Glory to Ukraine!
Glory to the defenders of Ukraine and the entire modern civilization!
Today in the issue:
- Briefly about some recent news
- Speech by Democratic Senator Adam Schiff in the Senate: Trump’s corruption is unparalleled in American history.
▶ There is a lot of news, none of which, however, has a direct major impact on what is happening around us.
On Friday, Trump halted strikes on Iran, continuing to seek a way out of the deadlock in the labyrinth he drove himself into by deciding to start a war with Iran. The Strait of Hormuz is blocked by Iran. The Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, as it can be understood, is also practically blocked by Iran’s proxy force – the Yemeni Houthis. Oil prices are rising. Fuel and energy prices in the United States are rising. Against this backdrop, the decisive stage of the election campaign begins – a little more than 3 months before the Congressional elections.
Volodymyr Zelensky is going to the US for Senator Lindsey Graham’s funeral and a meeting with Trump. Ukrainian TV hosts ask whether this will help bring closer the resumption of negotiations with Russia and the end of the war. The only way to force Russia to agree to stop the war is by striking its resources. Military strikes – hits on its oil, gas, and military-industrial complexes, strikes on the most critical components of its economy that Ukraine is delivering. Russia may agree to stop the war only if it has no resources to continue the war and simultaneously maintain social stability. The United States can facilitate this by renewing aid to Ukraine, tightening sanctions against Russia, and not taking steps in favor of Russia. This is likely what the talks with Trump will be about.
Hypothetical negotiations with Russia while military actions continue cannot be peace negotiations, as similar negotiations held so far have not been. At such talks, the most that can be agreed upon is a prisoner exchange. Peace negotiations can only take place after a ceasefire, which does not require negotiations to achieve. Mutual consent by the parties to cease fire is needed. Peace negotiations can happen after a ceasefire (as they did between Israel and Egypt in 1973-1978, leading to a peace treaty), or they may not happen at all (as was the case between Israel and Syria after the October 1973 ceasefire or between North and South Korea after the 1953 ceasefire).
At the White House on Friday, a correspondence dinner disrupted in April by an assassination attempt on Trump took place. The 47th president graced the journalists with his presence and delivered a speech lasting over an hour, which lacked originality. Presidential speechwriters and he himself have long stopped distinguishing between the president’s speeches at rallies before his supporters in stadiums and at official domestic and international events. It suffices to cite one passage from the 47th president’s speech. He dedicated a special section of his speech to California Governor Newsom, whom he apparently regards as the main Democratic candidate for the 2028 elections, calling Newsom “a man with a low IQ.”
▶ However, the main event of the past week seems not to be all this, but the speech by Democratic Senator Adam Schiff in the Senate on Thursday, July 23, with a 45-minute address dedicated to the unprecedented corruption in U.S. history – the corruption of the 47th president.
Schiff’s speech is substantial. I highly recommend those who read or understand English to read the original on Senator Schiff’s official website or watch the recording of his speech on YouTube.
Here, I would like to provide a translation of the main points from the senator’s speech. What Schiff talks about is the quintessence of the 47th presidency: corruption, personal enrichment, actions in personal interests and the interests of family businesses, involvement in this corruption of large American companies, foreign companies, and foreign governments.
Here is the translation of the main fragments of Senator Schiff’s speech.
“Over a year and a half ago, with his hand on the Bible and taking the oath, Donald Trump swore to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution.
He did not fulfill this primary promise. Instead, he has focused all his attention on a completely different mission since then – preserving, protecting, and multiplying his family’s wealth.
The payments to the president and his family amount to enormous sums. The scale of using official position for personal gain is simply mind-boggling.
And you don’t have to take my word for it. Two weeks ago, the president presented his annual income report – a document signed under the threat of legal liability. It states that just last year his income exceeded $2.3 billion. $2.3 billion – that’s how much the president earned in just one year. Impressive.
This is three and a half times more than he declared the year before. It turns out that either he became a much more successful businessman by becoming president, or he is using his position for personal enrichment through corruption. The same can be said about many members of his family.
Exposing this corruption is the first and necessary step to ending it. This is important in itself: public officials should not enrich themselves at the expense of the public.
