businesses.
For example, Trump is not required to disclose net income from his businesses (as opposed to gross revenue). This raises the prospect that Trump’s businesses may be hemorrhaging money in years that he reported hundreds of millions of dollars of income. Further, the disclosure guidelines allow Trump to report liabilities totaling just hundreds of millions when the real number may be in the billions.
Trump’s tax returns — which he has refused to release — would provide the detail needed to determine the extent of his conflicts of interest.
Throughout his business career, Trump has been a boom-and-bust businessman — filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection 11 times. If his business approaches another bust moment while he is president, it is hard to imagine Trump — who has exhibited so little restraint both as a businessman and now as president — not succumbing to the temptation to use the powers of his office to benefit his private interests.
In many ways, the Trump presidency is the natural culmination of the decades-long stranglehold of wealthy individuals and corporations over public policy. But Trump has taken the standard model a step further: He has cut out the middleman — the lowly elected official — who by Trump’s own admission typically needed to be greased to make the whole process work. As president, Trump now has immense power to dictate policy and direct funds to his businesses, or to others who in turn can repay him through his businesses.
The fact that he is still in control of his business is enough alone to invite corruption. If a CEO travels to Washington, D.C., to lobby Trump, the CEO may stay at Trump’s D.C. hotel to curry favor with the president. “Where are you staying?” may be the first question the president asks.
Trump’s financial disclosures reveal roughly 500 active business entities around the globe that trace back to him. As such, the disclosures provide a menu from which wealthy individuals or corporations, foreign or domestic, friend or foe, can select their preferred vehicle to ingratiate themselves to, or gain leverage over, the president of the United States.
It’s a recipe for disaster. And it’s hard to imagine it ending any other way.
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
Over 80 percent of Truthout‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keep Truthout barrier-free for everyone.
You can help by giving today. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger gift, Truthout only works with your support.