Tag: transactional politics

Trump Supports Bad Values Worldwide

Buck Banks

“It appears that Trump does care about the internal character of regimes he deals with. Rather than following a foreign policy that ignores values altogether, Trump has a clear preference for values that are, in the American context, historically anomalous or—to put it in less neutral terms—bad. And he wishes to spread those values around the world. … Whatever you say about this policy, it is not amoral. The primary difference between the Trump doctrine and traditional American values promotion is that the former, rather than seeking to impose a moral world order, aspires to create an immoral one.”

— Jonathan Chait

Have Yourself a Trumpy Little Christmas

Buck Banks

$$$

Washington Post: “It’s a little late for this year’s celebrations, but you can get a very early jump on next year and count down with the $38 Trump Advent calendar. Or trim the tree with a $95 Mar-a-Lago bauble or a $16 MAGA hat ornament, sold in nine colors. (A glass version of the hat ornament is $92.) Stuff stockings with an $86 ‘GIANT Trump Chocolate Gold Bar’ and a $22 pair of candy cane socks printed with ‘Trump.’ Prepare a holiday feast with a $14 Trump Christmas tree pot holder and $28 Trump apron featuring Santa waving an American flag. … The profits from these holiday trinkets do not benefit a political committee or a charitable cause, but the Trump Organization, the Trump family’s privately owned conglomerate of real estate, hotel and lifestyle businesses.

Musk Nets World’s Largest Quid Pro Quo

Buck Banks

$200 billion

“Elon Musk’s net worth has climbed by more than $200 billion in 2024, a massive increase in the same year that the world’s richest person spent at least $277 million backing Donald Trump and other Republican candidates,” the Washington Post reports. “The bulk of the increase, more than $170 billion, has come since Election Day.”