KQED's Forum How to Keep Track of all the Corruption Concerns of Trump 2.0
Mar 11, 2026
Andrea Bernstein, award-winning investigative reporter focused on money and power. Donald K. Sherman, head of CREW, a government ethics watchdog. They unpack expanded Trump-era money flows: hotels, crypto, foreign investments, pardons tied to investors, and taxpayer costs of presidential properties. They also discuss legal battles, disclosure gaps, and how tracking these overlaps is getting harder.
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Second Term Profiteering Went Maximalist
- Trump's second term shows a maximalist expansion of profiteering from office rather than mere continuation of first-term patterns.
- Andrea Bernstein details new vectors: World Liberty Financial, a meme coin, and invitation-only investor dinners tying buyers to access.
Meme Coin Dinner Linked Buyers To Access
- Andrea describes a meme coin launch and an investor dinner where top purchasers met insiders.
- She compares the meme coin to collectibles and notes a top purchaser attended a dinner tied to the project.
Emoluments Litigation Left Unresolved
- The Emoluments Clause litigation from the first term was dismissed as moot, leaving the core constitutional question unresolved.
- Donald Sherman and Andrea note that absence of settlement means foreign gift rules remain untested as Trump returns to office.
