Trump's second presidency has faced unprecedented conflicts of interest, self-enrichment, and allegations of corruption unrivaled in American history from historians, legal experts, and federal judges.
His administration has faced widespread allegations of insider trading and raised conflict of interest concerns due to business dealings by Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and his cabinet. Trump's grants of pardons and clemency have favored political allies and loyalists, with several given after millions in donations or fees. Trump has proactively solicited donations from companies and individuals following which favorable regulatory actions and decisions have occurred. Trump has maintained an active stock market account with thousands of trades totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. Trump has directly benefited by soliciting his own memecoin $TRUMP and benefitted from his family's cryptocurrency company World Liberty Financial which has received investments by anonymous individuals and foreign governments. As of his July 2026 financial report, Trump made over $2.2B in 2025 compared to $622M in 2024, of which $1.4B came from his family's cryptocurrency business. Trump has received an unusually large number of expensive gifts, such as a $400M jet from Qatar or gold bars, which some scholars view as a violation of the emoluments clause of the Constitution.
Trump's second term has been described by political commentators as having fewer prohibitions on business activity and guardrails against potential conflicts of interest than his first, and for having more opportunities to directly influence Trump. Trump repealed and rolled back anti-corruption measures and ethical standards for himself and his allies, dropped corruption charges against political figures with ties to him, and fired inspectors generals investigating fraud and abuse. The New York Times described Trump as making up statistics "out of thin air", and for accusing government agencies and "anyone he disfavors of corruption and even criminality without proof". His second presidency was described as breaking with decades of ethical norms, and raising substantial corruption concerns. Congressional Republicans have largely downplayed or ignored the concerns.
Federal judges found many of the administration's actions to be illegal and unconstitutional, and by mid-July, a Washington Post analysis found he defied judges and the courts in roughly one third of all cases against him, actions which were described by legal experts as unprecedented for any presidential administration. His defiance of court orders and a claimed right to disobey the courts raised fears among legal experts of a constitutional crisis. An August 2026 Reuters/Ipsos poll found a majority of Americans believe that Trump and his family "have inappropriately profited from cryptocurrency since his return to power and that his policy decisions are influenced by his private business dealings".
Background
Pardons and commutations
Trump had issued nearly two thousand pardons and commutations including for some prosecuted during his first presidency. His grant of pardons outpaced those of prior presidents. Trump's pardons and grants of clemency favored political allies and loyalists. Lobbyists have told the Wall Street Journal and other news outlets that fees of $1M are standard. Some would-be pardon recipients have offered success fees of $6M for a successful application.
Trump frequently bypassed the Office of the Pardon Attorney, and on March 7, 2025, fired its leader, Department of Justice career attorney Liz Oyer, and installed political loyalist Ed Martin in the role. Ed Martin described the rationale for granting pardons as "No MAGA left behind". In April 2025, Oyer testified to the Senate and accused the Justice Department of "ongoing corruption" and that "the leadership of the Department of Justice appears to value political loyalty above the fair and responsible administration of justice". In 2025, Trump pardoned 42 people charged with white-collar crimes. As of late January 2026, he had pardoned an additional 10 white collar criminals. In April 2026, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump "repeatedly promised his top administration officials pardons before he leaves office". In June 2026, a Reuters investigation found 96% of clemency grants failed to meet longstanding Department of Justice guidelines for such requests, that they were based on partisan and personal criteria, and that there was evidence of payments being used to solicit them.
Trump was the first president in modern American history to issue pardons for businesses, and by July 2026 had issued nine and wiped out $200 million in penalties, some of which was destined for victims of wrongdoing. Bloomberg highlighted the case of HDR Global Trading, which owned crypto platform BitMEX and was the first company pardoned instead of a natural person. On January 15, 2025, BitMEX was fined $100 million for violating anti-money laundering laws after pleading guilty in July 2024. That month, the exchange launched a swap listing tied to the $TRUMP memecoin and its founder penned an essay which Bloomberg described as "framing the president's embrace of meme coins as a move toward bolstering political accountability". On March 27, 2025, Trump signed pardons for four BitMEX executives and pardoned the company the same week the $100 million fine was due.
Gifts
During his time in office, Trump has received an unusually large number of expensive gifts that some scholars viewed as a violation of the emoluments clause of the Constitution. The donation of a 1-kilogram gold bar worth $130,000 and a Rolex desktop clock by Swiss business leaders received scrutiny owing to a reduction of Swiss tariffs from 39% to 15% ten days later. In July 2026, media reported that Trump accepted a "lavishly encrusted ring" with "321 diamonds, 56 sapphires, 13 emeralds and six rubies" from a Belgian diamond group months after Trump removed tariffs on Belgian diamond imports.
