Grifts around 47: A running catelogue for this presidency

Know your customers.

Trump team caught marking up MAGA merch while touting Black Friday 'deals'​

The campaign's Black Friday fundraising email hawks multiple items that appear to contain higher prices than what's listed on its website, according to Meidas Touch.

Revealed: Pro-Trump group scored an additional $1 billion in taxpayer dollars​

The America First Policy Institute (AFPI), a pro-Donald Trump think tank run by his former chief of staff, helped secure a $1 billion Department of Homeland Security contract tied to new planes for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

On Wednesday, the Washington Post reported that the fast-tracked contract is closely linked to AFPI’s top donor. That donor, William Walters, runs the company that received a separate $140 million Noem-approved contract to buy six Boeing 737 planes for use in deportations, as the Post reported last week.

DHS claimed that the nonpartisan federal officials ensure the legitimacy of contracting decisions. Indeed, they do, but not in this case. The Post obtained emails exposing that it was the political appointees who chose the Meadows outfit for the $1 billion contract.

[Again, this is one reason why we want people hired in an apolitical process for the rank and file jobs in the government.]

The main contract went to an Arlington-based firm, Salus Worldwide Solutions, incorporated in 2023, which advertises expertise in coordinating international travel, disaster relief, and security facilities. It has never previously held a federal contract