Telegraph: ‘It’s open season for corruption’: How Trump turned the White House into a cash cow

Naked profiteering by the US president and his family has triggered alarm bells in the Maga movement

Most.

Corrupt.

President

Ever!

Donald Trump caught his first sight of the so-called “palace in the sky” in February as he climbed the red-carpeted steps of the Boeing 747-8.

The Qatari plane was parked at Florida’s West Palm Beach International Airport, and offered a chance for the president to see what a newly refitted Air Force One could look like, easing his frustration with the long-delayed Boeing project.

In the event, it appears to have been more of a test drive. His administration’s plan to accept the $400m (£300m) luxury jet from the Qatari royal family, which he is expected to use after his presidency, is the latest example of what many view as an increased disregard for ethics in Washington under his second term.

During his first term in the White House, foreign governments buying meals and block-booking rooms at Trump hotels set alarm bells ringing.

Yet now the president has created even more opportunities for those looking to curry favour with him – and his children. From pay-to-dine cryptocurrency schemes, a new social media platform that carries advertising and the expansion of their property empire, it has never seemed easier for the Trump family to line their pockets.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/05/18/trump-turned-white-house-cash-machine

Daily Mail: Trump takes sledgehammer to NASA budget to fund Elon’s billion-dollar dream

The White House has announced the largest cut to NASA‘s budget in its history.

The Trump administration has slashed research funding, terminated multiple missions and allocated $1 billion toward Elon Musk‘s dream of sending humans to Mars

The $6 billion cuts include scrapping the Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission, which has already cost NASA billions and aimed to bring samples collected from the Martian surface back to Earth to be studied. 

More payola for his chum F’Elon Musk and a $1,000,000,000 appropriation by fiat & bypassing Congress. Only Congress can legally authorize such expenditures.

The sheer corruption continues unabated in plain sight.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/trump-takes-sledgehammer-to-nasa-budget-to-fund-elon-s-billion-dollar-dream/ar-AA1E3M88

More here:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/trump-administration-proposes-cutting-6-billion-from-nasa-s-budget/ar-AA1E3xtd

Talking Points Memo: Trump Has Ordered Safeguards Stripped From Procurement As Pentagon Prepares To Spend $1 Trillion

To summarize, the new executive orders purport not merely to change or improve regulations, but to simply eliminate most of the existing procurement rules developed through years of oversight processes and outside scrutiny. They effectively undo procurement safeguards put in place after tremendous waste was exposed during the Cold War. In their place, the executive orders would elevate certain procedures that allow the government to spend unlimited sums without competition — the so-called “other transactions” process that need not be competed and that circumvents safeguards put in place to protect tax dollars. The Executive Orders say there should be a “first preference” for other transactions processes, which is like having a “first preference” for bringing a pistol with no safety to compete in a boxing match.

It’s all about lining their own pockets. They’ll get a pardon [they hope!] at the end of King Donald’s term and all will be well.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-has-ordered-safeguards-stripped-from-procurement-as-pentagon-prepares-to-spend-1-trillion/ar-AA1DLRfe