cover 22
In the early months of his second term, Donald Trump has embraced Jerry Maguire’s famous mantra: “Show me the money!”
Since reclaiming the presidency in January, Trump has directed high-profile government contracts to large businesses eager to fill his personal coffers.
As U.S. stock markets tumbled Thursday in response to controversial new tariffs imposed by Trump on foreign businesses, the president seemed unfazed about any potential losses to his personal wealth. Instead, he’s been finding new ways to boost it with his position in office.
Immediately following his resounding victory over Kamala Harris in November, Trump began offering opportunities for top CEOs and corporate executives to meet with him—on the condition they travel to and pay for a stay at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Senior staff members from lobbying firms and corporate giants quickly began organizing worker retreats, galas, and annual meetings at Mar-a-Lago and other Trump-branded golf resorts and event spaces, with the costs directly benefiting Trump’s pockets.
This move appeared to be part of Trump’s strategy to capitalize on the Oval Office, after discussing privately raising membership fees at his personal clubs, claiming that members were “paying to see the president.”
According to Wired, Trump’s Super PAC has been charging a staggering $1 million per seat for Mar-a-Lago events featuring the president—while private, one-on-one meetings have reportedly gone for as much as $5 million.
One D.C. insider even referred to these eye-watering payments as “tips” for the president.
Meanwhile, the first lady is also cashing in. Melania Trump has reportedly secured a $40 million deal with Amazon for a documentary that, as one insider bluntly put it, “nobody asked for.”
The bulk of that payout is expected to go directly to Melania herself.
Trump’s aggressive financial policies targeting foreign nations aren’t just disrupting the flow of essential goods and services—they’re also dealing a major blow to the U.S. tourism industry.
According to federal data, international visitors to the U.S. fell by 2.4 percent in February 2025—the first full month of Trump’s second term—compared to the same period the previous year.
The administration has made its hardline stance on immigration a central focus, prioritizing the removal of undocumented individuals. However, this crackdown has reportedly extended to temporary visitors as well, with troubling accounts emerging of tourists with innocuous travel plans being detained and even imprisoned.
Tourism Economics, a leading industry research firm, has already revised its forecast for 2025, now predicting a 5.1 percent decline in overseas travelers to the U.S.—a stark reversal from its earlier projection of an 8.8 percent increase.
Trump’s relentless push for sweeping tariffs is also taking a toll on the economy. Markets took a sharp hit after the former reality TV star announced broad tariffs starting at 10 percent. Within minutes of his announcement, the S&P 500 dropped 2 percent, while the Nasdaq slid 3 percent—marking the steepest market dip since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Even international visitors are feeling the tension. A Canadian attendee at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in California shared, “(My friend) didn’t come because they were afraid. There’s not a single person I know who didn’t hesitate.”
They added, “Random people in my building told me to be careful… nobody who’s paying attention is going to trust the U.S. for another ten years.”
