While it was nice to see Trump Media’s stock value fall, from the cliffWhat’s not so interesting is thinking about how much corporations as a whole are distorting democracy.
Before President Trump, it would have been unimaginable for a former president to run for re-election while at the helm of a publicly traded company. But President Trump broke all norms as he used his office to line his own pockets.
A second Trump presidency will no doubt be even worse. Especially since the federal courts are now filled with Trump appointees. willingly weaken Only a few guardrails left.
Although the name “Trump Media” suggests some kind of multifaceted media empire, it is actually nothing more than Trump’s far-right social media network, Truth Social. Honestly speaking, true social is: not very popular. its audience continues to plummetand even Trump is back Post to Xrival platforms with viewers nearly 100 times Truth Social stuff. In stock is ludicrously overratedpegged at $7 billion, despite Truth Social’s post. millions of dollars There are losses and little income.
A stock analyst said,quasi-religious fervor” They are willing to excuse their losses, saying things like, “I did it more as a statement to President Trump and to show support at the time.” Terry Lynn Roberson Go to ABC News. “I wasn’t looking to make a lot of money,” said Roberson, who bought five shares of the company after it went public in March.
That’s probably the best attitude given what Trump media executives have started. sell off They acquire stocks as quickly as possible and take huge losses to get out of depressed stocks. Trump still owns the stock. Approximately 57% of the company. Mr. Trump and other company insiders are under a six-month grace period that prevents them from selling their shares until Sept. 19. lock-up period. Towards the end of the lock-up period, President Trump said he would not sell his shares. goose At that time, the stock price fell slightly.
In a typical company, this might be seen as a vote of confidence from the founders, a willingness to risk their fortunes. But Trump has a darker reason for holding on to his stock. If Trump wins the election, investors will be more likely to pony up Trump Media stock. increase. people could buy access He appealed to the president by throwing money at his company, which he would run from the White House.
role of Abdalla Fayyad Explained in VoxIt’s easy to imagine someone who has maxed out their campaign funds deciding to show their support for Trump by investing in Trump Media instead. Of course, this is not a guess.
Millions of dollars in President Trump’s first term poured into At his hotel in Washington, D.C., Republicans pretended they were only staying there because it was the most convenient location. However, they I barely stayed I have been staying at that hotel since it changed hands in 2022 and became the Waldorf Astoria.
And why do we do that? This is no longer a way to show support for Trump by supporting his economic interests. Trump similarly shifted focus and instead sold access to Mar-a-Lago. 1 million dollars per membership.
Trump Media is an ethical nightmare, but at least it’s a publicly traded company, with transparency and oversight. President Trump’s pressure cryptocurrency marketThe president, on the other hand, is opaque, unregulated, and the perfect vehicle for a corrupt former president to become even more shockingly corrupt if he is re-elected.
The cryptocurrency project, which has the mundane name of World Liberty Financial, is a cryptocurrency project that President Trump says will still give real money to all of his failures (including Mr. Barron, the “visionary man” behind the project). It serves as a means of providing fake jobs. The fact that all of President Trump’s adult sons (none of whom have ever worked in the financial industry) are leading the project is one way that this cryptocurrency effort is nothing more than a disgraceful scandal. be.
Moreover, even after the two-hour livestream that launched this effort, no one seems to know what this cryptocurrency company actually does. Even Trump doesn’t seem so sure. When I tried to explain it, he said I came up with an idea: “Cryptography is one of the things we have to do…Whether we like it or not, I have to do it…It’s cryptography, it’s AI, it’s one of the things we have to do… Some,” he said. in an interview At X. got it.
Some of them are President Trump’s other projectsLike Trump Steaks, Trump Bottled Water, and Trump Vodka, if they were good they might have appealed to the masses, but President Trump’s relatively newly discovered affinity for cryptocurrencies is a sign of the financial sector’s virtual currency. It’s completely tied to my affinity for. right wing politics. This is also a way for him to court crypto voting and contrast himself with the Biden-Harris administration. cracked down About cryptocurrency fraud and people indicted Sam Bankman Freed Charged with defrauding investors of billions of dollars.
The crypto sector spent over $100 million So far during the 2024 election cycle, we are looking forward to the next era. Less oversight And consumer protection will be reduced. If you want to deregulate financial markets, Trump is a good political choice.
Conservatives on the Supreme Court have already severely dented The Securities and Exchange Commission can address violations by ruling that a full-fledged jury trial is required rather than using internal administrative processes. same conservatives just shot down of chevron This doctrine required courts to defer to agency interpretations of statutes.
Under the Biden administration, current SEC Commissioner Gary Gensler called The cryptocurrency sector is “infested with scams, scammers, and fraudsters.” If Trump wins in 2024, weaken the SEC No legal or court action is needed, just having someone in place who will not impose fines or go after fraudulent crypto companies. it’s not just a gift Cryptocurrency friend Trump is courtingBut. It would also be a move to stuff President Trump’s pockets with unregulated cryptocurrencies while in the White House.
A normal person can see that there is an obvious problem here. Trump is not allowed to have any personal business interests while in the White House, but all of that was ignored during his first administration. If Mr. Trump has the power to weaken regulations on his own business, he certainly shouldn’t have a private practice in a regulated industry like securities.
But Trump fans love to give Mr. Trump is funding corporations and increasing his personal profits. They are well aware that President Trump views their efforts to funnel cash to him favorably. If the president wins in November and his nonsensical cryptocurrency project survives until he takes office in 2025, conservatives, scammers, and scammers will have a huge opportunity to bribe him without fear of being scrutinized. There will be an easy way to do this.
The only way to stop this from happening is to make sure Trump doesn’t win. Of course, he will continue to promote all kinds of products that help extort money from his supporters, but at least he won’t be able to do it from the Oval Office.
