[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 81 (Wednesday, May 14, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2910-S2913]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Trump Family

  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. President, today, I want to talk about ``The Art of 
the Deal'' because Donald Trump has been busy making deals. Not his 
promised trade deals. Those are heavy on promises but very light on 
actual deals. Not any deals in Congress to lower costs for the American 
people. That could make it easier to afford a home or to buy groceries. 
In fact, with fewer cargo ships arriving at our ports and our closest 
allies and neighbors boycotting American goods, the President has done 
nothing but make your life more difficult. Medicaid is under attack. 
Social Security offices are closing by the dozens. Food assistance, 
rental assistance, energy assistance--all on the chopping block. There 
is no end to the destruction.
  The first 114 days of this administration have been one bad deal 
after another for American families, but if your last name is 
``Trump,'' these 114 days have been just about the greatest deal of all 
time: new airplanes from your friends in the Gulf, new hotel deals, new 
golf courses, new meme coins, new towers. New income is flowing into 
the Trump family. You name it--Donald Trump and his family are cashing 
in.
  So, today, I want to highlight just a few of those deals for the 
Trump family, how he is lining his own pockets and fleecing the rest of 
us in the process, how his family is getting even richer while the rest 
of us are treated like suckers.
  Today, I want to talk about the 10 best deals for Donald Trump and 
the worst deals for the American people, how the graft is on full 
display and how you, the American people, are being left holding the 
bag. You don't have to look far from the White House to find some of 
the most flagrant examples.
  Entering in at No. 10 of the top 10 deals for Donald Trump and the 
worst deals for the American people, we only need to look at the south 
lawn. We all saw this happen on the White House grounds--Donald Trump 
and Elon Musk turning the place into a Tesla showroom. But what you 
might have missed is what happened before and after this photo was 
taken.
  Just before Trump turned the White House grounds into a used car lot, 
Tesla stock had been in a historic and disastrous slump. With their 
market value cut in half since December, Musk needed a jolt to his 
ailing company, and he got it.
  When the President was asked whether his symbolic purchase of a Tesla 
at the White House might help the company's stock, Trump said:

       I hope it does.

  But that wasn't all because the best part of the deal for Donald 
Trump took place after the Teslas had been driven away and the cameras 
had been packed up. Not long after the special livestream on X or 
Twitter had ended, something even more important happened. With Tesla's 
shares on the rebound, Elon Musk promised to pump $100 million into 
Donald Trump's political operation. That is right. Donald Trump 
received one of the largest political contributions in American 
history, all for the price of one measly Tesla Model S and the use of 
the White House as a salesroom--a damn good deal for Donald Trump, if 
you ask me. For you, the American taxpayer, nothing at all. Zero. 
Zilch. Nada. All you got was being taken for a ride.
  For No. 9 of the best deals for Donald Trump, we have to zoom down to 
Mar-a-Lago, where you can generally find the President golfing on your 
dime and lining his pockets in the process. We saw this during the 
first Trump administration, but at that time, he was still finishing 
the front nine.
  During his first term, Donald Trump made an astounding 473 trips to 
his own golf courses while in office, but this term, he seems 
determined to go for the club record. In just his first 100

[[Page S2911]]

