The Trump administration is replacing American democracy with a kleptocracy, a system of corruption in which a network of ruling elites use the institutions of government to steal public assets for their own private gain….
It is the system Russia’s president Vladimir Putin exploits in Russia, and President Donald J. Trump is working to establish it in the United States of America.
“The Trumps’ most natural allies,” [writes Tom Burgis of The Guardian], “first in business, now also in politics—have long been the rulers of the Gulf’s petro-monarchies, who see no distinction between their states’ interests and their families.'”
Current examples of Trump kleptocracy: Trump’s plan to ally with Russia and force Ukraine to surrender, funneling billions of dollars of Russian natural resources and sweetheart deals to favored Russian and U.S. businessmen; White House advisor David Sacks negotiating sweetheart deals for Silicon Valley companies; U.S. policies promoting Trump family business; the sale of public office to Trump donors.
Also, Trump commuted the sentence of David Gentile, convicted of defrauding 10,000 investors out of $1.6 billion. “According to Kenneth P. Vogel of the New York Times, prosecutors said the victims were small business owners, teachers, nurses, farmers, and veterans: ‘hardworking, everyday people.’ ‘I lost my whole life savings,” one victim wrote about his losses. “I am living from check to check.'”
There’s a new name for the new oligarchs: The Epstein Class. Trump used to call those people “the swamp” and now he is their champion.