Austerity for Us. Audacity for Him.

How Trump is getting richer off the presidency while millions lose food, healthcare, and housing.

This weekend, President Donald Trump will be wining and dining foreign leaders at his private Scottish golf resort on the taxpayers’ dime. Again. Lavish receptions. Flag-draped photo ops. Diplomatic fanfare. Meanwhile, back home, a mother in rural Ohio is struggling to find childcare so she can afford to return to work and buy groceries.

Although officially described as a private visit, President Trump’s trip to Scotland involves high-level meetings with UK and Scottish leaders, taxpayer-funded security details, and multiple diplomatic discussions, all of which are held entirely on properties he owns. The visit mirrors formal diplomacy in all but name, while directly benefiting his business empire

Since January, Trump has made over half a billion dollars from crypto, phones, fragrances, and luxury venues, all while cutting food aid, healthcare, housing, and civil rights protections for millions. At the same time, his tariffs are driving up the prices of everything.

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The OBBB and What It Took Away

The One Big Beautiful Bill wasn’t just a budget. It was a blueprint for extraction.

President Donald Trump signed his “One Big, Beautiful Bill” (OBBB) into law on July 4, 2025, during a White House picnic drenched in fanfare. It was no ordinary budget; it was a sweeping, multitrillion-dollar reordering of national priorities. Backed almost unanimously by Republicans in both chambers, the OBBB reflects the raw core of Trump’s policy agenda: tax breaks for the powerful, enforcement for the marginalized, and deep cuts for everyone else.

To fund a dramatic expansion in defense and immigration enforcement, as well as to extend the Trump-era tax cuts, the OBBB slashes over $1.2 trillion from Medicaid and food assistance, and cuts billions from higher education funding. It adds $3.3 trillion to the national deficit over the next decade, while stripping health coverage from an estimated 11.8 million people, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

• Adults aged 18–64 must log 80 hours/month—approximately 20 hours/week—to maintain SNAP or Medicaid benefits.

• Entire programs for Indigenous education, rural early childhood, and student mental health were erased.

• Section 8 housing aid and homelessness grants were slashed.

• The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division was nearly defunded. The Office on Violence Against Women? Targeted for absorption and a 29% funding cut

• NIH, CDC, and EPA enforcement funding was gutted, halting climate and disease research in its tracks.

• Gender-affirming care bans were built into federal Medicaid rules.

This isn’t belt-tightening. This is body-blow budgeting. The poor are expected to work harder for less. The president? He profits.

See our complete reporting on the OBBB here:

ICYMI: The OBBB Senate Version Breakdown

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ICYMI: The One Big Beautiful Budget Breakdown

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What Trump Is Getting Away With

While he is cutting programs, he is cashing in.

Since returning to the White House in January, Donald Trump has done more than post on social media, enact tariffs, and bully Congress. He’s monetized the presidency in full public view.

He launched a string of branded cryptocurrency tokens, including $TRUMP and $MELANIA, netting more than $400 million in direct revenue and equity value. He rolled out a premium-priced smartphone, the “Trump T1 Gold,” alongside a private wireless plan called Trump Mobile, generating another $70 million+. His new men’s fragrance, Victory 45‑47, sold at $249 a bottle, reportedly moved over 250,000 units in its first wave. Add merchandise, licensing fees, and donor bundling, and the total climbs higher.

Then there are the properties. Trump is now hosting world leaders at his own luxury resorts, including this weekend in Scotland, where taxpayer-funded travel, security, and press infrastructure all flow into venues he owns and operates. By every standard of ethical governance, this is self-dealing. By Trump’s standard, it’s just business.

All told, he has made an estimated $500 million or more since returning to office. That’s nearly $3 million in profit per day.

This isn’t a deviation from his past; it’s an escalation. During his first term, Trump frequently funneled taxpayer dollars through Mar-a-Lago, Bedminster, and the Trump International Hotel in DC. He blurred the line between diplomacy and business. Now, with even fewer constraints and even more ambition, he’s doing it again, this time bigger, bolder, and backed by precedent.

According to a May report from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Trump is overseeing 21 Trump-branded development projects internationally during his presidency, despite being in office. Unlike in his first term, where there was a limited self-imposed pause on foreign deals, this time there’s no moratorium. In fact, the Trump Organization’s own ethics guidelines, published in January, explicitly permit new overseas ventures, even as Trump engages in diplomacy with those same regions. As AFP put it: “The visit is yet another example of how Trump has blurred the line between his official duties as president and promoting the family business.”

He never divested. He never disclosed earnings in real time. And there’s still no law forcing him to stop. Because no one made him stop the first time.

See our reporting from this spring regarding Trump’s emoluments violations here:

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The Art of the Bribe: Trump’s Stock Market Corruption

From Peanut Farms to Private Jets: How Trump Burned the Emoluments Rulebook

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This Week in Scotland: Emoluments 2.0

The president is back in the business of presidency for profit.

This weekend, President Trump is in Scotland for what his team refers to as a “working trip.” He’s meeting with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney to discuss trade. But these aren’t neutral summits. They’re being held at Trump-branded luxury golf resorts, venues he owns and profits from.

The visit also serves another purpose. Trump is launching a new golf course at his Menie Estate in Aberdeenshire. And while it’s more than a month ahead of his scheduled state visit to the UK in September, this trip is setting the stage, using international diplomacy to spotlight his personal brand.

According to travel cost records and prior trip audits, the taxpayer tab for Trump’s Scotland visit is expected to exceed $5 to $8 million. That includes Air Force One, military transport, Secret Service details, embassy coordination, and more. And if history repeats itself, the entire entourage—security, staff, and press—will stay at his resorts. This means that public money flows directly into Trump’s pocket. Again.