But rooting out corruption is crucial for another reason: the cost of corruption is an economy that does not meet the urgent needs of Americans; an economy that does not provide housing accessible to the average family, or the opportunity to get higher education without harming the future, or quality and affordable healthcare, or food that does not undermine the family budget.
When the president is fixated only on the personal wellbeing of his family, on the money that can be earned by abusing power, and on his own vanity projects – whether it’s gilding the White House, statues, or a ballroom – he has very little time and desire to deal with the problems of ordinary Americans. They become secondary, and the country suffers from this.
This is the true cost of corruption.
So today, I will tell you about the ten main ways this president has turned the Oval Office into a source of personal income.”
“Let’s start small. By ‘small’ I mean $23 million.
Since his election, the Trump family has earned at least $23 million by granting rights to use the Trump brand abroad. A hotel in Oman. Towers in India. Golf courses on the outskirts of Riyadh and Doha.
These are just a few of the more than twenty international projects the Trump Organization is currently involved in. Many of them require assistance from foreign governments. And here’s the peculiarity when you need help from foreign governments, and you are the President of the United States:
These governments will want something in return. They will want you to treat them favorably.
All these countries want something from the United States of America: military protection, American nuclear power plants, technologies, artificial intelligence chips—anything. They need something from our country. And they are investing in Trump family projects not out of the kindness of their hearts. They expect a return—and, to the great detriment of U.S. national security interests, they get it.
Consider just one example from Southeast Asia. The administration agreed to reduce tariffs threatening Vietnam, but only after the Trump Organization began constructing a $1.5 billion golf complex near Hanoi. A complex that Vietnamese officials expedited, ignoring their own regulations.
Such blatant “quid pro quo” (or, more accurately, “cash for access”) schemes are unfolding in one country after another.
What is the cost of this corruption? Our national security suffers when the President sells advanced chips to one of the Gulf states—not because it serves our interests, and not because these chips aren’t needed by our own artificial intelligence companies to remain competitive, but because the President or his family members received compensation for it. Our country is harmed when the President makes national security decisions based on financial considerations beneficial not to the state, but personally to him.”
“The ninth item on our list is arguably one of the most absurd media lawsuits ever to go to court. After Vice President Kamala Harris gave an interview to the show ’60 Minutes’ during the presidential campaign, Trump filed a lawsuit against CBS, accusing them—believe it or not—of ‘election interference.’
What was the essence of the claim?
That CBS allegedly edited the interview to make Harris appear in a more favorable light.
Reminder: most extended television interviews are edited. That’s the nature of television.”
“CBS deemed the lawsuit unfounded. The President had no legal grounds to sue simply because he disliked the editing of someone else’s interview. It’s absurd. According to the First Amendment, the network has the right to make such decisions independently.
Nevertheless, CBS agreed to pay the president $16 million. Why? Not because they feared losing in court—they understood perfectly well that Trump’s lawsuit had no prospects. No, CBS opted for the payment because the channel’s parent company, Paramount Studios, was planning a merger with Skydance in a deal worth $8 billion. What were $16 million compared to an $8 billion deal?
And it didn’t stop at the $16 million payment. Skydance also committed to spending an additional $20 million on ads and social videos supported by the president. The total amount reached $36 million—money the president essentially extorted, using his influence (the threat to derail the merger deal) for personal gain.
What does this corruption cost you? If you work in the entertainment industry, it might cost you your job, as the merger was approved on a corrupt basis, without considering potential job cuts, and was carried out not for your benefit.
The eighth point is a “three-in-one” story: Twitter, YouTube, and Meta. In total—$60 million. Trump’s accounts on these platforms were blocked due to his actions related to inciting the Capitol riot. He filed lawsuits. And one by one, the companies settled—paying him personally and supporting his favorite projects, like the “Golden Ballroom.”
Twitter—now the social network X, owned by Elon Musk—settled the dispute by paying $10 million. This despite the fact that a district judge had earlier dismissed the case, and the appellate court openly expressed doubt about its merits. Nevertheless, they paid. And what was the president’s reaction? He appeared on television complaining that the amount was insufficient and too small—claiming he “expected to receive much more money.”
YouTube paid $25 million. With rather inventive accounting, $22 million of this amount was directed specifically to the “Golden Ballroom” project in the White House. We will discuss this ballroom a bit later. The company Meta—the owner of Facebook and Instagram—also settled claims by paying $25 million.
