Remember when Trump, on May 12th, responding to a reporter’s question about the effect that Trump’s Iran war was having on Americans’ finances, said, “…I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation, I don’t think about anybody?”
Here’s why he doesn’t think about anyone, let alone Americans: He’s too busy making money for himself and his family. Just during the first 3 months of this year, he’s made more than 3,700 stock transactions! On March 23rd, after nearly a month of war with Iran, Trump said talks were going well and were productive, extending his deadline by 5 days, and oil stocks fell while he bought shares in ExxonMobil, Chevron, and other firms positioned to benefit if the war continued, which it did at his direction − he bought at the dip he created.
He bought hundreds of thousands of dollars of Palantir stock shortly before he publicly praised the company on his social media site, including the company’s ticker symbol for good measure. Hardly subtle! (For those who may not be familiar with how things can work in the stock market, here’s what can happen: When someone with “credibility” − I use that word loosely here − touts a stock, people will start buying it, causing the price to rise. Often, it’s a “pump & dump” scheme, where one or more people tout a stock that doesn’t deserve a higher price to drive it up, then sell their shares, causing the price to drop and leaving those who jumped in holding the bag. That’s not likely in this case, however, since Trump has made sure Palantir will do well. Since he started his current term in office, Palantir has received over $12 billion in government contracts with the U.S. Army, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In any case, we didn’t vote for a POTUS to make money off stock investments or to tout stocks.
Then there’s Nvidia – Trump bought as much as a million dollars in stock just one week before the Commerce Department approved the sale of Nvidia chips to China! One week! Then, he bought up to $5 million more of Nvidia stock in February, right before the company announced a major chip deal with Meta. That’s pretty good timing, isn’t it?
If that’s not bad enough, Trump’s son Eric struck a multi-billion-dollar crypto deal with a UAE state-backed firm on behalf of the Trump family’s cryptocurrency company, World Liberty Financial. After the deal, the administration reversed AI restrictions, approving the transfer of sensitive technology to another UAE-related entity chaired by − wait for it − the very same royal family member who was involved in the crypto deal − it hardly seems like a coincidence.
And how about this − in September of last year, the president of Kazakhstan called Trump and told him he wanted to grant tungsten mining rights to an American company. A month later, Don Trump Jr. and Eric Trump get a stake in the American company pursuing the mining deal. Six days later − six days after Prince Don and Prince Eric got their stake − Kazakhstan announced that this company would get the largest known tungsten resource in the world. A few weeks later, the U.S. government, run by their father, sets aside $1.6 billion of our tax dollars to fund and finance their mining project − in Kazakhstan! All this while we pay more for gas and groceries.
It’s all self-enrichment tied to Trump’s foreign policy agenda, and it’s how his net worth has grown by over $4 billion since he took office in January of 2025. This is the most corrupt president in American history!
One more thing… remember back in the day when your mother told you you’d be judged by the people you associate with, so be careful who your friends are? Well, two-thirds of Southwest Florida voters voted for this, so we know what kind of people our MAGA/RINO/CINO/FASCISTS are.
Ken Brindle is a resident of Cape Coral.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Trump follows a pattern of self-enrichment | Opinion
Reporting by Ken Brindle / Fort Myers News-Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Ken Brindle | USA TODAY Network
