Perspective from the 19th Hole is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write. I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf. The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie. And it is where you want to be on a golf course.
The answer to the question in this blog headline is starting to become “yes,” even as voting continues in the mid-term election.
So much so that the Washington Post started a weekend story this way, under this headline: “The corruption election: Democrats link Trump’s wealth to voters’ economic pain.”
“Candidates are painting the president and Republican incumbents as enriching themselves while ordinary Americans struggle to make ends meet.
“Last year, a super PAC dedicated to electing House Democrats asked voters something that would shape the midterm cycle: Did they blame greedy corporations or corrupt, out of touch politicians for their economic problems?
“The answer: Politicians, by a 2-to-1 margin.
“The finding helped make corruption a central line of attack in the party’s campaign to regain control of Congress, fueling advertisements in battleground states across the country. Tying corruption to voters’ economic malaise, Democrats learned, gave new potency to a criticism of President Donald Trump that the party had struggled for years to make stick.”
Of course, the easy answer on corruption is that Trump is guilty of it in spades.
The Atlantic Magazine joined the fray with these paragraphs:
“An interesting thing has popped up in opinion surveys over the past couple weeks. A Fox News poll finds that corruption is the top issue for voters, edging inflation, gas prices, and health care.
“CNBC gets the same result: ‘Voters are now more concerned about government corruption than any other issue, including high grocery and gas prices, according to the final CNBC All-America Economic Survey.’
“The Financial Times has similar findings: ‘About 69 per cent of registered voters, and almost 50 per cent of those who voted for the president in 2024, said they were ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ concerned about ‘corruption, self-dealing or conflicts of interest’ in the Trump administration.’”
Of course, Trump, the epitome of a narcissist, won’t back down, apparently believing that what are described as “corrupt dealings” only to serve to solidify his standing with his MAGA base.
Relaying again on Google, I cite the following examples of Trump corruption where he blends holding the high office of the presidency with personal and family enrichment.
Key areas of corruption and self-dealing
- Cryptocurrency and digital ventures:
- Trump and his family generated over $1.4 billion in profits from cryptocurrency projects like World Liberty Financial and related digital assets.
- Critics and congressional trackers note that crypto investors and executives — including figures facing federal scrutiny — have funneled large sums into these ventures around the time of regulatory settlements or policy shifts.
- Foreign gifts and deal-making:
- The administration faced constitutional Emoluments Clause challenges over high-value foreign gifts and investments, including a luxury Boeing 747-8 jet gifted by Qatar and a $2 billion investment into World Liberty Financial by an investment firm linked to the United Arab Emirates.
- Stock trading and alleged insider trading:
- Financial analysts and the Brennan Center for Justice have highlighted Trump’s extensive stock trading while in office, noting that he bought and publicly praised shares in companies — such as Boeing, Palantir, Oracle, and Nvidia — directly impacted by his executive actions, trade trips, and federal contracts.
- Pardons and legal interventions:
- Watchdogs tracking executive clemency report instances where high-profile individuals or corporate founders received pardons or dropped federal investigations after their companies or families made significant financial contributions or took steps that benefited Trump-linked ventures
- Civil fraud and asset valuation:
- In a major civil fraud case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, a court ruled that Trump and the Trump organization deliberately inflated and deflating property values (such as Mar-a-Lago and Trump Tower) to secure favorable bank loans and insurance terms.
Atlantic Magazine adds this:
“If an anti-corruption message does carry Democrats to victory in the House, and perhaps in the Senate, it will also point to how they might use Congress over the next two years. Even if they win both chambers, they will have little ability to enact policy — including actions that might help bring prices down. But a House majority alone would have investigatory power and could use its reach to delve into Trump-administration actions that threaten both rule of law and voters’ pocketbooks.”
For my part, I hope there is a way for Trump to pay a price for his rampant corruption. He has soiled the presidency beyond the realm of reason and common sense.