As an additional bonus, they transferred another million to Trump’s inauguration fund.
So, to sum up this point. The president sues these platforms because they refused to spread his false election claims and incitement to insurrection. Using the leverage given to him by the presidential office—the ability to help their business or harm it—he extorts $60 million from them.
This is a kind of loyalty program based on disinformation: except the reward goes to the president, while the rest of us receive new doses of false statements and unreliable information, the social harm from uncontrolled social networks, and — potentially — new calls for violence around the elections. Such is the cost of this corruption.
Moving on to point number seven—again about the family business.
Amazon made a $40 million deal with First Lady Melania Trump to create a documentary about her life before and during her time in the White House.
Furthermore, Amazon separately contributed another $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund.
However, of these $40 million, the First Lady herself received $28 million.
The wide release of this film grossed only $16 million, earning it an honorable 68th place among the 2026 releases.
Amazon paid the Trump family $40 million for it. Why? Because Amazon is vying for huge government contracts worth billions of dollars. What are $40 million paid to Melania when the company is bidding for a federal cloud computing contract that is hundreds of times more expensive? A multi-billion-dollar contract.
So, while families across the country struggle with the rapid rise in food prices, the First Lady receives $28 million for a documentary about… herself.
But more importantly: in the end, we pay Amazon billions under government contracts, even though the company may not be the best option for American taxpayers. The contract amount may not be competitive compared to other companies’ offers, and Amazon itself may not turn out to be the best bidder.
Number six.
Just a day before taking office, Donald Trump launched a meme coin called $TRUMP. A meme coin is a kind of “joke” digital currency. However, Trump saw this as an opportunity for personal enrichment – to the tune of about $635 million.
And what about those on the other side of this deal? More than 810,000 people collectively lost $2 billion. These 810,000 people – mostly supporters of the President himself who bought this meme coin – lost money so that the President could earn hundreds of millions of dollars. But that’s not all. Worse was yet to come. Trump organized a private dinner for the largest holders of his meme coin. Investors were informed that they had two and a half weeks to buy enough $TRUMP to qualify to attend. He essentially organized a public auction where the lot was access to the President: buy Trump’s meme coin and get a chance to dine with him. Where? In his own private club in Virginia. And who was among the guests? A crypto billionaire accused by the SEC of fraud. Notably, just a few weeks before that very dinner, the SEC, led by Trump appointees, asked a judge to halt this case. And in March this year, the case was finally closed – dismissed without the possibility of reopening – with the company paying a fine of only $10 million, without admitting guilt. And this is the crypto billionaire who invested about $75 million in the Trump family’s crypto projects.
The fifth point on the list is one of the most audacious schemes in presidential history: a pompous, opulent White House ballroom adorned with gold and gilding. The President actively sought increasingly larger donations for this favorite project of his, costing an astronomical $600 million.
This is a monument to his vanity costing $600 million, built by people who need something from the government. And paid for by you – the taxpayers. Because contrary to the President’s promise not to spend a cent of taxpayers’ money on this “golden hall,” you ultimately paid about $300 million of this amount. Promises made, promises broken, and it’s the taxpayers who have to pay.
I tried to get answers from the White House regarding this hall. I asked who these private sponsors are, how much they donated, and what dealings they have with the federal government. And what did they answer?
Not surprisingly—no answer. They don’t want to say anything. They don’t want to be transparent. They want to hide all this from the American people.
But we know that there are at least 37 sponsors. Among them are Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Coinbase, Tether, Caterpillar, Lockheed Martin, T-Mobile, and others.
Two-thirds of these sponsor companies have received federal contracts totaling $279 billion over the past five years. And fourteen of them are either under federal investigation or have pending legal proceedings for violations of the law.
Let’s clarify: companies under federal investigation (many of them) write a check to build the presidential hall—and their legal issues disappear or their number of contracts increases. And sometimes both happen.
Trump even told these sponsors that they would be the first guests in the finished hall—“if I continue to treat you well, which I’m sure I will.”
What does that mean? Keep paying, and I’ll continue to treat you well.”
“The fourth point is a gift that keeps costing more and more.
A luxurious $400 million plane, “gifted” by the Qatari government for use as Air Force One until the end of Trump’s presidential term.
