Watching Trump in America today is like watching a spoiled, poorly disciplined child playing with matches and cans of lighter fluid in a forest of tinder dry trees. The matches are supplied by the likes of Musk and all of Trump’s sycophants and the lighter fluid is supplied by Putin, Orban and their ilk. There is really no strategy behind what Trump does, he just likes the fireworks. He really doesn’t care if he sets off a massive blaze that destroys thousands of buildings and millions of lives. He just wants to show everyone that he can build the biggest fire. The only difference between Trump the spoiled child and Trump the egomaniacal, spoiled adult is that now he has an army, nuclear weapons, and the U.S. Treasury to play with. Instead of burning down an entire forest, he can now burn down an entire world order. Then again, he doesn’t really care. As I have stated many times, Trump cares solely about Trump, more money, more power and more adulation.
With all the media focusing on the Trump/Vance ambush of President Zelensky in the White House, several other stories that could have far-reaching ramifications are flying under the radar. Trump recently announced the formation of a ‘cryptocurrency reserve’ that will hold several types of cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin. Personally, I think this is an abysmally poor idea and will simply open the door for more grift and corruption than what is already taking place.
There is a reason international crime syndicates, terrorist organizations and wealthy despots prefer cryptocurrencies. Movement of cryptocurrency is much harder to track than transactions that take place through normal banking channels. Most people have at least heard of Bitcoin but another cryptocurrency, Tether, is becoming the most popular cryptocurrency for those inclined to bypass normal banking channels to hide the movements of large sums of money.
It is surely no coincidence that Howard Lutnick, Trump’s new Secretary of Commerce and former CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, a large financial services firm, is a huge investor in Tether cryptocurrency. Currently, regulators in the U.S. are investigating Tether for possible violations of sanctions and anti-money laundering regulations. Does anyone want to bet that the investigation will magically disappear?
Many questions come to mind. How will the American people benefit from having a cryptocurrency reserve? Who will manage it? How will the transactions be reported and to whom? What is to keep foreign entities from pouring money into this fund with an eye toward buying influence? If Trump and Musk are so concerned with government cost savings, where will the money come from to buy cryptocurrency to put into the reserve? And most importantly, who will have the ability to pay money out from the reserve? Will the American people or Congress have any insight into where money goes once it is disbursed from the reserve? What are the safeguards in place to ensure funds from the cryptocurrency reserve fund don’t find their way into a Trump, Musk, or Putin crypto account somewhere on the planet?
People should recognize this for what it is – just another con job by Trump, Musk, and other members of this oligarch circus, to steal hard earned money from the American people and open the door for foreigners to buy influence in American politics. Trump already ordered a halt to enforcing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act which would seem to indicate corruption is just his standard business practice. Setting up a cryptocurrency reserve will just make the grift and corruption easier and it will cost the American people a lot of money. Once a con artist, always a con artist.
