250 Years of… Trump
Also in this edition: The ball keeps rolling. The U.S. alleges that fuel smuggling is financing Mexican politicians. Mexico should promote taxation of multinational corporations: Ocampo.
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The 250th Anniversary of the United States turned into an ode vanity and business
On Saturday, July 4th, millions of people across the United States will display their national flag and celebrate not only Independence Day, but also the 250th anniversary of the nation's founding. But a visitor to Washington might wonder whether the celebration is honoring America's 250 years, or serving as a tribute to President Donald Trump.
Ten-meter-tall banners featuring Trump's image hang from federal buildings. Government programs for prescription drugs and student assistance carry labels such as "TrumpRX" and "Trump Accounts." Officials have announced that "his triumphal arch" will be built across the river from the Lincoln Memorial. Commemorative $250 bills marking the nation's 250th anniversary will feature the president's portrait, along with some 40,000 commemorative passports. Trump is also the featured speaker at every major anniversary event, including the Independence Day celebration.
Although no one doubts the size of the president’s ego—he makes sure to inflate it himself—behind all the celebration lies a business opportunity, with the festivities being used to promote the Trump brand and generate profits for his family and allies. This week, the president disclosed in his annual financial filing that he earned at least $2.2 billion through his businesses and investments since returning to the White House in January 2025. Trump and his family have launched numerous ventures to capitalize on his presidency, creating what some critics describe as an unprecedented level of official corruption. The New Yorker estimates that the president and his family have earned at least $3.4 billion by leveraging his office since returning to power in January 2025, attracting business investments from the Middle East, Europe, and even Mexico.
The president often argues that he is not profiting from his office, insisting that his only goal is to "Make America Great Again," including by renovating the nation's capital. That is why, he says, he is seeking private donations to fund the renovation of the White House, Fourth of July celebrations, and other patriotic events. But a recent study found that private companies that generously contributed at least $400 million toward the construction of a new White House ballroom were the same companies that, within six months of making those donations, received government contracts worth more than $50 billion.
Everything has become a business opportunity—from contributions to the president's vanity projects, to payments settling personal disputes with companies and universities, to donations made in exchange for presidential pardons. Recently, a deal negotiated by Trump and his Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, opened the door for a company partially owned by the president's two sons to profit from mineral exports from Kazakhstan, The New York Times reported this week. In May, the Pentagon awarded a $620 million loan to a small company to develop a project aimed at reducing U.S. dependence on China's rare earth minerals. But one reason this relatively unknown company was selected for the lucrative contract was that, three months earlier, the president's son, Donald Trump Jr., had become one of its investors. "The call came from the White House; we had to get this deal done," one source explained.
The irony is that, even as the U.S. government accuses its Mexican counterpart, and others around the world, of corruption, American media outlets report that corruption has surged on the U.S. side of the border. The Trump and Lutnick families have ties to at least 14 companies that do business with the federal government in the mining sector, according to a report by The New York Times.
Trump and his associates' business practices are nothing new. For decades, they have relied on intimidation and tactics that are illegal—or of questionable legality—in running their businesses, many of which have ended in spectacular failure. Six Trump-owned companies have filed for bankruptcy. In the past, companies controlled by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick were required to pay more than $50 million in fines for money laundering, misleading disclosures, and other violations.
Amid the festivities of the Great American State Fair in Washington—one of the marquee events marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence—a giant wheel of fortune stands as one of the main attractions, an apt symbol of what Washington has become today.
The Quote:
While people in his new protectorate plead for help amid the tragedy, the head of the White House cartel pocketed more than $2 billion in his first year.
—Rayuela
In Case You Missed It
◻️ Housing for 30 million people in six years in Mexico. The administration's housing policy calls for the construction of 1.8 million homes, 600,000 of which are already under construction; financial assistance for home improvements; the issuance of one million property deeds; and the cancellation or restructuring of 5.1 million nonperforming mortgages. The various components of President Claudia Sheinbaum's housing strategy could benefit as many as 30 million people over the course of her six-year term.
◻️ U.S. accuses fuel smugglers of buying politicians in Mexico. The Trump administration issued a report stating it has detected $7 billion in activities related to fuel smuggling, or huachicol, and claims that part of those funds finance political campaigns and media outlets in Mexico. This accusation is part of Washington’s ongoing pressure campaign against its neighbor, warns Julio Hernández López, who also notes that, according to a new book about the Trump administration, the threat of U.S. military action inside Mexico has so far been restrained due to Mexico’s near-total willingness to cooperate with Washington.
◻️ 53% of Mexicans trust the federal government. A survey by the OECD shows that more than half of the country’s population has high or moderate trust in the Mexican federal government. However, three out of four people consider crime to be one of the country’s main problems, the highest rate among all members of the organization of advanced economies.
◻️ Mexico should promote multinational corporate taxation: Ocampo. “Mexico can present itself as a spectator of rules written by others, or as a protagonist in the first truly global and democratic fiscal architecture,” writes former Colombian Finance Minister José Antonio Ocampo. He urges the government to participate in UN negotiations on a Convention on International Tax Cooperation.
◻️ Earthquake shakes a Venezuela already damaged by U.S. sanctions. “To understand what is happening in Venezuela after the twin earthquakes, it is necessary to place the tragedy in its economic and social context,” reports Ángel González from Caracas. Venezuela has spent years with a public health system that has not been able to reach optimal conditions after 11 years under U.S. sanctions, which led to a reduction of more than 90 percent in the budget for public health and education (with 80 percent of the budget allocated to social welfare programs).
◻️ Trump’s “strong-arm capitalism”: Stiglitz. “The Republican Party is giving tacit support to Trump’s strong-arm capitalism, a model that bears no resemblance to the rules-based market economy that conservatives once defended,” explains Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz. Instead, he argues, “the United States is now heading down the same path as Russia and China.”
◻️ The lives of immigrants in sanctuary spaces. In the climate of fear experienced by immigrant communities, there is an oasis of calm—perhaps fleeting given what is happening outside—inside churches and temples, spaces of resistance captured by photographer Cinthya Santos Briones.
🎥 What We Are Watching
Hermann Bellinghausen discusses the struggle over a poets’ house on El Pulso de La Jornada.
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Edited by David Brooks and Jim Cason in the United States, Tania Molina Ramírez in Mexico City, of La Jornada, and Elizabeth Coll in Tokyo, under the direction of Carmen Lira Saade and Guillermina Álvarez. More information.