Trump’s heist in broad daylight

{"text":[[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":7.35,"text":"There is nothing cryptic about Donald Trump’s endorsement of cryptocurrency. "},{"start":11.404,"text":"Four years ago, he said bitcoin was a “scam”. "},{"start":14.572,"text":"Now he wants to make America the “crypto capital of the world”. "},{"start":17.914,"text":"To see that as a U-turn is to miss how Trump works. "},{"start":20.857,"text":"The second statement follows naturally from the first. "}],[{"start":24.729999999999997,"text":"On Sunday, Trump said that five cryptocurrencies would be included on the US Federal Reserve’s balance sheet. "},{"start":30.758999999999997,"text":"America’s “crypto reserve” would include bitcoin, ethereum and three others (solana, cardano and XRP) that caught investors unawares. "},{"start":39.277,"text":"Whether David Sacks, Trump’s “crypto and AI czar”, whose investment firm has stakes in all five, was also surprised is a question for the Securities and Exchange Commission. "},{"start":48.443999999999996,"text":"Each surged in value following Trump’s announcement. "}],[{"start":52.239999999999995,"text":"A few hours later, Trump scrapped America’s chief anti-money laundering measure — the rule that US shell companies must disclose their beneficial owner. "},{"start":60.331999999999994,"text":"The second move also flowed from his first. "},{"start":62.861999999999995,"text":"Last month, he shut down the Department of Justice’s anti-kleptocracy initiative, which has been seizing assets such as mega yachts from sanctioned Russian oligarchs. "}],[{"start":71.91,"text":"The most striking aspect to these steps, which amount to a charter for criminals, is that Trump is making little attempt to dress them up. "},{"start":79.089,"text":"This pig has no lipstick. "},{"start":80.982,"text":"Trump and his wife Melania have launched their own memecoins. "},{"start":84.22399999999999,"text":"Trump’s alter ego, Elon Musk, is also a heavy crypto investor. "},{"start":88.50399999999999,"text":"Indeed, there is a non-cryptic clue in Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), which shares an acronym with a cryptocurrency. "},{"start":96.15899999999999,"text":"One of Musk’s nicknames is “Dogefather”. "}],[{"start":99.44,"text":"No matter how chaotic Trump’s flurry of actions, a bright thread holds them together. "},{"start":104.294,"text":"France’s Louis XIV first summarised it as: “L’État, c’est moi. ”"},{"start":108.949,"text":"Trump might update that to: “The State — it’s me (and Elon for now). ”"},{"start":113.467,"text":"The planned launch of a crypto reserve is more transparent than most; the Fed would serve as backstop for investors in a speculative asset with no obvious use value except to criminals and the dark web. "},{"start":123.78399999999999,"text":"It will be an insurance floor for billionaires, including the Trump family. "},{"start":127.814,"text":"If crypto’s value falls, the Fed can step in and buy more. "}],[{"start":132.57,"text":"It is even harder to find a public value for anonymous limited liability companies. "},{"start":137.349,"text":"Complying with the Treasury anti-money laundering regulations involved filling in short forms and legally signing off. "},{"start":143.47899999999998,"text":"Trump claimed the rules were a “disaster for small businesses nationwide”. "},{"start":147.49699999999999,"text":"Better-informed FT readers might suggest a legitimate business that would disguise its ultimate ownership. "},{"start":152.87699999999998,"text":"I cannot think of one. "},{"start":154.40699999999998,"text":"It is worth recalling that a Reuters investigation in 2017 estimated that a third of the units in Trump’s Florida towers were anonymously owned. "},{"start":161.849,"text":"It also found that Russian passport holders had invested at least $98.4mn in Trump’s seven luxury-branded Florida towers. "}],[{"start":170.35,"text":"It gets worse. "},{"start":171.829,"text":"Musk’s Doge operation aims to cut public spending by rooting out waste, fraud and abuse. "},{"start":176.947,"text":"His declared savings do not yet add up to a decimal rounding error. "},{"start":180.689,"text":"But Doge’s hit to US regulatory capacity is already significant. "},{"start":184.54399999999998,"text":"Thousands have also been fired from the Internal Revenue Service. "},{"start":187.94899999999998,"text":"If Doge’s goal was fiscal efficiency, it would be doing the opposite. "},{"start":191.72899999999998,"text":"For every dollar invested in tax collection, the IRS yields at least five in return. "},{"start":196.84699999999998,"text":"Ordinary taxpayers have their income deducted at source. "},{"start":200.014,"text":"Musk, whose company Tesla has paid no federal income taxes in two of the last three years, employs people to ensure collection day never arrives. "}],[{"start":209.05,"text":"The Washington landscape is littered with regulatory agencies in turmoil. "},{"start":213.342,"text":"But Musk’s impact on the Federal Aviation Administration deserves special citation. "},{"start":218.00900000000001,"text":"Without public bidding, Musk’s Starlink seems to be looking to take over the FAA’s air traffic control system. "},{"start":224.05200000000002,"text":"In the absence of Musk identifying waste, fraud and abuse, here is an example. "},{"start":228.769,"text":"A hostile takeover of the FAA by Starlink would be an abuse of power that involves probable waste and is quite possibly a fraud on the US taxpayer. "},{"start":236.674,"text":"It could also put air passengers in danger. "}],[{"start":240.11,"text":"The idea that Trump is “flood[ing] the zone with shit” no longer makes sense when his actions all point in one direction. "},{"start":246.389,"text":"Even his foreign policy is driven by acquisition, whether that be turning the Gaza Strip into a Middle Eastern riviera, buying Greenland or taking Ukraine’s mineral resources. "},{"start":255.46900000000002,"text":"Trump’s crypto move threatens a similar predation on the US taxpayer — as do Musk’s conflicts of interest. "},{"start":261.16200000000003,"text":"All of this is occurring under America’s nose. "},{"start":263.829,"text":"Trump has subverted the role of the public servant. "},{"start":266.509,"text":"The US state now serves him. "}],[{"start":268.47,"text":""}]],"url":"https://d33mkcasurz97s.cloudfront.net/album/195416-1741098620.mp3"}