The Signing of the Executive Order Suspending Anti-Corruption Laws
On February 10, Donald Trump signed an executive order suspending the enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), a law that since 1977 has prohibited bribery outside the United States to secure business deals. In his first 150 days in office, numerous editorials and articles have highlighted Trump’s corruption. For instance, Wired magazine exposed that a private dinner at Mar-a-Lago with Trump alone costs $5 million; if that amount is unavailable, sharing the table with eight other guests costs $1 million.
The Normalization of Corruption in Western Democracies
Under the world’s watchful eyes, Trump’s second presidency has accelerated a profound and alarming transformation in Western democracies: the normalization of corruption as a tool for power. As Jodi Vittori in Foreign Policy and Oliver Bullough in The Guardian explain, the United States, once a global leader in combating dirty money, is now paving the way for cleptocrats worldwide to operate with impunity. This regression is not merely political; it’s moral, legal, and institutional.
Capturing the State and Eroding Boundaries
Anne Applebaum in The Atlantic and Lluis Bassets in El País describe how state capture has reached a new level of sophistication: the government apparatus is used to protect allies, punish adversaries, and blur the lines between public and private interests. We’re no longer talking about isolated scandals but a power culture based on disregard for legality and impunity as the norm.
Weakening Institutional Checks and Balances
Regulatory bodies are co-opted, the Department of Justice becomes an instrument for persecution or protection as needed, and congressional oversight is sabotaged by MAGA legislators. The result is the progressive and deep dismantling of institutional checks and balances, as David Forum points out. We are witnessing the most corrupt presidency in modern U.S. history, not by the number of crimes but due to the severity of institutional erosion it has caused.
The Global Impact and Replication of Trump’s Corruption Model
Isaac Chotiner in The New Yorker warns that the Trump model is being replicated by populist leaders elsewhere: from Eastern Europe to Latin America, the lesson is clear. If the United States, a symbol of liberal democracy, can embrace cleptocracy without consequences, what prevents others from doing the same? With what moral authority can one demand “ethics, transparency, and accountability” in China, India, or African nations?
The Devastating Message in the Era of Misinformation and Politicization
The message is devastating: in the age of misinformation and politicization, corruption ceases to be a scandal and becomes a governing style. When one might have imagined a president issuing their own cryptocurrency and rewarding those purchasing over $100 million, it’s clear that the lines have been blurred.
Erosion of Trust in Western Democracies
As citizens worldwide, including in the United States, lose faith in justice, the press, and fair electoral contests, they jeopardize not only the system’s efficiency but also its legitimacy and survival.
A Call to Defend Democratic Institutions and Principles
The lesson for Western democracies is terrible and urgent. Corruption is not merely an economic crime; it’s an existential threat to the political system built on liberty, rights, and justice. Undermining legality and public trust opens the door to authoritarianism disguised as populism. Defending democracy today, more than ever, requires safeguarding the integrity of its rules, human freedoms and rights, the value of checks and balances, and the dignity of its foundational principles.
Trump’s Middle East Visit: A Symbol of Eroding Democratic Values
With this understanding of governance, Trump embarked on his first Middle East trip to visit former Arab allies of the Palestinian people while Israel intensified its genocide with more bombings, invasions, and brutal occupation of Gaza.
