Trump’s ‘pay-to-play’ politics fuel a ‘new gilded age’, experts say

Major donors reap influence and material benefits, ethics experts argue, as money and governance intertwineDonald Trump’s “pay-to-play” governing and fundraising style is helping forge a new gilded age where many super rich donors to Trump’s Maga Inc Pac and other top Trump causes are reaping big political and financial gains, including lax regulations, federal contracts and other benefits, say scholars and analysts.The transactional style of the US president has been a financial boon to cryptocurrency, AI and fossil fuel interests, among others, which have showered seven- and eight-figure donations on Trump’s Super Pac, inaugural committee and pet projects such as his oft-touted mammoth White House ballroom. Continue reading...