And after that?
It will belong to Trump’s personal museum fund. It stays with him! He took his first flight on this aircraft just a few weeks ago.
And while the president insists the plane was given to him “for free,” converting it to function as Air Force One—specifically, installing security systems—may cost American taxpayers up to $1 billion.
A billion dollars. For this “free” plane. Which will remain his property. Paid for by you—the taxpayers—and his generous friends in Qatar.
And let’s not pretend that nothing is expected in return. Trump himself stated that the US ensures Qatar’s safety—and “will continue to do so.”
He also explained that only a “foolish man” would refuse a “free, very expensive plane.” Only a fool would decline it. Could he have refused such a gift?
So, a foreign government presents the president with a $400 million plane. We pay a billion in taxes to make it operational. He keeps it upon leaving office. And if you think this is corruption, then in his view, the fool is you.
This is not a gift to America. It’s a gift to Donald Trump, paid for by American taxpayers and given by a foreign government that now has considerable leverage over the president.
The same foreign government whose sovereign fund is investing in the construction of the Doha Trump International golf club—with luxury villas and a world-class 18-hole golf course.
The cost of this corruption: U.S. foreign policy and our national security interests in the region are now shifted towards a country that gives the president exorbitantly expensive gifts or executes real estate projects in partnership with his family.
This does not mean putting America first—on the contrary, it finds itself last, far behind the interests of his family and his personal pursuits: planes and golf courses.
In the next, third point, the figures are simply staggering.
After a flurry of executive orders targeting the legal community, nine major law firms made deals with the administration, promising to provide free legal services (“pro bono”) worth nearly a billion dollars to eliminate emerging threats. Threats to undermine their clients’ interests, deny lawyers access to classified information (which would make representing other clients impossible), and threats of negative attitudes towards mergers, government contracts, or lucrative deals in which these clients are interested.
Of course, this money did not directly go into the president’s bank account. It’s a benefit he extracted: legal services worth nearly a billion dollars were redirected to the causes he supported; firms complied, fearing the consequences of refusal.
And who led these negotiations? It is reported that it was Boris Epshteyn—the president’s personal attorney. Not a government official, but a private individual who allegedly extorted funds from America’s largest law firms on behalf of the administration.
$940 million obtained through exerted pressure. And firms, unwilling to defend their stance, too easily agreed to these terms. This is modern racketeering.
What is the cost of this corruption? Law firms are forced to abandon representing clients whose goals might conflict with the president’s interests. One day, you could be such a client. Companies lose the ability to receive legal assistance because lawyers are afraid to cross a vengeful president. One day, your business might be such a company.
Now, let’s move on to the two main points.
World Liberty Financial. The “cash cow” of the Trump family.
The company in which the Trump family holds about a 75% stake.
The sale of tokens generated over a billion dollars for the family. A single deal with the sovereign fund of the United Arab Emirates brought in $500 million for this project. The deal was made by a wealthy sheikh who also heads the intelligence service of his country. What could possibly go wrong here? In return, they received advanced American AI chips—just what they needed. Coincidence? I don’t think so. And if you think otherwise, I have a ballroom to sell you.
But the scheme doesn’t end there.
The Trump family also has the right to interest from the reserves backing their stablecoin; this income is constant, growing every day, and tied to the U.S. dollar. Unlike a meme coin, this is real money.
Over $1.5 billion. And the amount continues to grow.
Over one and a half billion dollars are flowing to the president’s family through a financial instrument they control, which was launched while he occupies the Oval Office.
This is not a side business. And it’s not a blind trust.
The President of the United States is using the power and prestige of his office to funnel money into a project he owns and profits from daily.
Now think about what one of the family’s business partners received in return. The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, helped turn the World Liberty stablecoin from a small project into one of the largest in the world: first by securing $2 billion in investment from Abu Dhabi’s state fund in the “Trump coin,” then by integrating it into the exchange’s own trading systems.
And for this, the Trump family collects interest from every dollar.
And what did the founder of Binance receive? He was convicted of money laundering and awaited consequences. Until the president pardoned him last October. Supporting the family business with foreign funds, paid for by a presidential pardon.
