Trump’s recent visit to the Middle East demonstrated clearly how Trump and his family are profiting like never before, receiving billions of dollars in new business deals with governments and investment funds in the region. What was presented as a diplomatic trip was, in reality, a business tour for his family. The money comes from authoritarian governments and private funds seeking access, prestige and favorable decisions. Among the benefactors are the rulers of the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. Profits come from worthless cryptocurrencies, luxury towers, golf and other private clubs funded by dictatorships.
Sometimes it’s harder than other times to see how Trump may be violating any rules. The rules were written to allow businessmen like him to enrich themselves while running the country. While Democrats feign outrage, they forget that during their turn at office they protected the same kinds of interests, the exact same billionaires. Meanwhile, millions of people in the U.S. can’t afford a doctor’s appointment, rent or pay their student loans.
International investments in Trump’s businesses are not just business deals. They buy influence and promises of government favors. There is no separation between business and state, just two sides of the same coin. Ordinary people’s votes do not matter if the real decisions are made in private rooms among the fabulously wealthy.
It is not enough to denounce corruption. It is not about one rotten apple, but the whole tree. This system cannot be reformed, because its function is precisely to enrich the rich at the expense of everyone else. Trump is a particular tool of a system that has normalized inequality, repression and plunder.
The only way out is not at the ballot box or in the courts, but in organizing from below. We need a working-class movement that fights for a new form of society, one where wealth does not buy governments, but to ensure a dignified life for all.
