Donald Trump claimed he would drain the swamp. Instead, he built a toll booth at the entrance and made everyone pay to get in.
A major new report from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington shows that 20 out of 23 Trump Cabinet members gave at least $35 million to Trump’s campaigns, super PACs, and inauguration fund before getting their government jobs.
If you were wondering why these people got the jobs, you don’t have to wonder anymore. This isn’t a Cabinet. It’s a pay-to-play scam.
Leading the list is Education Secretary Linda McMahon, a former wrestling executive who decided the best way to get her hands on America’s public schools was to write a $20 million check to Trump-aligned super PACs.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick gave over $10 million. Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler and her husband contributed $3 million. Marco Rubio, Tulsi Gabbard, Scott Bessent, Pam Bondi, and dozens of others also opened their wallets — either directly or through committees they controlled — to fund the man who would later decide their futures.
Veteran political analyst Larry Sabato said bluntly: “There’s just never been a presidency like this.
He has made Nixon look great.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s personal net worth has nearly doubled since becoming president — from $3 billion to $6.5 billion, according to Forbes.
Hotels, crypto schemes, commemorative coins, Bibles, red hats, and campaign money all flow into the same wealthy system. The Emoluments Clause of the Constitution was created to stop this kind of corruption. Nobody in this administration seems to have read it, or if they did, they know the Trump Justice Department will never charge them.
But here’s the twist that makes this even more shocking: the report also names the three Cabinet members who didn’t give Trump a single cent.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. CIA Director John Ratcliffe. And — wait for it — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
That’s the same Pete Hegseth whose broker was caught trying to invest millions in defense stocks right before the Iran attack.
The same Pete Hegseth who has been Trump’s most embarrassing cheerleader, calling him a military genius on live TV while reportedly running the Pentagon like a college fraternity.
Hegseth didn’t buy his way in.
So, he’s been paying in sycophancy ever since. Turns out there’s more than one way to kiss the ring.
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