What is the price of this corruption? Questionable deals benefiting convicted fraudsters. U.S. foreign policy up for sale to whoever from the Gulf states bids the most. The country spends less time, attention, and resources on reducing your costs, improving your quality of life, and bringing prosperity back to America.
And this brings us, ladies and gentlemen, to point number one. The main “trump card.”
This concerns the president’s agreement with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the $1.7 billion “black box.” The scheme’s essence is this — and here we must credit the president’s audacity: he files a lawsuit against the IRS — an agency headed by his appointee, with interests represented by the Department of Justice, also led by his appointee. His lawyers file the suit, and his lawyers defend against it. Essentially, he is suing himself.
And, unsurprisingly, he makes a deal with himself for an astronomical sum. He receives something akin to an “indulgence” from the IRS: he won’t be audited or investigated regarding any past tax fraud or underpayment incidents involving him, his children, his business, or his business partners. It is estimated that this deal is worth up to $100 million personally for the Trump family.
This is a sham agreement, acknowledged as such by a federal judge who called it a result of a lawsuit filed solely for improper purposes, and a deal born from collusion and abuse of power in its worst form. But this is just the beginning. Relief from $100 million in tax claims is only the first step.
The agreement also effectively hands the president control over $1.776 billion of taxpayer funds; he can use them as a personal fund for payments to friends and allies claiming to have suffered. Among these “victims” are individuals who violently attacked law enforcement officers on January 6.
The people who attacked the police on January 6 were granted a presidential pardon on the very first day of his administration. But for them and the president, this was not enough. They want to receive money for their rebellious actions, and the president is ready to pay them using your tax contributions. Imagine: your taxes are going to pay those who assaulted the police.
Besides the fact that this fund and its beneficiaries evoke deep moral disgust, it is incredibly costly. He wants to direct almost two billion of your money—your taxes—to fund this payout program to those who attacked the police. Not for public needs but as a financial reserve under his control to reward those loyal to him—those willing to use violence on his behalf.
Congress and the courts have forced the acting Attorney General, appointed by Trump, to temporarily abandon the use of this fund, but the president himself has not backed down from his plans. He still intends to pay money to his close associates and aides, and the administration is seeking other ways to deplete the treasury for the same goal, using different Department of Justice funds.
Taxpayer money turned into a means of personal patronage by the president.
There is a special term for governments that take state funds and distribute them to their friends.
And that word is not “republic.”
The cost of this corruption is immeasurable. In addition to embezzling billions of your money, it is also a reward for those who seek to overturn the results of free and fair elections. If such actions inspire others to do the same in future elections, the price you may have to pay could be exorbitant—we risk losing our very democracy.
So, let’s tally up.
- Overseas Licensing: $23 million
- Lawsuits against media: $36 million
- Settlements with tech giants: $60 million
- Amazon and Melania: $40 million
- Meme Coin: $635 million
- White House ballroom: $600 million
- Plane from Qatar: $400 million
- Major law firms: $940 million
- World Liberty Financial: $1.5 billion (and growing)
- Concessions from the IRS and “black fund”: $1.7 billion and $100 million
Totaling $6 billion. And, dear compatriots, these are only the ten largest expense items.
This does not include Trump wine sold in Coast Guard stores. It doesn’t account for Don Jr.’s club aimed at executive authorities. It doesn’t include the Trump resort in Qatar or the Trump hotel in Belgrade. Nor does it account for the $2.6 million invested by Don Jr. in a drone company that — purely by chance — just received a contract from the military. And it doesn’t even include all of the president’s own stock market transactions.
According to the report submitted by the president himself, in just the first three months of the year, he executed 3,642 transactions. That’s 58 transactions every trading day. The total volume of operations amounts to three-quarters of a billion dollars. Just think: the person who is supposed to manage the country is instead managing a stock trading terminal.
And what a trader he is! On January 6 of this year, he bought shares of Nvidia, and just a week later, the Department of Commerce approved the supply of Nvidia chips to China—a deal promising the company $50 billion in profit. In February, he bought even more Nvidia shares. A week later, the company announced a grandiose deal with Meta.
What are the chances that transaction after transaction would perfectly coincide in timing with two decisions known only to his administration?
And these are just the deals we know about.
