Trump administration corruption - the East Wing edition
Another week , another example of corruption from the US president, as described by an opinion piece in the The New York Times. The constant theme has been the ongoing purchase of access to power by the most powerful businesses in the country. In this case it is tied to building the new ballroom in the East Wing of the White House. President Trump has been touting the fact that no public monies will be spent on building the new ballroom, without tearing down the East Wing. This turned out to be a lie and the monies were raised last week, as President Trump hosted a dinner with representatives from companies including Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft and Lockheed Martin as well as energy executives and crypto entrepreneurs who filled the room and donated huge sums of money to the $200 million project. As noted “nothing tells that story of grift quite like taking a wrecking ball to the People’s House with private money. It sure looks like wealthy people are buying access to the president under the guise of this construction project.” And unfortunately, there is nothing that makes anyone believe otherwise.
Why should we care and what should we do? This type of clear money for access is another reminder to the world and to the politicians in the US, that the US is sliding into a very clear pay-to-play country. This is very worrisome, as it certainly isn’t clear what the payments that all these companies will receive, be it less regulation, access to governmental contracts or other less obvious gifts. And, the question arises, who was paying, could it include other governments, and as it is not necessary to declare these gifts, accountability goes our the window. The continuing importance of reporting by media outlets like the The New York Times is essential to a more transparent and accountable country, and so far this seems to continue in the US. Basically, the ongoing pay-to-play approach is wrong and all the citizens of the US can hope for is that the other parts of its government will come to life and possibly do something.
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