This is an adapted excerpt from the Aug. 17 episode of “Velshi.”
When The New Yorker’s David Kirkpatrick set out to determine just how much Donald Trump and his family have profited from his time as president, experts told him the exact figures were unknowable. So Kirkpatrick crunched the numbers himself, and the scale he reported is staggering: Since entering the White House in 2017, Kirkpatrick says the Trump family has reportedly reaped an astonishing $3.4 billion.
According to Kirkpatrick’s new report in The New Yorker, the profits stretch across the entire Trump family network. Much of this wealth would have been unimaginable without the presidency. A $2 billion Saudi investment flowed into Jared Kushner’s firm, Affinity Partners, while Emirati and Qatari investors contributed billions more, as recently as last year. (Kushner has denied that investments in his company represent a conflict of interest.)
It’s a fundamental rewiring of what public service means.
As Kirkpatrick notes, after doing the math, it’s reasonable to assume that Kushner could personally pocket between half and two-thirds of Affinity’s fees over the next 10 years.
There’s also the luxury jet given to the president by the emir of Qatar, which Trump has said will be donated to his presidential library after he leaves office, and at least five separate crypto ventures marketed with Trump’s name and political brand. But that’s just scratching the surface.
Start with Mar-a-Lago. Once a $100,000 club, Trump began sharply raising the initiation fee after the 2016 election. Kirkpatrick notes that, as of last fall, it was set to increase to a whopping $1 million. Kirkpatrick estimates Mar-a-Lago alone generated at least $125 million in additional profits directly tied to Trump’s political rise.
Then there’s Trump merch. He’s the first presidential candidate to run a private online store funneling supporters’ money straight into his pocket. Kirkpatrick reported that nearly $28 million has flowed in from MAGA hats, sneakers, picture books and even that infamous “God Bless the USA” Bible.
Don’t forget all those legal bills. Under U.S. law, campaign funds can’t cover a candidate’s personal expenses — but political action committees can. According to Kirkpatrick, Trump found a loophole by using PACs as his own personal piggy bank for funding his lawyers. By Kirkpatrick’s estimate, more than $100 million in supporter contributions have gone to defending Trump against lawsuits and criminal charges.
When you add up the money from Mar-a-Lago, merch and money spent for legal fees by PACs, Trump has reportedly raked in about $253 million — and that’s before you count the foreign money. From Kushner’s money from the Saudis, to steady business from gulf monarchies and foreign governments such as Vietnam, Trump’s businesses have become influence pipelines for despots and states eager to win him over. “The claims that this President has profited from his time in office are absolutely absurd,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to The New Yorker. Leavitt said Trump had actually sacrificed “hundreds of millions of dollars” by choosing to serve as president and not work on his businesses full time. It’s a fundamental rewiring of what public service means. Once upon a time, Americans worried about politicians being bought. Under Trump, the most powerful office in the country is up for sale. But it doesn’t stop at self-enrichment. As The Wall Street Journal reported, Trump is reshaping the U.S. economy into something that looks like “state capitalism with American characteristics.” Like in China, it’s a system where the state — or in this case, Trump — rewards friends and punishes enemies. The president has steered billion-dollar deals, pushed out CEOs and, as the Journal points out, extracted $1.5 trillion in investment pledges from Japan, the European Union and South Korea, which he claims he will personally direct, though no legal mechanism for doing so appears to exist.
Ali Velshi is the host of “Velshi,” which airs Saturdays and Sundays on MSNBC. He has been awarded the National Headliner Award for Business & Consumer Reporting for “How the Wheels Came Off,” a special on the near collapse of the American auto industry. His work on disabled workers and Chicago’s red-light camera scandal in 2016 earned him two News and Documentary Emmy Award nominations, adding to a nomination in 2010 for his terrorism coverage.
Amel Ahmed
Amel Ahmed is a Segment Producer for "Velshi."
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW.
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