The Griftfather

President Trump and his family have turned the United States Government into their personal ATM, if ATMs dispensed million dollar bills. The family has amassed billions of dollars and they did it the old fashioned way: they stole it. (Please note, SketchierHQ lawyers would like to note that “they stole it” is merely speculative.)

Much of the money has come from U.S. taxpayers; the same folks having a difficult time making ends meet in the Trump economy. While Americans are losing health insurance, homes, and regular meals, the Trump family is feeling no pain or punishment. If the DOJ has their way, the Trumps won’t even have to worry about IRS audits on the taxes they never intended to pay.

The extent of the Trump family grift would make Don Corleone blush if Don Corleone were not a fictional character. Trump may not be a Godfather (God wants nothing to do with him), but he is truly The Griftfather. Even real Mafia bosses likely stand in awe at the success of the Trump Family crime syndicate. Authoritarian regimes worldwide no doubt study the ways and means of the Trump’s enrichment methods at whatever schools young kleptocrats attend to learn their trade.

The extent of their alleged crime spree is so vast it is hard for mere carbon-based mortals to comprehend. So SketchierHQ recruited Claude AI to compile a list. Since AI tends to be unreliable I had ChatGPT double check the list in the vain hope that two AI would create one reliable list. They tried and, to their credit, the list is extensive. Incidentally, lawyers I mentioned earlier want me to note yet again that all references to alleged criminal activity in this post are still speculative. The list contains accusations and, as of today, there have been no convictions. One can only hope.

SketchierHQ film critics note that the Corleone family’s crimes were enough for three films (yes, Godfather III counts). The Trump crime spree could spawn more sequels than the 007 franchise (i.e., a whole lot of movies). That is somewhat appropriate given the Supreme Court granted Trump a license to steal in their 2024 Trump v. United States decision. (Congress’ inaction has given Trump a license to kill, but that’s for another post).

Without further ado, the role of dishonor:

Trump Family Self-Enrichment: Credible Accusations

All activities occurred from Trump’s first election to the White House through the present. This list was compiled by Claude AI with assistance from ChatGPT and sketchier.

1. Cryptocurrency

Trump and his family earned an estimated $800 million or more by monetizing the presidency through crypto ventures.

• The $TRUMP memecoin attracted investments from foreign nationals and entities linked to sanctioned countries including Iran, North Korea, and Russia. Critics allege it functions as an untraceable vehicle for foreign bribery, since buyer identities can remain anonymous.

• The $TRUMP memecoin dinner offered exclusive White House access to the coin’s top 220 holders — effectively selling a private meeting with the sitting president to anonymous buyers who may include foreign nationals or sanctioned entities. Critics described it as a U.S. president literally pricing access to himself through an untraceable financial instrument.

• World Liberty Financial (WLF), a Trump family crypto venture, raised hundreds of millions from foreign state-linked investors seeking access and influence.

• The administration dropped federal investigations into multiple crypto firms that had invested in or donated to Trump’s ventures.

2. Pardons for Donors

Trump issued pardons to wealthy political supporters and donors, wiping out $1.3 billion in restitution owed to crime victims and taxpayers.

• Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) was pardoned in October 2025 after a chain of transactions that a critic called “the most overtly corrupt pardon in American history.” In March 2025, Abu Dhabi’s state-owned firm MGX invested $2 billion in Binance — paying using USD1, the stablecoin created by the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial, effectively routing state money through a Trump product. The Trump earn $60-$80 million in annual yield on this investment. Binance had also written the code for USD1. Seven months later, CZ was pardoned. CZ, Binance, and the White House all denied any connection.

  • Abu Dhabi was rewarded for their participation. Four days before Trump's second inauguration, Sheikh Tahnoon — Abu Dhabi's national security adviser and chairman of MGX — had the firm spend $500 million to buy a 49% stake in the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial. The Trumps received $187 million from the first installment. Then in March came MGX’s Binance investment. Then in May, Trump traveled to Abu Dhabi and approved the UAE's access to 500,000 advanced Nvidia AI chips annually — a deal the Biden administration had blocked over concerns about China accessing the technology.

• Convicted fraudster Trevor Milton was pardoned after donating nearly $2 million to Trump’s 2024 re-election campaign.

• A nursing home executive convicted of tax crimes was pardoned after his mother attended a $1 million-per-person fundraiser for Trump.

3. White House Ballroom / Pay-to-Play

Trump solicited private donations — some anonymous — to fund a $400 million White House ballroom. More than half the known corporate donors subsequently received new or expanded federal contracts.

• 14 of 27 known corporate donors received new or expanded government contracts totaling over $50 billion after donating.

• Lockheed Martin alone received $43.8 billion in new contracts after donating to the ballroom.

• A no-bid contract for a nearby project was secretly awarded to a firm already working on the ballroom, inflating costs from $3.3 million to over $17 million.

