Thank you for reading Message Box. This is a community of more than 160,000 activists, organizers, political junkies, and others who care about our democracy. I’m privileged to write for such an incredible group. Special thanks to our paid subscribers, who make it all possible. If you’re not yet one, I hope you’ll consider upgrading to support one of the few outlets not owned by a MAGA billionaire. Trump's Most Corrupt Act Yet (Seriously!)He's selling Wall Street early access to market moving information
I honestly thought I was beyond being shocked by Donald Trump’s depraved avarice, but I have to admit that I was blown away by the latest example of Trump’s blatant corruption. Here’s the report from the Associated Press:
I know this sounds esoteric, and it involves Truth Social, which is a joke of a site that is full of bugs and held together with chewing gum and string, but this is just a stunningly corrupt abuse of power for self-enrichment. In fact, it might actually be the most corrupt thing Trump has done since returning to office. It’s so brazen and so blatant. And it’s something Democrats should scream from the mountaintops about. Because the news came out on the same day that Trump gave his deranged, dishonest national address, this story got much less attention than it deserves. This is a reader-supported newsletter. Every paid subscription makes it possible, I hope you will consider signing up. Insider Trading at ScaleWhat presidents say moves markets. Trump’s posts about Iran and the Strait of Hormuz moved oil prices. His spring-2025 tariff announcements crashed stocks; his follow-up posts about backing off tariffs sent them surging. Over the last 18 months, there has been a lot of speculation about people with advance knowledge of Trump’s decisions making advantageous stock transactions. This is known as insider trading, and it is illegal. Truth Social is now selling early access to Trump’s statements to Wall Street banks. The whole product is designed for high-frequency and algorithmic trading firms that profit off the gap between when they get the news and when everyone else does. Ordinary investors are structurally on the losing side. This is no different than Trump giving a heads-up on a market-moving announcement in exchange for a bribe. It’s pay to play. Rich and powerful elites will learn valuable information before the rest of the public. It’s insider trading for profit at scale. It’s a win for those elites — they get an invaluable advantage in the market, and Trump gets money put in his pocket. This is not a trial balloon or an idea that leaked out of a meeting. It’s a real, live business. It’s happening. Truth Social has already signed up several clients, including high-frequency trading firms. A Giant Loophole in the SystemThis should be illegal, right? It is a blatant conflict of interest and a pay-to-play scheme. However, it’s not. The president is exempt from the conflict-of-interest rules that bind almost every other federal official. When the law was originally written, there was a concern that presidents worked on so many issues that applying it would be impossible. Despite the permissiveness of the law, past presidents typically put their assets into blind trusts and sold off or divested from outside businesses. Jimmy Carter even put his peanut farm into a blind trust to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest when making decisions on agriculture policy. These presidents did this because they wanted to do the right thing, had a modicum of shame, and felt political pressure to not look like a crook. Trump has none of those things and is driving a literal Brink’s truck through this loophole in the law. Making the Corruption Argument StickThere is a very persistent strain of thought among some Democratic strategists that the corruption message does not work against Trump. Voters know he is corrupt, so it’s not new information, and they think all politicians are corrupt. However, a recent Echelon Insights poll reported on by Puck’s Peter Hamby suggests that may be changing.
I have two related theories about the rising salience of corruption. The first and most obvious is that Trump is doing a lot of unprecedented corruption. The second is tied to rising prices. To voters, Trump seems to be more focused on raising his income than lowering their prices. So, even if you can’t convince the public that Trump’s corruption is a deal breaker, you can convince them that Trump cares more about his bottom line than yours. And this latest gambit is a great opportunity to do that. You're currently a free subscriber to The Message Box. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription.
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