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I have heard people say that Trump is the most corrupt President in U.S. history. I have also heard people say that they are all corrupt. Well, I thought I would ask that question, and here are the results. It lists them by the timeline of their service, with the first being Ulysses S. Grant. Grant's presidency was marred by the Whiskey Ring Scandal, which involved Treasury officials stealing tax revenues, as well as other major corruption cases stemming from poor oversight. Next, there was Warren G. Harding, who was infamous for the Teapot Dome Scandal, in which senior officials accepted bribes from oil companies in exchange for access to federal oil reserves. Then there was Richard Nixon and the Watergate Scandal, including illegal surveillance, campaign dirty tricks, and abuse of executive power. Next comes Ronald Reagan and the Iran-Contra affair and the HUD Scandal. Who can forget the trading of weapons through Iran to the Contra Rebels to bypass congressional oversight? We have George W. Bush and Iraq War profiteering, where there were alleged contracts that benefited insiders and Halliburton ties. Then comes Donald Trump 45 with his Emoluments, obstruction, pardons of political allies, self-dealing, and a broad pattern of flaunting the law and ethical norms. Multiple sources rate his administration as the worst for integrity and corruption in modern U.S. history.

Now we come to Trump 47, and even after just 8 months, we can tell that this is going to be by far the most corrupt presidency in the history of our country. The first thing Trump did was pardon all of the domestic terrorists who stormed the Capitol on January 6th, 2021, to try to stop the U.S. Congress from performing their constitutional duties. These terrorists injured over one hundred police officers as they tried to defend the Capitol. According to Transparency International and expert commentators, the U.S. fell to its lowest ranking ever on global corruption indexes after Trump’s return to power. He already has financial scandals while dismantling watchdog oversight and suspending key anti-bribery laws. Legal analysts say major anti-corruption efforts have been disbanded, and enforcement of laws like the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been paused. Seasoned DOJ officials have been replaced by loyalists, and career specialists have been ousted, indicating an active effort to suppress or ignore corruption investigations. Election integrity and transparency measures have been rolled back in efforts to undermine voting rights and target officials involved in safeguarding prior elections. This administration is already being compared to the most corrupt presidencies of Harding and Grant. Trump's presidency is only after 8 months already near the top of the most corrupt in history. It is showing multiple signs of systematic self-dealing, deliberate weakening of accountability measures, and ongoing scandals across numerous areas of the administration.

Let's look at a department breakdown first, starting with the Department of Justice. There has been a 94% purge of lawyers in the Public Integrity Section, whose task is to investigate government corruption. Only two remain. The FBI’s congressional misconduct squad was dismantled. The Department of Justice reversed sections of its Justice Manual on campaign finance and corruption enforcement. The Department of Justice dropped a corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams to secure his cooperation on immigration enforcement. A judge called it a “breathtaking” political bargain. Basically, the Justice Department will not be protecting the country from corruption from the Trump administration or the Republican controlled Congress.

The Executive Office of the President has weaponized Law Enforcement, publicly demanding the prosecution of political enemies, including James Comey and Adam Schiff, while appointing loyalists to key prosecutorial roles, whether they were competent or not. Trump has declared war on anyone who criticizes him or his administration. Nearly every Republican member of Congress convicted of a felony in the past 15 years received a pardon. He has ignored Due Process, which is a staple of the Constitution, and has even murdered Venezuelans in International Waters, even though we are not at war with Venezuela. He has attacked free speech with a vengeance, suing papers and demanding late-night entertainers be taken off the air, and then bragging about it. The abuse of power is so apparent that there is no hiding it.

In the State Department, more than half of the ambassadorships are vacant. Diplomats report being cut out of policy decisions and fear retaliation for dissent. Loyalty metrics now affect promotions. Far-right influencers have reportedly pressured officials to suspend visas and fire Muslim diplomats. If a Muslim on a student visa exercises their right to free speech, the State Department says they will be automatically deported. We have been abandoning our traditional allies and partnering with the countries that want to destroy America. Here again, we see the Trump administration attacking free speech and the Constitution.

Through the writings of executive orders instead of working with Congress, he has triggered chaos and widespread litigation, including challenges to civil rights violations and contract terminations. Judges have blocked several of Trump's directives and criticized the Department of Justice because their decisions are politically motivated and not motivated by the law. What we have now is government by chaos and litigation. Trump said that he wanted to be a Dictator and that is what he has done from day one with his writing of executive orders.

Trump has stated that because of him, the United States is respected today by the world. I searched what the Europeans think of the Trump Presidency, and they think Trump is the most corrupt U.S. President. Recent European commentary overwhelmingly associates Donald Trump with the most Corrupt U.S. President. They are often referencing both his personal financial gain while in office and the unprecedented conflict of interest that has broken the American Political norms. Analysts such as Anne Applebaum have argued that the scale of boldness of  Trump’s self-enrichment and disregard for institutional checks is unprecedented in American History, often drawing comparisons with other corrupt regimes in other parts of the world. European journalists and scholars regularly cite Trump’s conflicts of interest, foreign business dealings, and self-enrichment as the “most corrupt” President in the modern era.  Comparisons are often made to Nixon and Watergate, but experts note Trump’s focus on financial gain and the weakening of oversight make his case distinct from past political scandals that were more about political power. Political podcasts and panels featuring prominent European and American thinkers reinforce Trump’s reputation as both uniquely corrupt and as having undermined the accountability typically demanded in the U.S. government.

I can’t help but feel America is at its lowest point since the Civil War. Trump has divided the nation, and it will remain divided even after Trump is gone.  A nation without oversight and accountability is a nation in decline. This is not only on Trump, but it is also on the entire Republican party that refuses to hold Trump accountable.

 

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