-- It corrupts the markets.
-- It steals from the public.
-- It corrupts the government.
-- Republicans in Congress could stop it, but they don't.
Trump Media and Technology Group launched a new paid data service on August 1, providing faster access to market-moving Truth Social posts. The price is $100,000 a month, discounted to $60,000 a month under a three-year contract. Donald Trump's revocable trust owns approximately half of Trump Media.
President Trump uses posts on Truth Social to announce official acts that move financial markets. Milliseconds faster access to paid subscribers seems trivial at first glance, but being first to enter trades matters to computer-driven quantitative trading firms. Wall Street firms are paying the fee. It is worth it to them.
Early access to fee-payers corrupts the markets. Our financial markets rest on the presumption everyone has the same opportunity to be right or wrong. This head-start release of information makes advantage explicit and sanctioned. Now we know. People who pay a fee get a head start.
Selling early access is theft. We American taxpayers are being robbed. If the president of the U.S. is going to announce an official act, for example, bomb an Iranian oil refinery, news that would likely raise the value of American refineries, then that intellectual property belongs to the American public, not to the Trump family. Early access should not be sold at all, but if it is to be sold, the revenue should go to the U.S. Treasury. Those Wall Street firms are not paying $100,000 to get early access to Trump saying that he bought Melania white roses for Valentine's Day; that news would be personal. But market-moving news of official acts is information that belongs to us all.
Republican members of Congress are demeaning themselves by their acquiescence. They know better than to tolerate this, and they would not tolerate it from anyone but Trump. They know this looks wrong and is wrong. It sets a bad precedent. They are silent and cowering.
The early-access sale reveals and clarifies something about Trump's understanding of his role. He does not consider himself a trustee, operating on behalf of the public. He is an owner. He understands his election in 2016 to have been, in effect, a successful purchase of a trophy property. Therefore, information about his public acts belong to him, not the public. It is a feudal, monarchical understanding of the presidency and the government. L'État, c'est moi. Trump is the state.
This helps clarify why Trump would feel entitled to tear down the East Wing of the White House. It was his to do as he chose. I have no doubt that he thinks he is improving it, but he isn't thinking like a tenant, nor a trustee of a public building.
An owner's mindset helps explain his attitude toward the 2020 election. He acquired the presidency in the 2016 election. My 30-year experience working as a financial advisor taught me that people experience loss with five time the intensity as they do opportunity for gain. Trump did not face the 2020 election thinking he and Biden had an equal right to be elected. No. Trump had the presidency in hand. It was his. And someone -- Joe Biden, Democrats, Black voters in cities, Mike Pence, non-citizen voters, election workers, tabulating machines, corrupt state and federal judges -- took his presidency from him.
The most dangerous thing about Trump's understanding of his role as owner, not trustee, is that his Republican enablers in the Congress are not contesting him on this subject. Their acquiescence is normalizing Trump. The public is getting accustomed to an elected strong man, with unlimited power to govern and the right to personal use of public property and the public trust. Trump is in trouble, and his power weakened, but not because he is acting like a king and Republicans object. He is in trouble because he foolishly led us into a war, we have inflation, the tariffs are unpopular, and the economy is continuing to squeeze a majority of Americans even as they see wealthy people getting richer.
The Trump monarchy is faltering, not because it is undemocratic and unconstitutional, but because he is bad at governing.
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4 comments:
Criminals do criminal acts until there is a consequence like jail that takes away their freedom. They don’t stop because they suddenly realize it was wrong for them to do those things. The Supreme Court made a big mistake in telling Trump he won’t be held accountable, so here we are with a lawless criminal president.
Maybe all those voters who voted for Trump because they mistakenly thought the republicans are the best at running the economy will realize it’s the democrats who are best.
I'm reminded of the quote from the movie Margin Call - "The only reason that they all get to continue living like kings is cause we’ve got our fingers on the scales in their favor". I suppose Trump is just doing openly what everyone already knows. He's poking holes in the facade of "fairness" in the market.
Crooks do what crooks do. The question is why the Republican Party considers this an acceptable way to run an alleged democratic republic. Let's not forget, if it weren't for his supporters, Trump would just be another common crook instead of a threat to our economy and democracy. The GOP wants a dictatorship, as long as it's theirs.
Many years ago there was a column in the NY Times financial section called "Heard on the Street". It came out every Monday morning. It described stocks that were cheap and might make you a lot of money. If you knew what which stocks he was touting ahead of time, you could really clean up. Well, the author sold his articles to people who wanted to know which stocks would be in his column. He made a nice living doing that. The SEC figured out the scheme and sent him to jail. This is exactly what Trump is doing. He remembered it. He learned from it. Considering the Supreme Court said he couldn't be prosecuted for anything, why not? "It's Good to be the King."
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