days, Donald Trump spent over a quarter of those days while in office--
a quarter of those days while in office--golfing. Wouldn't you like a 
job like that, where you get to play golf every 4 days? Pretty sweet.
  Through market collapses, Donald Trump was out on the golf course. 
Through national crises, Donald Trump was out on the golf course, 
enjoying the golden age in his golden golf cart, playing the back nine 
while you struggled to pay your rent or your mortgage.
  That is bad in and of itself, that the President of the United States 
is spending so much time, when there are so many challenges facing 
American families, out on the golf course, but that is not even the 
worst of it, because guess who is paying for all that golf? You are. 
You are--the American people, the taxpayer. That is right. All those 
drives and those chip shots, all those slices and those hooks, all the 
missed putts--you are paying for every hole.
  This term, reports suggest he spent well over $30 million in taxpayer 
funds on these golfing trips. That is your tax dollars at work, ladies 
and gentlemen. And it is not just the use of these taxpayer funds that 
is a travesty; it is that these taxpayer dollars go to benefit him 
directly. His golf courses and his hotels charge the U.S. Government to 
pay for the Secret Service agents and other White House staff to play 
golf with him or to accompany him on his rounds--to rent golf carts, to 
have meals.
  In other words, your tax dollars are going to the Trump Hotels and 
golf course organizations directly. If you are interested and wealthy 
enough, Mar-a-Lago memberships will cost you a cool million or more, 
where you can hobnob with the President and his family and see if you, 
too, can get any special deals from the Federal Government.
  Don't spend all your money at the Trump golf courses because there is 
a movie that you are going to want to save some money to rent because, 
well, someone has to watch it. Coming in at No. 8 of the top 10 deals 
for the Trump family is Melania's new documentary. On January 6 of this 
year, Amazon announced a new documentary coming soon. An 
``unprecedented, behind-the-scenes look at First Lady Melania Trump.'' 
Get this, Amazon will be paying out $40 million to the Trump family to 
license the documentary.
  OK, so let me just say that again. Amazon is giving $40 million in 
cash to his family--the Trump family--to license this documentary--
direct cash into the pockets of the Trump family.
  But, apparently, they are still looking for more. Melania's agent has 
been trying to sell sponsorships for the film, starting at $10 million 
to prominent CEOs and billionaires who were at the inauguration. In 
return for your sponsorship of this Melania documentary, buyers will 
get thanked at the end of the credits and be invited to the premiere.
  Reportedly, Trump interests are also pitching Hollywood for a show 
about Don, Jr.'s time outdoors, a hunting show. Seriously, who wouldn't 
want to see it? Might be like watching Dick Cheney go hunting again.
  If you are looking for a way to get in good with the Trump family 
that doesn't involve golf or TV shows or buying a Tesla at the White 
House, they are offering another great solution. At No. 7 of the top 10 
deals for the Trump family during this Presidency, we have the Trump 
family's new private club. As part of their crusade to refill the 
swamp, the Trump family is opening a private club right here in 
Washington, DC. It will be called ``The Executive Branch.''
  I wish I was kidding.
  Much like the Trump Hotel in the first administration, it will serve 
as a gathering place in the Trump world and a way to directly pay 
homage to the President in the form of champagne and caviar and checks 
to his business endeavors and those of his kids. For a cool $500,000 
membership fee, you, too, can schmooze with people wheeling and dealing 
within the administration. There is, perhaps, no more appropriate image 
of the Trump Presidency than this. ``The Executive Branch'' club is an 
invite-only club for insiders or investors and billionaires who 
directly line the pockets of the first family, sending a message as 
clear as day to anyone who wants to do business in the United States: 
If you want to be with Trump, you have to pay the cover charge.
  Now entering in at No. 6 of the top 10 deals for Donald Trump, of his 
Presidency, a brandnew Trump Hotel in Dubai. Right now, literally at 
this moment, Donald Trump is in the United Arab Emirates. You can 
imagine the scene: standing in some gold-plated hotel room looking out 
over Abu Dhabi; and just beyond the line of sight in the distance is 
the skyline of Dubai, a skyline that, as of a few weeks ago, is likely 
getting a new feature cutting through the night sky--the Trump 
International Hotel and Tower Dubai, an 80-floor behemoth.
  Within it, luxury residences and exorbitantly expensive hotel rooms, 
apartments that start at a cool $2 million, and penthouses that will 
cost tens of millions of dollars. Even better, if you can't make the 
Trump new club here in DC, there will be an exclusive members-only club 
right there in Dubai that's, in their words,'' set to redefine the 
meaning of ``exclusive luxury.'' All benefiting--that is right--Donald 
Trump and his family.
  Now, their ventures in the Middle East don't start or end in Dubai. 
Entering in at No. 5 of the best deals for Trump and the Trump family 
of his Presidency, they are cashing in, this time, in Qatar.
  Coming soon to Doha, the Trump International Golf Course. This is 
going to be an 18-hole course, a clubhouse and high-end villas with 
beach access. A $5.5 billion deal--billion with a ``b''--set to net the 
Trump family hundreds of millions of dollars. A deal that is reportedly 
in partnership with Qatari Diar, a company owned by, in this case, the 
Qatari Government itself.
  I am sure Qatar's multibillion-dollar investment in the personal 
finances of the Trump family is entirely coincidental. I am sure it is 
not intended to influence U.S. policy towards the country, which also 
hosts al Jazeera, in any way.
  I know it is easy in all the Trump corruption and schemes to miss the 
forest for the trees, but let's not fail to appreciate just how 
unprecedented this is, just how corrupt and dangerous this is. The 
President's namesake company is directly in business with a foreign 
government. And the money is going into his pocket--not the Treasury, 
not in your pocket as a taxpayer. It is going into Donald Trump and his 
family's pocket--his.
  But that is not the only Gulf nation in business with the President 
and his family--not by a long stretch. There is also Saudi Arabia. 
Because entering in at No. 4 is the newly announced Trump Tower in 
Jeddah and their brandnew projects in Riyadh. These will net the Trump 
family millions as well.
  This isn't the first time the Trump family has cashed in with the 
Saudis. Months after Trump left office the first time, Jared Kushner's 
investment firm received a $2 billion investment from none other than 
the Saudi Crown Prince; a deal that was so shady, even the panel that 
screens investments for the Saudi wealth fund recommended against it. 
Imagine that. But they were overruled by higher-ups in the Saudi royal 
family, and the money went straight into the Trump family's 
enterprise--$2 billion.
  But it is not just Donald Trump and his family that are cashing in at 
your expense. The world's richest man is using his role, too, as a 
special government employee to cash in as well, because even when you 
are the world's richest man, as Elon Musk is, enough is never enough.
  Entering at No. 3 are Elon Musk's shady Starlink deals. Elon Musk, 
when he is not tweeting or firing essential government workers, is 
turning his company Starlink into a global superpower. How? By using 
the sway of his position and his proximity to Trump to negotiate a 
whole raft of deals with foreign nations to purchase his Starlink 
satellite systems.
  Just look at what happened with the nation of Lesotho located in 
South Africa. Donald Trump slapped crippling tariffs on the country. In 
hopes of a trade deal, they came to the table, and that meant coming to 
Elon Musk's table. To understand this best, I want to read verbatim 
from a leaked internal State Department memo:

       As the Government of Lesotho negotiates a trade deal with 
     United States, it hopes that

[[Page S2912]]

     licensing Starlink demonstrates goodwill and the intent to 
     welcome U.S. businesses.

  As the Government of Lesotho negotiates a trade deal with the U.S., 
it hopes that licensing Starlink demonstrates good will and intent to 
welcome U.S. businesses.
  This is from the State Department's own cable, in black and white. It 
is just pay to play. To get out from under the tariffs that Trump 
imposed on Lesotho, that country is going to buy Elon Musk's satellite 
system. Wow. Pay off Trump's machine, and maybe you will get a trade 
deal.
  And, of course, it isn't just the poor country of Lesotho. In 
February, Elon Musk met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 
Blair House, a government building just steps from the White House. The 
meeting was private, but the results were very public. Shortly after 
the meeting, India announced two Starlink distribution deals--millions 
into Musk's pockets negotiated steps away from the White House.
  Since then, since the imposition of these tariffs, since the need of 
other countries to come in and to negotiate tariffs away with the Trump 
administration, Elon Musk has reached deals with Somalia, the 
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Vietnam.
  And that is just what we know about so far. But I promise you, this 
will not be the end of it. It is among the most obvious, egregious, and 
dangerous acts of corruption in American history. Want out from under a 
tariff? Make a deal with Elon Musk and Starlink.
  And they are barely trying to hide it, which brings us to No. 2 of 
the top 10 deals for Donald Trump as President and the top 10 ways the 
American people are ending up holding the bag, because Qatar isn't just 
investing in a new Trump Tower at home. The Qatari Government is also 
gifting the President a new Air Force One, an aircraft so opulent that 
they are calling it a ``sky palace,'' a palace in the sky, a $400 
million gift for Donald Trump that taxpayers will have to pay to debug.
  You can imagine all the national security implications of getting an 
airplane with all of its electronics and all of the venues you could 
hide eavesdropping equipment. You can imagine what would be necessary 
to debug an aircraft like that. It will need to be retrofitted and 
upgraded to meet the standards of an Air Force One. It will cost 
taxpayers a fortune.
  And their plan--the Qatari's plan--is to give the plane to the Trump 
Presidential Library before Trump's term ends. That way, the President 
can keep using it as he pleases; that way, Donald Trump, in addition to 
his own private plane, in addition to Air Force One--which he is very 
upset with because it is a few decades old and, you know, it just 
doesn't have the amenities that Donald Trump has come to expect--he 
gets to keep this palace in the sky.
  While American airports are in crisis--air traffic controller 
shortages, radar blackouts, massive delays, and surging prices for you 
the passenger--this is what the President of the United States is 
focused on: not bringing down airfare for you, not dealing with those 
luggage fees and all the hidden costs when you buy airplane tickets.
  No, that is not what the President of the United States cares about. 
This is what he cares about: He cares about getting a $400 million gift 
from the Qataris, which he calls a nice gesture, giving a whole new 
meaning to the term ``nice gesture.'' I kind of associate ``nice 
gesture'' with maybe someone picking up the tab at Chipotle or maybe 
giving me a ride instead of having to take an Uber somewhere. For 
Donald Trump, a nice gesture is a $400 million palace in the sky that 
he gets to keep or make use of when he is no longer President.
  Never mind that the gift violates the Constitution's prohibition on a 
President receiving gifts or emoluments. Never mind that it violates 
the Constitution that seems to be of little concern to the President.
  But the fact is, the Qataris are not stupid. They are going to want 
something for that $400 million plane. There is no such thing as a free 
lunch. There is no such thing as a free $400 million plane. And that is 
something that the Qataris are going to want is favorable U.S. policies 
towards Qatar in the Middle East. They didn't want something for that 
plane. Maybe they would have given it to you or somebody else not named 
Trump. This is, in fact, why we have a clause in the Constitution that 
prohibits gifts like this, because we want to know that the President 
of the United States is acting on our behalf, on our country's behalf, 
on our national security behalf, our interests, not some foreign 
interest that gave them a $400 million gift. And if you really believe 
that Trump won't return the favor when the time comes--when the Qataris 
want something that may or may not be in our national interest--if you 
really believe that Trump won't return the favor when that time comes, 
then I have got a 747 palace in the sky that I would like to sell you.