The gift of a $400 million jumbo jet from Qatar to be used as Air Force One and potentially for post-presidential travel raised substantial bipartisan ethical concerns and allegations of bribery. Following the initial announcement in May 2025, Trump's intention to accept the jet elicited rare, bipartisan criticism, even from longtime supporters who derided it as "corruption". The Guardian criticized it as an example of a quid pro quo. The Boston Globe described the deal as an example of a transactional presidency, describing it as more direct than during his first term and showed he was "willing to bend for anyone who gives him what he craves: praise, prestige, and a cut of the profits".
Solicitation of donations The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump ran an "unprecedented" fundraising operation and had collected "well over half a billion dollars from wealthy donors and stashing it in a sprawling network of nonprofits, cultural institutions and committees that he and his allies control". It wrote that companies "seeking lucrative contracts or favorable policies from the administration have poured millions of dollars into these funds" and that the many of the donations were "shrouded in secrecy". Trump ran this operation through his fundraiser Meredith O'Rourke. According to the Journal:
According to the Journal, O'Rourke has "persistently" called companies stating that "This is very important to the president" and that "He's asked me to call you and ask you for this donation". The Journal stated that in "some calls, she has referred to Trump as the boss", and said that "the boss wants this money". It further stated that according to people who heard his comments, Trump nicknamed O'Rourke the "princess of darkness" because she was such a "killer" with donors.
According to the Journal, Trump made over $800M in solicited donations by July 2026 to be used in a variety of pet projects. These included SoftBank donating $50M to his presidential library; $25M from Apple, $10M from Microsoft and $5M from Amazon for his White House State Ballroom; $10M from Meta Platforms for the Trump-aligned political committee Securing American Greatness in addition to a multimillion donation to the ballroom and $22M for the presidential library; millions from Chevron after he asked for $50M; and over $100M from Timothy Mellon, some of which was given in the form of solid gold.
A 2025 New York Times investigation "traced" over half a billion dollars to 346 donors who each gave at least $250,000. Of the 346 donors, "more than half of them have benefited, or are involved in an industry that has benefited, from the actions or statements" of the administration including "pardons, favorable regulatory moves, the dropping of legal cases, access to the president and more". The investigation looked at "a buffet of options (...) presented to donors" including the inaugural committee, Trust for the National Mall, White House State Ballroom, White House Historical Association, America250, Securing American Greatness, Kennedy Center, National Park Foundation (Freedom 250). Unlike MAGA Inc. and the Republican National Committee, donations to the "buffet" do not require disclosure to the Federal Election Commission. 32 people in the administration, themselves, their families or their companies, donated at least $250,000 to Trump's "causes after the election". It wrote that "Since retaking office, the president has lavished his post-election donors with praise and access to himself and his inner circle" and that "The White House has used government platforms to praise major donors to a wider audience."
After taking in $5M worth of donations to his political committee from tobacco companies, Trump met with them in May 2025 and afterwards the FDA lifted restrictions on flavored vaping products and the FDA chief was removed. After Lockheed Martin gave $10M in late 2025 and early 2026, the Pentagon "awarded Lockheed a contract worth up to $35 billion", and Trump later announced it agreed to pay $5M to a new White House helipad. Trump raised $50M from donors towards his Freedom 250 organization. The Journal interviewed multiple current and former administration officials who variously described the scheme as a "shakedown" and transactional, noting that Trump would frequently ask how much money companies had given if they approached him for help, and that several "CEOs and board members said they believe there is a link between their contributions and their access to the president". It highlighted candlelight dinners, exclusive events, and access to his Mar-a-Lago resort as benefits of donating. It reported that Trump would ask donors "What can I do to help you" and "What do you need" at events.
"Pay-for-access" and MAGA Inc.
Trump has maintained what The New York Times described as a "pay-for-access" operation, with millions being raised for his pro-Trump PAC, , which had collected $177million in the first half of 2025, twice as much as was raised by the Republican National Committee and unusually large for term-limited presidents. Millions were raised from individuals, lobbyists, corporations, and donors to it and other Trump-friendly outlets. Those that gave were granted access to the president and shortly afterward several received presidential pardons, favorable regulatory and policy actions, or appointments for government positions.