• Extremity Care, a company selling bandages to Medicare at up to $11,000 per square inch, donated $5 million to Trump’s MAGA Inc. super PAC on February 24, 2025. Six days later, Trump publicly attacked a Biden-era rule that would have barred Medicare from covering Extremity Care’s products. Forty days after that, the rule was delayed indefinitely. Extremity Care subsequently donated an additional $2.5 million to the White House ballroom fund.

4. Trump Elder Sons — Defense Contracts

Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump have invested in defense companies that subsequently won government contracts under their father’s administration.

• Don Jr. and Eric invested in drone manufacturer Powerus, which then won a U.S. Air Force contract.

• Eric invested in Israeli drone firm Xtend, which holds Pentagon contracts.

• A Trump Jr.-affiliated company received the largest loan in the history of the DoD’s Office of Strategic Capital — $620 million.

• Trump Jr. helped screen Pentagon job candidates while reportedly checking whether they supported his own investment priorities, including drone spending.

• Don Jr. and Eric’s firm took stakes in a mining company days after it secured $1.6 billion in U.S. government backing for a Kazakhstan tungsten project.

5. Jared Kushner — Saudi Arabia

Six months after leaving the White House, Kushner secured a $2 billion investment from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund for his new private equity firm, Affinity Partners.

• The Saudi fund’s own internal advisory panel objected to the deal as too risky. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman overruled them.

• Kushner had cultivated a close personal relationship with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) while shaping U.S. Middle East policy — including defending Saudi Arabia after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The CIA concluded that MBS approved the murder. Trump has publicly dismissed that finding.

• The House Oversight Committee opened an investigation into whether Kushner’s White House role had enabled the investment.

• As of early 2026, Affinity Partners had amassed $6.16 billion in assets, with 99% of funding from foreign nationals.

6. Qatar — Air Force One

The Trump administration accepted a $400 million luxury Boeing 747-8 from the Qatari royal family for use as Air Force One.

• Ownership of the aircraft will transfer to Trump’s personal presidential library when he leaves office.

• Legal experts called it a clear violation of the Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause, which prohibits accepting gifts from foreign governments without congressional consent.

• Democratic lawmakers opened a formal investigation and demanded legal memos from the DOJ and White House Counsel’s office.

• CNN reported that the Trump administration approached Qatar first to acquire a plane, contradicting Trump’s claim that Qatar spontaneously offered it as a gift.

• Following the deal, Qatar restarted previously rejected talks to purchase U.S. F-35 advanced fighter jets — which had been denied in 2020. Sen. Chris Murphy stated bluntly: “These are … countries willing to pay him off. Every single one is giving Trump money — and they are asking for national security concessions in return.”

7. Kushner / Albania — Environmental Preserve

Kushner’s Affinity Partners is developing a $1.4 billion luxury resort on the Albanian coast within and adjacent to a protected wildlife reserve.

• The development encroaches on the Vjosa-Narta Protected Landscape, home to flamingos, Mediterranean monk seals, and sea turtles.

• Albania passed a special law enabling five-star hotel construction anywhere in the country, including protected natural areas, specifically to facilitate the deal.

• The World Wildlife Fund and over 40 environmental groups condemned the project; bulldozers cleared sea turtle nests before being removed amid protests.

• Albania’s anti-corruption office has opened an investigation into how the permits were granted.

• Thousands of Albanians took to the streets in some of the country’s largest protests in years. (These demonstrations, featuring lots of flamingo images, continue today).

8. Kushner / Serbia — Trump Tower Belgrade

Kushner struck a deal with Serbia’s government for a free 99-year lease on a bombed-out national landmark to build a Trump-branded luxury hotel. The project collapsed in criminal scandal.

• Serbia’s Culture Minister allegedly falsified documents to strip the site of its protected cultural heritage status and enable the project.

• Four Serbian government officials, including the minister, were indicted on charges of abuse of office and falsifying documents.

• Kushner withdrew from the project after the indictments.

• The Trump Organization had already signed on to brand the development, meaning Trump would have directly profited.

9. Foreign Government Payments — First Term

During Trump’s first term, his businesses received an estimated $7.8 million from foreign governments through his hotels and properties.

• Payments came from China, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, India, Turkey, Kuwait, and roughly 20 other countries.

• The D.C. Trump Hotel alone took in $3.7 million from foreign governments — potential violations of the Foreign Emoluments Clause.

10. LIV Golf / Saudi Arabia

Trump’s golf properties have hosted multiple tournaments for LIV Golf, the Saudi Arabia-backed tour, while Trump has shaped U.S. policy toward the kingdom.

• Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund — the same fund that invested $2 billion in Kushner’s firm — has channeled tournament hosting fees to Trump-owned golf clubs.

• Trump hosted a LIV event at Trump National Golf Club in Virginia in May 2026 while serving as president.

11. Foreign Real Estate Licensing Deals

While serving as president, Trump has continued collecting licensing fees from foreign developers building Trump-branded properties in countries whose governments have active business before his administration.

