Allegations that Donald Trump offered a $1 billion quid pro quo to oil barons sickened a New York Times writer Saturday — but not as much as the lackluster reaction the news received.
New York Times writer Jamelle Bouie described an event at Mar-a-Lago in April in which Trump reportedly left gathered oil execs “stunned” when he suggested he’d slash environmental regulations if they raised $1 billion to get him back in the White House.
"I’m obviously angered by the blatant disregard for the planet and its inhabitants,” Bouie wrote.
“But I’m also struck by the in-your-face brazenness of Trump’s reported quid pro quo. This is more than the hint of corruption; it is the overpowering scent of the rotting corpse of corruption. It is influence trading of the sort that would embarrass a Boss Tweed or a Roscoe Conkling, whose “honest graft” came with at least the pretense of pursuing the public good.”
The Washington Post reported that Trump had, "Vowed to immediately reverse dozens of President Biden’s environmental rules and policies and stop new ones from being enacted, according to people with knowledge of the meeting, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a private conversation."
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But, Bouie said, even worse than Trump’s reported conversation, was the fact that it wasn’t immediately career ending for him.
“Even more striking than Trump’s corruption, however, is the fact that we seem to be completely unfazed by the fact that the former president has apparently offered to sell his prospective administration to fossil fuel interests,” he wrote.
“That might be because, from the beginning of his term to its end, Trump was a font for corruption while in office. His hotel, located just down the street from the White House, was a clearinghouse for anyone who wanted to buy a favor. His daughter and son-in-law may not have accomplished much as presidential advisers, but they walked away from the administration with upwards of hundreds of millions of dollars in new wealth.
“And six months after leaving the White House, Jared Kushner secured a $2 billion investment from a fund led by the crown prince of Saudi Arabia.
“If Trump’s latest instance of corruption isn’t a campaign-ending scandal, it may be because it is nothing new. Trump is corrupt to his bones and now that appears to be as noteworthy as the weather.”
