Who does the Trump administration really care about? There are clues.
On June 7, 2021, Donald Trump told Fox Business that he regarded crypto currency as a scam. A September 2024 FBI report stated that fraud related to crypto cost Americans $5.6 billion, an increase of 45% over losses from the previous year.
Now, President Trump says he wants the U.S. to be the crypto capital of the world. His administration has dropped a dozen cases and investigations of crypto companies for securities violations, fraud and commingling of funds. Trump has issued full pardons to executives who were convicted of those violations.
Why the change in Trump’s attitude? There are hints. In September 2024, Trump and his sons helped start World Liberty Financial, a new crypto business. Justin Sun, a crypto entrepreneur, helped launch World Liberty with a $30 million investment. Sun was the subject of SEC securities fraud litigation — litigation which the Trump administration later put on hold.
Just before his inauguration, Trump hawked his $Trump crypto coin, soon followed by first lady Melania Trump’s launch of her own meme coin, $Melania. Neither of these meme coins has any intrinsic value. There is no business or collateral backing them up.
The Trumps profit from each of these ventures. None of them will be subject to fraud prevention investigation or regulation. But, sure, Trump is looking out for the working guy.
Then there is Elon Musk, who is supposed to be ridding the government of waste and fraud. At the end of February, Musk said the upgrade in air traffic control communications being done by Verizon was failing. His remedy: Scrap the Verizon contract and give the $2.4 billion worth of business to Starlink, a company owned by Musk.
The $42 billion program initiated by the Biden administration to get high-speed internet into rural areas has been paused while the Trump/Musk administration determines how much of that project should be turned over to Musk’s Starlink. But, sure, Trump and Musk are looking out for the working guy.
Trump used to vilify electric cars; called them a “hoax†in 2023. During his 2024 campaign, he said: “Electric cars are good, if you have a towing company.â€
Still, on March 11, Trump turned the White House lawn into a car lot for Musk’s Tesla vehicles and urged people to buy them. Why the attitude change? Well, last August, Trump said: “I’m for electric cars. I have to be, because Elon endorsed me very strongly.†How strongly? According to campaign finance reports, Musk gave over a quarter of a billion dollars to the campaigns of Trump and other Republicans.
So, you see, Trump is looking out for the working guy, if, that is, the working guy has several billions of dollars he is willing to use to benefit Trump.