To make matters worse, Trump is expected to host two separate receptions—one for each leader—on the resort grounds. That means two taxpayer-funded diplomatic events held at properties he owns.

This is the first known emoluments-style event of Trump’s second term. If his previous administration is any indication, it won’t be the last.

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No One Stopped Him the First Time

What we didn’t stop in 2017 became normalized by 2025.

There’s a reason Trump feels untouchable. When he blurred the lines between state power and private profit during his first term, no one stopped him.

He never divested from the Trump Organization. He refused to place his assets in a blind trust. He repeatedly hosted government officials and foreign dignitaries at his own properties. His family continued to sign licensing deals around the globe, even as he occupied the highest office in the land. Lawsuits citing the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause were thrown out on technicalities. And Congress refused to act.

Now, in his second term, the loophole has become the model. Trump knows the presidency can be profitable. He’s learned exactly how to bend public infrastructure, foreign diplomacy, and domestic policy toward his own personal gain. And without any legal guardrails in place, there’s nothing stopping him from doing it again and again. While there is no full reporting of how he profited during his first term, he visited his properties 274 times, each time billing taxpayers for lodging and meals, including for his security team.

This isn’t a glitch in the system. It’s the system we allowed him to build.

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Why This Matters Now

What’s normalized today becomes institutionalized tomorrow.

Trump’s self-dealing isn’t just corrupt; it’s contagious. If a sitting U.S. president can govern as a walking brand, steer public dollars into private ventures, and legislate in ways that boost his own portfolio without consequence, what stops the next one from doing the same? Or worse? And how soon before it extends to all elected officials?

The longer this behavior goes unchecked, the more it becomes part of the institutional DNA of American politics. Already, we're seeing other officials test similar boundaries—conflating political office with personal business, influence with income.

What’s more, this presidency now exposes a deep hypocrisy in how power is policed:

• Local nonprofit trustees must recuse themselves from votes involving family members.

• Public school employees are barred from using work email to promote side businesses.

• But the president of the United States can host a foreign head of state at his own resort and profit from the booking.

And here’s the kicker: Fixing this would literally take an act of Congress.

There are no binding federal laws requiring a president to divest from their businesses. No statute enforcing the Emoluments Clause. No ban on billing the government for services at a president’s own property. Why? Because until Donald Trump, no president had ever risked the optics, let alone abused the office so openly. The line was never codified, because no one thought it had to be.

Now, with Trump in control of the White House, House, and Senate, that fix is politically impossible.

Until those laws are written, the Oval Office remains open for business.

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Call to Action

Austerity for voters. Audacity for him. Unless we act.

Trump has shown us what the presidency looks like when the only guiding principle is profit. He has cut food aid, healthcare, and housing for millions while pocketing half a billion dollars through cryptocurrency, cologne, and diplomatic real estate. This week’s meetings in Scotland aren’t just policy. They’re product placement, paid for by us.

This isn’t just about one man. It’s about whether this country still draws a line between public service and private gain.

TAKE ACTION

Call the Congressional Switchboard 202-224-3121
Ask to speak with your representative and senators. Here’s a sample script:

“Hi, my name is [Your Name], and I’m a constituent from [Your City]. I’m calling because I’m deeply concerned about President Trump’s personal profiting from public office. I want Congress to pass laws that require presidential divestment, prohibit taxpayer spending at president-owned businesses, and enforce the Emoluments Clause. We need real ethical guardrails. Please take action.”

Support Watchdogs and Grassroots Organizers

These are the groups that track corruption, build legal challenges, expose taxpayer abuse, and fight back on the ground. Support them if you can. Share their work widely. They are doing the work democracy depends on.

• Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)

• Common Cause

• Project on Government Oversight (POGO)

• Democracy Forward

• Campaign Legal Center (CLC)

• OpenTheBooks

• Indivisible

• Poor People’s Campaign

Oligarch Watch at The Coffman Chronicle is powered by YOU— no billionaires, no media moguls, no corporate puppeteers. We’re here to expose their BS, break down their schemes, and shine a light on the growing billionaire takeover.

Bibliography:

• “Trump will visit Scotland and talk to Starmer.” AP News, July 17, 2025.

• “Trump set to visit Scotland for trade talks, and some golf.” AFP via MSN, July 23, 2025.

• “What do we know about Donald Trump's visit to Scotland?” BBC Scotland, July 22, 2025.

• “Trump Launches $249 Fragrance Victory 45-47.” Ticker Buzz, July 2, 2025.

• “Trump Signs Stablecoin Law as Crypto Industry Aims for Mainstream Adoption.” Reuters, July 18, 2025.

• “Crypto Weekly: Trump Mobile and a Stablecoin Surge.” Reuters Video, June 19, 2025.

• “Trump Family in Phone Service Licensing Deal, Touts a $499 Device.” Reuters, June 16, 2025.

• “Trump Organization Launches Trump Mobile Smartphone Service.” Reuters, June 16, 2025.

• “U.S. Pays Trump’s Scotland Golf Resort $77,000 Ahead of Visit.” Reuters, July 17, 2018 (reporting of similar 2018 payment).

• “Trump’s Cryptocurrency Endeavor Caps a Political Career Filled with Conflicts of Interest.” The Guardian, May 14, 2025.

• Wikipedia, “Cryptocurrency in the Second Donald Trump Administration,” last modified July 2025.

• Wikipedia, “Trump Mobile,” last modified July 2025.

• Business Insider, “One of Trump’s Visits to His Scotland Resort Cost Taxpayers More Than $950,000,” March 25, 2020 (used for precedent cost modeling).

• Reuters, “Trump’s World Liberty crypto tokens to become tradable,” July 16, 2025.