Breaking News: Trump's Shameless Pay-to-Play Extortion Racket at Mar-a-Lago

[riversedge]

@SkylineReport
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Breaking News: Trump’s Shameless Pay-to-Play Extortion Racket at Mar-a-Lago


Washington, D.C. – April 9, 2025 – Buckle up, America, because Donald Trump has turned the presidency into a goddamn cash cow, and it’s time to get pissed. The latest outrage? A $1 million-per-plate dinner at his glitzy Mar-a-Lago estate, where corporate fat cats like Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, Tesla’s Elon Musk, and Oracle’s Larry Ellison shelled out obscene amounts of cash to kiss the ring—and, surprise, they’re walking away with policy wins while Trump’s laughing all the way to the bank [1][2]. This isn’t just influence peddling; it’s a full-on shakedown, and he’s using public resources to pull it off. Free markets? Kiss that shit goodbye.
Let’s break this down. Jensen Huang forks over a million bucks, sits down for some overpriced steak, and—bam—suddenly the Trump administration reverses course on export restrictions for Nvidia’s H20 AI chips to China [1]. Coincidence? Hell no. Reports say Nvidia promised some U.S.-based AI data centers in return, but let’s call it what it is: a bribe dressed up as a business deal. Meanwhile, Elon Musk, who’s practically Trump’s shadow these days, gets cozy at the head table, likely whispering sweet nothings about federal contracts for Tesla and SpaceX [1][16]. And Larry Ellison? He’s drooling over Nvidia GPUs for Oracle’s AI dreams, and you bet your ass he’s getting something out of this too [2][17]. These aren’t dinners—they’re auctions for taxpayer-funded favors.
Trump’s raking in millions through his MAGA Inc. super PAC, all while hiding these cash grabs from the public. This latest Mar-a-Lago extravaganza wasn’t even on his official schedule—because why let the peasants know who’s buying their government? [16][20]. Lockheed Martin execs were there too, probably angling for a slice of the defense budget pie [1]. And don’t forget casino queen Miriam Adelson and sugar tycoon Pepe Fanjul—big donors who know a million bucks is chump change for a shot at rigging the system [1]. This is pay-to-play on steroids, and it’s happening right under our noses.

Here’s the kicker: Trump’s tariffs—those economic sledgehammers he’s swinging at the world—are the perfect leverage. He’s tanking markets, jacking up costs, and forcing these CEOs to crawl to Mar-a-Lago with their checkbooks to beg for relief [4][10]. Nvidia’s regulatory rollback? That’s just the start. Musk and Ellison are bleeding billions from tariff chaos—stock market crashes wiped out $110 billion of Musk’s net worth alone this year [10]—and they’re desperate to make it stop. Trump’s not just profiting; he’s weaponizing public policy to extort these bastards, and we’re all paying the price.

This isn’t how free markets work—it’s a fucking mafia racket. Public resources, like trade policy and federal contracts, are being pimped out to the highest bidder while Trump’s properties turn into cash machines. Remember his first term? Foreign dignitaries and lobbyists flooded Trump International Hotel to grease the wheels [10]. Now, Mar-a-Lago’s the new paywall, and the tab’s a cool million bucks a pop. The erosion of trust? Catastrophic. The conflict of interest? Blatant as hell. And the transparency? Nonexistent.


