Almost four years later Donald trump moved into the White House, there are a number of things that we expect from the administration, of which incompetence, chaos and self-operation are actually quite predictable. The president can be expected to spend a significant portion of his day tweeting incomprehensible attacks on people deemed disloyal. We can expect that Stephen miller will be actively hatch unique ways to make immigrant life hell. And we can expect that, if the opportunity arises, Trump and his children will do everything in their power to profit from the presidency, no matter how transparent and corrupt it is.
So really, it was only a matter of time before we learned that businesses owned by Trump and his son-in-law’s family were receiving millions of dollars in pandemic relief loans. Or that despite the fact that the money was largely intended to prevent employees from being fired, only a handful of employees at companies owned by Trump and Kushner were kept on the payroll. Through NBC News:
Trump, of course, chose not to quit his business on becoming president, and continues to profit from it – profits that have been well boosted by his insistence on accommodation foreign rulers in its properties, defraud the secret service, and impose on taxpayers for the water he drinks in Mar-a-Lago, among others. Kushner, with Ivanka, made at least $ 36 million last year, largely thanks to his stake in his family’s real estate company. (In 2017, the duo reported income of at least $ 82 million, so times are obviously tough.)
In addition to revealing loans to Trump and Kushner companies, PPP data showed ridiculous mismanagement of the program, with over 100 loans going to unnamed companies listed and other companies appearing to play with the system for loans ranging up to $ 10 million through their affiliates.