CNN
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Democrats are leaning into a corruption argument against President Donald Trump, pointing to his crypto meme coin and plans to accept a luxury jet from Qatar as evidence that the president is potentially violating ethical norms and the US Constitution.
In floor speeches and interviews, on social media and in the skies above Trump’s Florida resort, Democrats have warned that Trump is seeking to enrich himself – even as Republicans advance legislation that could cut programs such as Medicaid and the Department of Government Efficiency scales back the size of the US government.
“The first 114 days of this administration have been one bad deal after another for American families,” Sen. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, said during a floor speech Wednesday highlighting Trump’s alleged conflicts of interest. “But if your last name is Trump, these 114 days have been just about the greatest deal of all time.”
It’s a familiar strategy for Democrats and ethics watchdogs, who criticized Trump during his first term as foreign officials sought to curry favor with the president by staying at his hotels. This time, however, Democrats and ethics groups argue that the potential corruption of the second Trump administration has far surpassed the first term.
Tiffany Muller, president of the Democratic-aligned group End Citizens United, said that how Democrats message their anti-corruption arguments will be critical.
“Voters don’t know who to trust on this issue, and whoever wins that trust battle will win the election,” Muller said in an interview with CNN. “We have to connect the corruption that we’re seeing day to day back to their everyday lives and then also talk about how Trump and the Republicans are using it to line their own pockets.”
Muller and Molly Murphy, president of Impact Research, which conducted focus groups with swing voters last month, recently briefed congressional Democrats and staff on their findings relating to corruption. Voters in those groups expressed concern about corruption but also were cynical about lawmakers in Washington fixing the issue, Muller noted, adding that Democrats should talk about tangible actions they can take to fight corruption, including a congressional stock trading ban.
Trump’s past call to “drain the swamp” and vows to reform the federal government have “helped inoculate him against some of the corruption messaging” among some voters, Muller said. But she argued voters would have “buyer’s remorse” as additional ethically questionable episodes arise.
Faiz Shakir, an adviser to independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, argued Democrats should combine pushback on corruption with a “proactive positive agenda,” similar to tactics used by Democrats in the 2006 midterms when they took control of both chambers of Congress.
“In addition to opposing Donald Trump and telling you he’s corrupt, we need an agenda that speaks to the things we’ll do,” Shakir said. “In order for the Democratic brand to be more powerful, it has to be something other than just opposing Trump.”
While some Republicans have expressed concerns about Trump’s potential conflicts of interest, House Speaker Mike Johnson defended the president’s actions.
“I can just tell you that President Trump has had nothing to hide,” Johnson said Wednesday. “He’s very upfront about it. There are people who watch all the ethics of that.”
Republican strategist Matt Gorman said the talk of corruption is another “shiny object” for Democrats and highlights the party’s lack of consistent messaging.
“It doesn’t affect anyone, any actual, real people,” said Gorman. “It’s the same thing when you talk about Democrats talking about esoteric terms like democracy and fascism while Trump is talking about paychecks and illegal immigration.”
CNN reported Sunday that the Department of Defense plans to accept a luxury plane from the Qatari royal family that would be used temporarily as Air Force One, then later donated to Trump’s presidential library. Critics argue that accepting the plane would violate the foreign emoluments clause of the US Constitution, which prohibits federal officials from accepting gifts from foreign governments without congressional approval.
“I think it’s a great gesture from Qatar. I appreciate it very much. I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer. I mean, I could be a stupid person, say, ‘No, we don’t want a free, very expensive airplane.’ But it was, I thought it was a great gesture,” Trump said as he defended the move this week.
The administration has claimed the deal is above board. “Any donation to this government is always done in full compliance with the law,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday.
The plane controversy comes as Trump has been accused of selling access to himself through his cryptocurrency. Last month, the website for Trump’s meme coin announced that the top holders of the coin would be invited to a dinner and “exclusive reception” with the president.
Daniel Weiner, the director of the Brennan Center’s Elections and Government Program, said that when it comes to ethical concerns about Trump’s conduct, the Qatari plane and the president’s cryptocurrency represent an “escalation” from Trump’s first term.
“You didn’t have anything like, for instance, the cryptocurrency that his family has launched that basically anyone who wants to ingratiate themselves with the president, or thinks that might work, can just pay directly into this platform,” Weiner said. “These are significantly bigger potential sources of conflict of interest.”
This isn’t the first time Democrats have sought to message on corruption. In the 2006 midterms when Democrats consolidated power on Capitol Hill, the party focused on a “culture of corruption” in its messaging along with the “Six for ‘06” agenda, featuring specific deliverables the party aimed to pursue. Exit polls that year showed corruption and ethics were among the most important issues for voters.
After Democrats won back the House in 2018, the first bill they introduced was a sweeping voting rights and ethics reform package that would have strengthened conflict-of-interest laws for the White House. The bill passed the House but stalled in the Senate in 2019 and 2021.
Democrats have faced questions about corruption in recent years as well. Former Sen. Bob Menendez resigned his seat last year after he was found guilty of 16 counts — including bribery, extortion, wire fraud, obstruction of justice and acting as a foreign agent — for his role in a yearslong bribery scheme. Congressional Republicans seized on Hunter Biden’s position with a Ukrainian natural gas company to fuel corruption allegations against his father former President Joe Biden, though there was no evidence of wrongdoing on the elder Biden’s part.
While Trump lost the 2020 presidential election, it’s not clear how much Democrats’ corruption argument played into that election. What is clear is that Democrats are attempting to tie the corruption argument into a broader argument about the economy.
The Democratic National Committee flew a “Qatar-a-Lago” banner in Palm Beach, Florida Wednesday afternoon to highlight the plane gift and conflict of interest concerns related to the Trump Organization’s new deal to build a golf course in the Middle Eastern country.
“Donald Trump is using the presidency to personally enrich himself while he bankrupts working families,” DNC chair Ken Martin said in a statement. “His corruption is a slap in the face to the millions of Americans who are struggling to get by and put food on the table.”
Congressional Democrats are also making a push this week to highlight the administration’s potential conflicts of interest.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer placed a blanket hold on confirming Justice Department political appointees in response to the Qatari plane gift, calling it “naked corruption” and a “grave national security threat.” Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee, led by ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin, filed a resolution Wednesday blasting Trump for attempting to accept the plane without congressional approval.
Democrats have also introduced legislation to block presidents and members of Congress from issuing meme coins. Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat who introduced the MEME Act, called Trump’s meme coin “the most unethical, the most corrupt thing a president of the United States has ever done,” in a social media video promoting the legislation.
Murphy argued during a Tuesday appearance on CNN’s “The Source” with Kaitlan Collins that the president was using his trip this week to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates “to profit off of US foreign policy.”
“The real story here is that Trump is cementing the fundamental corruption of American foreign policy,” he said.
CNN’s Haley Talbot contributed to this report.