Nobody has better characterized this unprecedented level of corruption than Vice President J.D. Vance. Recently, speaking to an audience, he stated that if the Watergate scandal happened today, it would be talked about for at most twelve hours.
Just think about it! If the president had ordered a break-in at the Democratic Party headquarters, planted bugs, paid for witness silence, involved the CIA to disrupt an FBI investigation, and lied about it to the entire country—J.D. Vance claims that today this would be just a fleeting episode in the news stream.
He tells us—the Vice President tells us—that the corruption of the Trump regime (his own regime) is so pervasive and has been so successfully normalized that Nixon’s actions in comparison would seem harmless and old-fashioned. Congratulations, J.D. You have turned outrageous corruption into normalcy. Great job. You certainly have something to be proud of.
After Watergate, Congress passed a series of reforms aimed at limiting the opportunities for presidential corruption in the future. These measures included limits on campaign financing, mechanisms to protect the Department of Justice from presidential abuse, new control systems over the intelligence community, the creation of inspector general institutions to combat fraud, and much more.
Now it’s our turn—the turn of the current generation—to initiate a new set of reforms to counter much larger manifestations of lawlessness and corruption.
This week alone, I introduced three more bills aimed at addressing conflicts of interest, preventing individuals convicted of fraud from working in government bodies, and tightening legislation on bribery among public officials. In the coming weeks and months, we must develop and propose the most effective laws capable of curbing the worst manifestations of human nature.
But we must also remember an important truth: no laws—no matter how well-conceived—and no Constitution—no matter how perfect it may seem—can protect our lives, liberty, and well-being if elected officials are unwilling to uphold their oath, recognize the truth, or put the country’s interests above their own party’s interests. Laws alone will not be enough.
“We have a president accepting the gift of a plane worth $400 million. Can you imagine what the Founding Fathers would have thought about this?
We have a president receiving over a billion dollars from a cryptocurrency company controlled by his family, largely funded by foreign interests. The Founding Fathers understood: accept the first gift, and the second comes easier, then the third — and soon you are making decisions not based on what is best for the country but considering those who have shown generosity when you are president.
Colleagues, the White House has become a marketplace, and the presidency — a shady family business. Each of these deals — we know of dozens, and surely there are many more we don’t know about — raises serious questions about the influence of foreign governments, the buying and selling of American politics, American justice, and American democracy itself.
This happens every day. Our democracy is weakening. Our institutions of power are discredited. The presidency is degraded. And you are paying for this — out of your own pocket. Out of your pocket.
But here’s the thing: the Founding Fathers not only warned us about corruption but also gave us tools to fight it. They gave us a free press, capable of investigating and exposing abuse. They ensured the separation of powers so that no branch could become almighty. We, in this chamber, have the power to stop this. If only we choose to use it.
And most importantly, the Founding Fathers created a government representing the people. Who hold the power, the final say. And we all will have to demand a better future. Vote for better. Refuse to see the current state of affairs as normal, inevitable, or the only possibility. A history lasting just 12 hours.
Our history is not 12 hours but 250 years. It’s the story of a country that began as an incredible experiment where people believed they possessed enough virtue for self-governance and did not need the rule of a despot; a country where justice and truth matter, where decency—the most ordinary human decency—matters.
This is the story of our country’s birth. And this can be the story of its future if we are willing to fight for it.”
910 days remain until the end of the story titled “Fear: Trump in the White House” © (the title of Bob Woodward’s book, published in 2018).
Thank you to everyone who read. Take care of yourselves and your loved ones. Take care of each other, help each other. Health to all.
Ultimately, what happens in the world depends on us. On whether we fight evil, do good, remain mere observers, wait passively and believe that someone somewhere will decide for us, or fight evil and do everything possible for Good to prevail.
We must not allow evil to prevail. The victory of evil would mean the end of the world we live in. This we cannot allow. Especially now.
Ukrainian friends, I embrace and love you all. Take care of each other, I ask you very much.
Ukraine is and will always be.
And evil will be defeated and punished. And this is certain.
P. S. The next detailed news release from the USA will be on August 12. I’m planning to spend time with my family and engage in some scientific activities. Thank you all for your understanding.
In any case, political life in America usually takes a pause in early August.
But if there are any breaking news events before then, I will report them briefly. Or make short video releases on my YouTube channel “Pohlad from America.”
