Father of the Bribe

As should be clear by now, grifting to Trump is second nature, much like how other people need food for sustenance.  The courts shut down his charity foundation over grifting, for goodness sake. Still, though, since coming into office, he’s turned it into an art form with money-raising deals that transcend mere grifting to reaching the rarified air of being prohibited by the U.S. Constitution.  Especially the part about getting money from foreign governments.  Y'know, the whole, pesky "Article 1, Section 9" emoluments clause of the Constitution.

It's one thing for a president to have a side hustle making outside money, but pulling scams with foreign governments to violate the pesky "Article 1, Section 9" emoluments clause meant to prohibit even just the appearance of conflicts of interest -- never mind actual crimes -- is the full grifter package.  But since Trump was elected the first time in 2016, there it all is, hiding in "plane view", like a late-night TV infomercial peddler:  Trump sneakers (the most appropriately-named grift), Trump watches, the Trump Hotel (a 100% perfect place for foreign officials to stay and dump money to Trump so that it looks with a wink like it's almost legitimate), Trump hats, Trump t-shirts, Trump bitcoin trading cards, and of course Trump crypto coins which is virtually an all-you-can-eat smorgasbord for inviting corruption, as the gullible MAGOP lackeys and clear-eyed foreign governments pour money into Trump, enriching him before our very eyes.
 
A million here, a million there, even tens of millions.  It's the grift that keeps on giving.
 
But that’s all chicken feed.
 
After all, it’s one thing for adoring Trump acolytes, willing to accept anything Trump does (from convictions of 34 felonies to rape  and fraud) to dismiss such paltry corruption. He says he's a billionaire, so, big deal, this is nothing, he doesn't need it, never mind the Constitution and ethics.  But -- those “few millions” that are so easy to dismiss with a blind eye is nothing compared to Trump accepting a $400 million plane from Qatar. 
 
Even for some of the most loyal Trump disciples, that’s a bridge too far.  For goodness sake, the lunatic, extreme-right Laura Loomer put out a tweet that began (and ended) by explaining she’d take a bullet for Trump, but in between said he can’t accept a $400 million airplane.

For perspective on the ethics of such a thing, attorney Marc Elias said on MSNBC that he was longtime friends with Sen. Jon Tester from even before Tester was elected, and "I couldn't buy him dinner when he was in the U.S. Senate."
 
My favorite though was Bernie Sanders describing this as “farcically corrupt.”  While adding that it’s also “blatantly unconstitutional.

Fun Fact:  there used to be around 30 lawyers in the Justice Department's anti-corruption division.  After Trump administration cutbacks, there are now four.
 
Oh, sure, Trump’s Attorney General Pam Bondi declared the half-a-billion dollar bribe as acceptable.  But then Bondi is the same person who, as Florida AG, shut down an investigation of Trump after he gave her a $20,000 campaign donation.  So, Ms. Bondi’s standard on what constitutes a bribe is somewhat suspect.  Along with that she's a former lobbyist for Qatar, paid $115,000 a month.  Yes, really.  So, that whole "Take Pam Bondi's word on it" concept is flexible.
 
Of course, being Trump, accepting a grifting bribe isn’t enough.  He has to lie about it, as well.  After all, Trump lies like most people breathe.  So, there was Trump, saying that Qatar gave its $400 million plane to the U.S., not him.  Well, of course, this is a lie.  Putting aside the question, why on earth would Qatar give a $400 million plane to the United States? -- the reality is that, according reports about the deal with Qatar, they didn't give the plane to "the U.S. government," they gave the plane to the current occupant of the White House…after which ownership switches to the Trump library foundation.
 
NOTE: a reminder, as mentioned above, that Trump's previous foundation, a charity, no less (a charity!), was shut down for, as the New York Attorney General described it, "a shocking pattern of illegality.”
 
And what – oh, what? – could Trump possibly do for Qatar, upon receiving a $400 million dollar air palace that he’s been salivating over since he first saw it?
 
As Robert Reich described actions by Trump and his family --

Trump also just did what Qatar has been wanting done for years — announcing that the Persian Gulf (as it’s been known since at least 550 B.C.) will henceforth be known as the Arabian Gulf.