Everyone should be livid. This isn’t leadership; it’s a grift. Trump’s not draining the swamp—he’s turned it into a goddamn gold mine. Advocacy groups are screaming for campaign finance reform, and they’re right [10]. But until that happens, America’s stuck watching a billionaire boys’ club buy their way to the front of the line while the rest of us choke on the fallout. Wake up, people—this is your government being sold off, one overpriced dinner at a time.
Citations:
[1] https://newrepublic.com/post/192864/trump-elon-musk-secret-mar-a-lago-dinner
[2] https://www.businessinsider.com/larry-ellison-elon-musk-jensen-huang-gpus-dinner-oracle-nvidia-2024-9
[3] https://economictimes.com/news/international/global-trends/how-jeff-bezos-trump-dinner-at-mar-a-lago-helped-melania-secure-40-million-documentary-deal-amazon/articleshow/120098186.cms
[4] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-hosts-liv-golf-fundraiser-as-stocks-sink-over-tariffs/
[5] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/05/us/politics/trump-family-saudi-golf.html
[6] https://www.instagram.com/reel/DCA7QG7N6iK/
[7] https://www.instagram.com/michaelhealyco/reel/DH5LMmSuNp3/
[8] https://www.npr.org/2025/01/23/1226281129/1a-01-23-2025
[9] https://www.newsweek.com/trump-assassination-attempt-vem-miller-maralago-bianco-2053662
[10] https://www.wired.com/story/people-paying-millions-donald-trump-mar-a-lago/
[11] https://finance.yahoo.com/news/elon-musk-larry-ellison-begged-115741871.html
[12] https://www.instagram.com/wired/p/DHUXSWAtpMR/
[13] https://www.npr.org/2025/03/29/nx-s1-5343986/anti-musk-protests-planned-worldwide
[14] https://people.com/donald-trump-skips-dignified-transfer-fallen-soldiers-luxury-florida-dinners-11709396
[15] https://www.theinformation.com/articles/google-clouds-thomas-kurian-keeps-focus-ai
[16] https://economictimes.com/news/international/us/another-secretive-donald-trump-fundraiser-elon-musk-attends-million-dollar-candlelight-dinner-that-wasnt-publicly-disclosed-why-was-it-left-off-his-official-schedule/articleshow/119167706.cms
[17] https://www.firstpost.com/tech/elon-musk-larry-ellison-begged-jensen-huang-to-allot-them-nvidia-gpus-at-private-dinner-13816295.html
[18] https://finance.yahoo.com/news/larry-ellison-elon-musk-begged-005004905.html
[19] https://www.futuriom.com/articles/news/trump-unveils-stargate-with-openai-softbank-and-oracle/2025/01
[20] https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/trump-threw-a-secret-candlelight-dinner-charging-1-million-per-seat-after-bombing-houthis/articleshow/119494834.cms

Link to tweet

[Ocelot II]

1. Well, duh. That was obviously the plan all along.

These tariffs aren't intended for the normal historical purpose of tariffs, which was to target a particular country and or product in order to make an American product more competitive. Trump has the cockeyed notion that tariffs can substitute for income tax, which is stupid on its face. But his primary purpose is to extort US businesses by making them pay for exemptions from tariffs on products they import, and to extort other countries by dangling the promise of lifting a tariff in exchange for something he wants (Greenland?). That's the way he rolls, and anybody with two brain cells to rub together saw what he was up to from the get-go.

[brakester]

11. We're back in the Middle Ages

with a feudal system. As well he has learned well the lessons he learned at Cohn and Putey's knees

[Irish_Dem]

2. Trump's crime syndicate likes to commit crimes.

The MAGA base loves it.

[ananda]

14. They have completely lost their humanity.

Monsters all.

[ashredux]

3. A Grifter gotta Grift.....it is a "law" of nature.....

[RainCaster]

4. TSF's crime syndicate is fully supported by the GOP

What once called itself "the Party of Law And Order" is now 100% behind letting Trump do anything no matter how illegal it is.

[Wednesdays]

7. "Law and Order" was always meant for the peasants

And for brown-skinned people in particular.

[Owens]

9. And Democrats are silence

The silence is deafening. If Biden had done this, Republicans would be screaming bloody murder 24/7

[brakester]

12. The republicans are

the party who are deathly silent.

[calimary]

13. The Party of Flaw and Odor.

There! Fixed it. For ALL of us.

[Jrsygrl96]

5. He won't be able to buy himself into heaven.

I am old school Catholic who believes in some kind of purgatory. I like to think that when we go to the other side we will have to go through a "spiritual cleansing." Imagine if before we can feel God's love, we must first go through the pain of feeling everything we ever did to hurt anyone, physically or mentally! I wouldn't want to be him!!!

[calimary]

15. Hey, you too?

Yep! That’s one of the things I learned in Catholic school. That’s what you got sent to Purgatory first.

Sheesh - as I wrote that, I realized why it got that name: PURGatory. Purge. They just dropped the “e”.

[twodogsbarking]

6. If you don't go you have to send five million or be kidnapped and sent to Antartica.

[Passages]

8. The grifter, always was always will be.

They're Not Tariffs, They're Sanctions
Stop trying to place coherence on a policy that’s really just a mob boss breaking legs and asking for protection money.

by David Dayen April 3, 2025
https://prospect.org/economy/2025-04-03-theyre-not-tariffs-theyre-sanctions/

[brakester]

16. We are rewatching

Sopranos, and the parallels to our political and moral climate are chilling. It's hitting me where it hurts big...in my stomach and in my heart.

I consider it one of the best films ever produced. The characters, the cinematography, the plot are beyond reproach. That's why we are rewatching it.

But it's doing a number on my head. The constant violence is so casual and the root of his fainting spells is so mountainous yet he can't see it.

I'm not sure I will be able to finish it in today's milieu.

[Gordcanuck]

10. He lost a

hand at the tariff table when Mark Carney told him a co-ordinated dump of U.S. Treasuries at $1 billion was about to start.
He folded with a 90-day “pause”. Tried to cover. Nobody bought it. Round one, chump!