  But that is not even the most corrupt deal of the 114-day-old Trump 
Presidency because, coming in at No. 1 of the top 10 best deals for 
Donald Trump and the worst deals for you, the taxpayer, is Donald 
Trump's crypto scheme.
  You have heard about the meme coin by now. This is, I think, the logo 
of the meme coin--the President's most brazen cashing in, a corrupt 
effort that has already made him and his family billions of dollars 
between its soaring values and the trading fees. Now, this meme coin 
has gone up and down in value, but the thing is, every time it gets 
traded--every time it is bought or sold--this guy gets a cut. He gets 
the fees that are estimated already in the value of hundreds of 
millions of dollars. It is like posting his Venmo account online: 
inviting personal monetary tributes from foreign powers, foreign 
investors, or anyone else who is willing to pay up.
  You have heard about the private dinner that they are offering 
associated with this meme coin. The top 220 meme coin owners--many of 
whom are foreign investors--are invited to a private dinner with the 
President of the United States. Businesses are buying and jockeying to 
be one of the favored few who will also get a private audience with him 
if they are willing to buy millions of meme coins, not to mention 
receiving a personal tour of the White House.
  But beyond the meme coins and the dinner parties, there is something 
else also brewing behind the scenes. As I speak, Eric Trump and Don, 
Jr., are getting into the action--jetting around the world and building 
their own financial empire in the crypto business space. In Dubai, the 
Trump family's World Liberty Financial firm announced a joint venture 
capital firm, backed by the government of Abu Dhabi, that would invest 
$2 billion using Trump digital currency.
  Now, I know it is hard to keep all of these billions apart. You have 
got the $2 billion investment in Jared Kushner by the Saudis. You have 
got a $5.5 billion investment by other Gulf nations in Trump 
properties. When you have got $2 billion here, $5.5 billion there, and 
another $2 billion here, pretty soon, you are talking about serious 
money for the Trump family. This deal alone will generate hundreds of 
millions of dollars of revenue and fees for the Trump family.
  So that is ``the art of the deal'' with this President. Trump gets 
rich. You get screwed over and over and over again.
  It is obvious to anyone who looks, but it bears repeating: He does 
not care about you. He does not care about making your life better. He 
does not care that prices are soaring or that homeownership seems 
impossible. He doesn't care if you have to choose between rent or 
groceries, let alone whether you will be able to take that family on a 
vacation that you have dreamed of. He doesn't care if the healthcare 
you rely on gets cut or your local Social Security office closes down. 
He doesn't care. If it helps pay for his billionaire tax cuts, it is 
all the same to him. He does not care.
  Trump cares about one thing and one thing only. It is the same thing 
he cared about when he wrote this book, and it is the same thing he has 
focused on every day of his Presidency: deals to make himself richer, 
to make his family richer, to make his billionaire friends richer. And, 
my colleagues, he is succeeding. He is succeeding beyond his wildest 
imagination. He will likely make more money in the next 4 years than he 
did in his entire life up to that point. In fact, he probably already 
has with new, gold-plated skyscrapers around the world and a suite of 
new

[[Page S2913]]

golf courses to match a fancy, new plane; a speedy, new Tesla with the 
richest man in the world in the passenger's seat; a crypto empire; and 
projects around the world that will keep the gravy train going for 
generations.
  No matter what wreckage he leaves behind here, he knows that he can 
head off to one of those gold-plated skyscrapers, look down on the rest 
of us, and chuckle at his good fortune: ``the art of the deal,'' 
indeed--for Donald Trump, not for you.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sheehy). The Senator from Oklahoma.