Trump’s company has just announced a new golf resort in Qatar, reportedly partnering with a company owned by the royal family.

Qatar is also pushing the Trump regime to lift sanctions on Syria.

The payback could be any number of things. The only certainty is that you and I and other Americans won’t necessarily benefit.
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This week’s trip to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the U.A.E. is as much a personal business trip for Trump and his family businesses as a diplomatic trip.

And add in that Eric Trump has announced plans for the family business to back a Trump-branded hotel and tower in Dubai, part of the United Arab Emirates  And that Trump just signed a $1.4 billion weapons sale to the U.A.E. because, hey, what could go wrong there?  (No, these aren't related to Qatar.  But as long as we're talking about Trump and bribes, it's just too hard to pass up...)

The funniest part in all this, to me, is when Trump tried to justify accepting this $400 million bribe by telling a story about legendary golfer Sam Snead.  Because, hey, why not?  Trump quoted Snead as saying that when you're playing golf, and your ball is so close to the hole that your opponent "gives you" the putt, you don't then try to make the putt, you accept it and say "thank you."  For the record, a public official accepting a corrupt $400 million bribe is not the same as your golf opponent giving you a putt.  No, really!  Trump misses two really important things in his analogy.  First, a public official goes to prison for accepting a bribe, but no one does for giving a putt.  And second, golfers are not allowed to "give" a putt in a stroke play tournament.  If you picked up your ball before putting out, it's illegal, against the rules.  You'd not only get penalized if you picked up your ball without finishing the hole -- you'd be disqualified.

The second funniest part in all this (at least in a Trumpian way that's just so Trump it would be disturbing if he didn't go there) is that when Trump was asked at a press conference about the appropriateness of accepting the $400 million "gift" from Qatar, he slammed the ABC reporter relentlessly for being "shameful" by asking.  By the way, the reason this is funny is because, amusingly, Trump doesn't know the meaning of the word "shameful."

But oddly (or not oddly, since this is Trump, after all), the problem with Trump accepting a massively un-Constitutional and illegal $400 MILLION grift from Qatar transcends even the "farcical corruption".

That's because Trump says he wants to make this air palace become Air Force One.  Which would cause a massive security  issue.  Of course.

For starters, Air Force One isn't just a name, it's an official military transport.  And the amount of security provisions built into the plane are massive, but also so top secret that the public has any idea what they are.  Moreover, though, accepting from a foreign government (!!) a plane that is meant to be used in an emergency as the president's official security White House means that pretty much every aspect of the plane would have to be taken apart, inspected and refurbished -- at a cost that NBC News reports could cost over a billion dollars.  All the more problematic when you consider -- and I am not making this up --- that the foreign government in question is not only a U.S. ally, but also an ally of China, Iran...and Hamas!  Who Trump himself once charged with funding terrorism.  So, yeah, make that plane Air Force One.

The cost to the American public would likely be in the hundreds of millions.  Gee, where is "DOGE" when they could actually find a way to cut wasteful costs...?

But here's the thing.

I have no idea of a) accepting this grift will go through, and b) if it does, if it will ever become Air Force One.  It might be "no" to both.  Or to just the second issue.

I do think, though, that if Trump even just accepts the $400 million bribe without making it Air Force One, that alone will be too gargantuan a grift for anyone in the American public other than the most fanciful cultists to dismiss.  And it will be an albatross around his neck that can't and won't be ignored, tarring even the MAGOPs in Congress for supporting it.  And if Trump does insist on making it Air Force One, imagine the ongoing reaction by the public seeing it every single time that Trump flies, a swaggering "screw you" reminder of the grift smashed up against everyone's face. It's the elephant in the room, as if no one will notice it.  Ignoring that it's impossible not to notice.

But then, it seems probable that if Trump does accept the flying grift palace, there will be a truly major lawsuit that would ultimately reach the Supreme Court.  And AG Pam Bondi's total misunderstanding the U.S. Constitution aside (muddled by her Qatar perspective), a $400 million bribe would likely be far, far, overwhelmingly far too much for the High Court to miss and let slide.  Even for Clarence Thomas.