• Dar Global, the international arm of Saudi developer Dar Al Arkan — which maintains close ties to the Saudi royal family — paid Trump’s organization over $20 million in licensing fees in 2024 alone, including more than $15 million routed through a Delaware entity called DT Marks KSA (KSA = Kingdom of Saudi Arabia).

• Since Trump’s return to the White House, Dar Global has announced a $533 million Trump Tower Jeddah and a $1 billion Trump Plaza Jeddah — a second Saudi development — as well as Trump-branded projects in Dubai, Oman, and Qatar.

• Critics note that Trump’s first foreign trip of his second term was to Saudi Arabia, and that he has shaped U.S. policy toward the kingdom while its developers write checks to his family business.

12. Mar-a-Lago Access / Secret Service Billing

Trump has monetized Mar-a-Lago’s access to the president while billing taxpayers for the privilege of protecting him there.

• The membership initiation fee doubled to $200,000 immediately after Trump’s 2016 election; by 2024 it had risen to $1 million — widely seen as selling access to a sitting president.

• Trump’s organization charged the Secret Service up to $1,185 per night per room during his first term — more than five times the standard government rate.

• Trump visited his own properties 547 times during his first term, generating millions in taxpayer-funded billings to his businesses.

13. Campaign Funds Funneled to Trump Businesses

Trump systematically directed campaign and political donations into his own businesses.

• Political committees spent more than $22 million at Trump properties from 2015–2020.

• His 2024 campaign directed millions in donor funds to his aviation company, Mar-a-Lago, and other Trump properties.

• After losing in 2020, Trump raised $250 million from supporters for a supposed “Election Defense Fund” — a fund the January 6th Committee said didn’t exist as described — then used PAC loopholes to redirect over $100 million to pay his personal legal bills. The Congressional committee called it a “big rip-off.”

14. Second Inauguration Fund / Access for Sale

Trump’s 2025 inaugural committee raised a record $239 million — more than double any previous inauguration — with no legal limits on donation amounts and no requirement that donors disclose their interests.

• More donors gave $1 million or more than for any previous inauguration.

• Several major donors were subsequently nominated for government positions or received administration appointments.

• Crypto companies facing active federal investigations donated heavily to the inauguration; multiple investigations were dropped shortly after.

• Watchdog groups described the inauguration as a legal influence market — allowing wealthy interests to purchase access unavailable to ordinary citizens, with no legal limits on amounts and no required disclosure of what donors wanted in return.

15. Trump Media & Technology Group (Truth Social)

Trump owns a majority stake in Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), which runs Truth Social, and has refused to place it in a blind trust.

• TMTG posted losses exceeding $600 million in Q4 2025 alone, with revenue a tiny fraction of its market valuation.

• The company refuses to disclose basic metrics like active users, making independent valuation impossible.

• Critics and watchdog groups allege that corporations and investors with government business have bought TMTG stock as a form of tribute — effectively directing money to Trump with no transparency requirements.

16. The Merchandise Grift

Trump has collected licensing royalties from a stream of branded merchandise, with fine print on each product disclaiming his direct involvement — including products that took customers’ money without delivering goods.

• NFT trading cards: over $7 million in licensing income disclosed. Ethics experts flagged them — like the memecoin — as a potential vehicle for foreign actors to channel untraceable money to the president, since purchases can be made anonymously using cryptocurrency.

• “God Bless the USA” Bible: $59.99, sold alongside country singer Lee Greenwood; $300,000 in royalties disclosed.

• Gold sneakers: $399/pair, unveiled at SneakerCon during his 2024 campaign.

• Watches: ranging from $499 to $100,000, sold under a strict no-refund policy, with widespread customer complaints of non-delivery and ignored refund requests.

• Trump Mobile T1 phone: launched by Don Jr. and Eric Trump in June 2025 at $499, with $100 deposits collected from an unconfirmed but widely reported nearly 600,000 buyers — roughly $60 million. The phone missed every delivery deadline (August 2025, November, December, Q1 2026) and as of spring 2026 no confirmed customer had received a device. In April 2026, Trump Mobile quietly rewrote its terms to state that a deposit “does not constitute a completed purchase,” “does not create a binding legal contract,” and is merely “a conditional opportunity to buy the device if Trump Mobile eventually chooses to sell it.” California Governor Newsom called it fraud. Democratic lawmakers urged the FTC to investigate.

Sources: House Judiciary Committee, House Oversight Committee, Public Citizen, Brennan Center for Justice, PBS, NPR, The Washington Post, Al Jazeera, Accountable.US, CNN, Daily Beast, Snopes, ABC News, CBS News, and others.

This is a partial list. It doesn’t include, for example, doling out contracts to supporters like Musk and helping allies build a media empire as the Ellison family is doing. Further, The Griftfather has plenty of time for more theft (as anyone but SketchierHQ lawyers might call it). He still has 2-1/2 years left in his term.

A penny for your thoughts? Please leave a comment describing your “favorite” grift or to note any Trump escapades you think should have been on the list.

sketchier

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