Donald Trump’s inner circle has begun lawyering up as rivals threaten sweeping corruption and conflict-of-interest investigations.
US President Donald Trump has again lost his cool at a reporter, this time asking ‘what’s wrong with you’ and ‘are you a sick person?’ while seemingly growling.
US President Donald Trump knows what’s coming.
“I could have done very bad things to Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Barack Hussein Obama,” he told an Oval Office gathering when asked about his vulnerability to impeachment if his Republicans lose the US national midterm elections in November.
“I thought it was inappropriate to do so because you have to treat the office of the presidency with respect.
“Then I found out that they impeached me twice and I certainly, to this moment, I can do whatever I want, if I want. They’ve done some very bad things.”
His circle of friends, employees, officials, business partners and donors are also worried.
And they’re lawyering up.
“The calls started sporadically in June and have picked up in frequency since then,” Judd Stone, co-founder of Texas-based legal firm Stone Hilton, told the Wall Street Journal yesterday.
His was just one of several firms to tell the news service of an “influx” of clients seeking advice on how to prepare for potential conflict of interest and corruption investigations.
The private wealth of the 47th President of the United States has soared since taking office in January 2025. His financial disclosure reported $US2.2 billion in revenue in the first year of his second term. In 2024, it was $US620 million.
His most loyal servants flatly deny this.
“There’s no financial gain like the past presidents have had. It’s cost him to be in office,” his latest Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told an Oklahoma rally earlier this month.
Mr Trump’s family is also raking in the cash.
Donald Trump Jr’s wealth has jumped from $US30 million to $US300 million in just 12 months.
His second son, Eric Trump, has also seen his wealth increase tenfold to $US400 million.
His son-in-law Jared Kushner’s peace missions to Russia and the Middle East have produced no results, although his business ventures there are ballooning.
America’s billionaires are also keen to become influencer oligarchs. They’re donating millions to the President’s pet projects – and enjoying a regulation-lite response to their own business ventures.
The US Democratic Party makes no secret of its intent to pursue them all.
“They will turn every committee of Congress into an investigative body, and they’ll go after the president’s family, the Cabinet, his donors and friends,” Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson warned a gathering of supporters.
“Half of you in this room will be targeted. I run the protection program. I’ll take care of you.”
Trump Inc
“The media is obsessed with spreading false claims based on fake polls suggesting Republicans will lose their majorities in Congress,” states White House spokeswoman Lauren Bissell.
“The Democrats’ sole agenda is to continue their decade-long witch hunt against President Trump.”
They don’t have to look hard to fuel the fire.
Much of Mr Trump’s new-found wealth can be attributed to $US1.4 billion of hard-to-trace funds paid into his family’s new cryptocurrency venture. World Liberty Financial (WLF) turnover is up ninefold from its pre-second-term performance.
The real estate- and golf course-oriented Trump Organisation is also booming. It’s busy with lavish new building projects in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Mr Trump’s public relations team insists his external partners and trusts manage it all “at arm’s length”.
But “arm’s length” extends to his closest family.
And they regularly rub shoulders at private and public functions with government and business organisations their father is with as President of the United States.
Trump Jr is a director of Trump Media & Technology Group. It owns Truth Social. And it wants to charge a $US100,000 “early access” fee for those wanting to see the President’s posts there before they go public. Democrats are calling on the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate potential insider trading.
And the scandal surrounding the funding of his wedding celebrations by a sanctioned Russian oligarch won’t go away.
Eric Trump’s Foundation Future Industries, a defence robotics firm, has been awarded a $US24 million Department of War contract.
Both are co-founders of crypto-firm World Liberty Financial, as are Alex and Zach Witkoff. Steve Witkoff is Mr Trump’s oldest friend and business partner. He’s been appointed a special diplomatic envoy alongside Jared Kushner.
Why is this a problem?
Emirati royal Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan wants access to the US’s most advanced AI chips. He’s previously been denied that right over fears they’d be leaked to China.
He’s been wined and dined at the White House. He’s signed over $US500 million as an investment in WLF. He’s also a partner in a $US2 billion deal between WLF and the cryptocurrency exchange firm Binance – which is banned in the US over money laundering concerns.
Envoy of peace
Jared Kushner is high on the Democrats’ sights. The husband of Mr Trump’s favourite daughter, Ivanka, is reportedly negotiating some $US5 billion in fresh funds from Middle Eastern sources for his investment firm, Affinity Partners.
Then there’s the multibillion-dollar partnership proposal raised by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Russian oil giant Lukoil.
Mr Trump lifted sanctions on Russian diesel imports just weeks later. That’s despite Mr Kushner and Mr Witkoff’s failure to achieve a ceasefire breakthrough in the war in Ukraine.
Both have been appointed as the Trump Administration’s “special envoy of peace” for the Russia-Ukraine war, the Israel-Palestine conflict, and the Iran-US-Israel special military operation.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) have launched legal action against Mr Kushner for bypassing Constitutional and Congressional approval processes.
The White House says this is unnecessary.
“CREW is an unserious, Trump-deranged organisation that has been attacking President Trump, his family and his administration since the first term. Jared Kushner is a proven deal-maker,” accuses White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly.
“His personal business activities have nothing to do with his diplomatic engagements, which he conducts on a volunteer basis at the president’s request and while paying his own expenses.”
Mr Kushner’s lawyer also insists his negotiative mission on behalf of Mr Trump is “volunteer government service” and complies “with applicable ethics requirements”.
Circles of friends
“The Republican-controlled Congress has spent the last two years watching the Trump administration hand out federal contracts to political allies, allow the Trump family to profit off the presidency, give preferential treatment to corporations that give to his campaign coffers, and weaponise law enforcement against people they don’t like,” accuses House Oversight Committee member, Democrat Texas Representative Christian Menefee.
“Democrats haven’t had the power to do much about it. That changes in January when we take back the House.”
Legal attacks on Mr Trump’s associates are already escalating.
Some have already been caught up in insider-trading and predictive-market-betting scandals. His Ambassador to Greece has been sacked for soliciting cash. And key MAGA financiers and political strategists are facing scrutiny for their ties to Russian-backed European interests.
House Oversight and Senate Finance Committee Democrats are targeting Mr Kushner. They’ve sent White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles a letter raising concerns that the President’s son-in-law may be “subject to conflicts of interest which could threaten the security of the American people”.
They’ve also sought documents related to Secretary of War Peter Hegseth’s activities, the renovation of the Kennedy Centre, and several convicted criminals pardoned by the President.
This week, three Trump Administration officials received official complaints under the Federal Hatch Act. That prevents government employees from using their roles to help the election campaigns of any politician.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Brendan Carr, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick all allegedly spoke out in support of Republican candidate for Alaska, Dan Sullivan, at a recent public rally.
The Trump Organisation is also under pressure.
It wants to build an exclusive Presidential retreat alongside the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach. The US government gets to use the accommodation – and golf club – free of charge. Not to mention using the golf club’s bar, function rooms and entertainment facilities alongside all its exclusive fee-paying membership.
And Mr Trump’s extensive entourage of billionaires and business leaders is also getting nervous.
A list of donors for his controversial $US330 million White House Ballroom recently leaked.
Apple, NVIDIA, the Adelson Foundation and broadcast billionaire Charlie Ergen have each handed over $US25 million. Google coughed up $US22 million; Lockheed Martin, Microsoft and Palantir donated $10 million each. Amazon and Meta handed over $US5 million.
Anonymous sources provided another $US77 million.
“If they have supported this administration, they know they could become targets,” Lex Politica legal firm partner Steve Roberts told the WSJ.