#CorruptTrump Family: Top 10

The corruption in the White House does not stop at Donald Trump himself, but extends to his entire family. Trump has failed to "drain the swamp" and has only made it worse. Trump and his family are using the White House and Americans' tax dollars to line their own pockets. Enough is enough.

While the Trump family's corruption knows no bounds, we have identified the top 10 times Trump and his family violated Americans' trust.

1. From day one, Donald Trump defied Presidential norms and refused to fully divest from his businesses, refused to put his holdings in a blind trust, and has continued to refuse to release any of his tax returns. Even when Congress subpoenaed for his tax returns, Trump and his administration refused to comply. 
2. The Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. – only a few blocks from the taxpayer funded White House – is helping to line the Trump family pockets. American officials, businesses executives, foreign leaders and even Trump’s campaign have all hosted events or stayed at this hotel. That means the Trump family is getting richer off of spending by foreign governments (who do so to curry favor with the president), by American taxpayers, and by the President’s own self-dealing with his campaign. In 2018 alone, the hotel netted him $41 million dollars.
3. Trump and his family travel extensively — something normal for any president, but atypical for family members. In the Trump family case, two family members are White House officials, despite anti-nepotism laws. All the while, Trump and his family spend time at Trump-owned properties (as much as one out of every three days so far), which means American taxpayers are footing the bill for the Secret Service and the hotel costs, all of which go directly to the Trump Organization. The Secret Service alone has spent $500,000 at Trump properties. 
4. Jared Kushner has used his position as a senior White House official to enrich his family business, Kushner Companies. His family has courted investments from Chinese benefactors despite intelligence warnings that China would hold those investments over the administration’s head to influence policy. Kushner’s company sought investments directly from the Qatar government for the family’s skyscraper in Manhattan that was in deep financial trouble. And before he worked in the White House, Kushner’s company faked paperwork about apartment buildings it owned to make a profit, pushing tenants out of buildings to sell the properties at 50% more than it paid for them. 
5. Ivanka Trump has sent hundreds of emails from a private account shared with Jared Kushner about official government business. Her brand has been promoted to the public by government officials, in offense of the Hatch Act. And despite clear conflicts of interests, the Chinese government has awarded her brand trademarks and patents, often curiously timed with favorable U.S. policy from her father. 
6. Don Jr. and Eric Trump campaign for their father frequently, and often harp on themes of corruption. But the two eldest Trump sons have spent the entire Trump presidency using his office to make business connections at home and abroad, while taxpayers pick up the tab for security on their business travels overseas. But in the face of business deals in India, Indonesia and Scotland, Eric Trump has said, “When my father became president, our family stopped doing international business deals.”
7. A Trump campaign data firm got a nearly $3 million loan from the small business loan relief program. That’s 14 times greater than the average loan, while hundreds of thousands of businesses didn’t get any money at all. 
8. Trump repeatedly suggested that blue states, many of which have been hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic, give his administration “sanctuary-city adjustments” in exchange for much needed federal financial relief. It’s a cynical ploy for a quid pro quo with millions of lives at stake.
9. Trump’s business received a $500 million loan from a company owned by the Chinese government for a real estate project in Indonesia. Right after that loan was issued, Trump announced he would lift sanctions on a Chinese telecommunications firm -- a move Republicans Democrats alike strongly disagreed with. 
10. Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives for holding up Congressionally appropriated military aid to an American ally, Ukraine, in exchange for making an announcement on digging up dirt on Trump’s political rival, Joe Biden. He obstructed the Congressional investigation into his actions by silencing anyone in his administration who spoke the truth and refusing to adhere to subpoenas to answer questions about his wrongdoing.
11. BONUS: The Trump administration used the COVID-19 pandemic to award contracts for much needed equipment like masks and ventilators to friends of the family and Trump’s political allies. A medical mask manufacturer was given a $9.5 million contract from FEMA after one of the company’s top officials went on Steve Bannon’s podcast to make his case. The request to contract with the company came directly from the White House. And Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner deployed private equity and venture capital “volunteers” to coordinate the country’s supply chain for medical equipment. The volunteers were tasked with prioritizing leads for contracts with allies and friends of the Trump family (“VIP’s”), putting cronyism and enriching their pals above the health and safety of the nation.

Future Majority has launched a new website to outline Trump family corruption. Check it out here.