Trump II to Usurp Davos

There is nothing Trump II will not infect, envelope, suffocate or subrogate because he wants something or simply has that on the top of his short, spontaneous list of savage whims.  Trump is upending global world order and the institutions charged with holding that in place.  The United Nations and the World Economic Forum are two of those institutions.

Trump will attend the World Economic Forum's 2026 Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland this week and speak about creating dialogue, a completely foreign concept to Trump II as it requires listening.  His toadie and economic twin Javier Milei will follow Trump II in giving remarks to the world's elite.

Trump II stacked its the Gaza rebuild Board of Peace Executive Committee with political tools and private equity underwriters (PEU), then morphed it into a global institution in a Joker like surprise. 

For a one time price of $1 billion countries can become permanent members of Trump's new board.  The offer is time limited, so countries (other than Argentina, which will do anything Trump asks) need to act fast.  That next country is the third one and officially charters Trump's Global Peace Board.  

What Trump really wants is to gobble up the globe in a game of real life RISK.  I expect a shoe banging speech from Trump II, the digital Caligula.  He didn't get his Nobel Prize the old fashioned way, by earning it.  So he shamed a Venezuelan opposition leader into giving him her prize.  

Like any good abuser, Trump blamed the Norwegian government (not the Nobel Committee) for his unchecked desire to invade and occupy Greenland.  

"now, NATO ⁠should do something for the United States"

NATO does not have Greenland to give away, no matter how many TechGods want it.  

Trump II, stick a sock in it man. You look like a petulant child.  And that's what the world will see this week in Davos, the annual gathering of global tamperers (politicians and deal makers).  

Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and their new TechGod brethren.  Increasingly, more are one.  How many PEU/TechGod private planes will be in Switzerland ferrying their billionaire passengers from all over the globe?  And how many politicians will catch a ride on those PEU/TechGod private planes?

Update:  As for who is gathering at Davos, the group that fueled income inequality when they said they were fighting it:

Trump II's Gaza "Board of Piece"

Pirate lore is full of references to "pieces of eight."  The Spanish dollar coin was used in America as currency until 1857.  At times it was the preferred currency.

Trump II, the Great Piece Taker, will chair the new Gaza "Board of Peace," which in reality should use its phonetic twin, "Piece."  Economic Peace means subverting one's rights, land and political say for commerce.

Looking at the Executive Board's composition, it has a PEU (private equity underwriter) and political opportunist flavor.  Marco Rubio may be the next great political opportunist for the Red Team.  Political advisor Robert Gabriel is on the board to frame (distort) the narrative to something more publicly acceptable than the failed Economic Peace proposed by Tony Blair under the Quartet and later by Jared Kushner via the Abraham Accords.

Trump II, as chairman, brings considerable risk from his spontaneously launching "savage whims."  That's what Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are there to contain.  A majority of Executive Board members are currently PEUs or have that in their background.  

The board is charged with leading areas "critical to Gaza’s stabilization and long-term success, including, but not limited to, governance capacity-building, regional relations, reconstruction, investment attraction, large-scale funding, and capital mobilization."

Private equity underwriters (PEU) have a reputation as financial barbarians for the way they takeover and carve up corporate spoils.  Trump II does that to countries.  

That PEU presence extends down to Senior Advisors named to the Executive Board.

PEU Apollo CEO Marc Rowan did not look kindly on college students protesting the widespread killing of innocent women and children as Israel razed Gaza.  Will he really work to make life better for the people there?  

Ask any employee who had their company taken over by a PEU in the last twenty years how much their new owners cared about workers.

Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and their new TechGod brethren.  Increasingly, more are one.  Trump has demanded the PEU/TechGod billionaire class orient solely towards him.  In return Trump II makes a way for them to spread further around the globe, into where no PEU/TechGod has gone before.  Gaza's financial barbarian intrusion is clearly underway.

Update:  It seems Gaza will need a significant supply of building materials and two members of the Executive Board could help.

Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners ($150 million) and Marc Rowan's Apollo ($1.2 billion which increased $1.8 billion for a $3 billion total) both invested in QXO, a tech-forward leader in the building products distribution industry.  

...new investors committed until July 15, 2026 to purchase up to 185,500 shares in the aggregate of a new series of Series C Convertible Perpetual Preferred Stock, par value $0.001 per share (the “Series C Preferred Stock”), of QXO for an aggregate purchase price of $1.855 billion (at a stated value of $10,000 per share) (the “Convertible Preferred Investment”). As a result of the commitments by the new investors, the Convertible Preferred Investors, including the initial investors party to the Investment Agreement, have committed to purchase up to 300,000 shares of the Series C Preferred Stock for an aggregate purchase price of $3.0 billion.

Jared Kushner joined the QXO board of directors as their fifth independent director but votes a huge number of shares in any proxy.  

QXO is in North America but is raising massive amounts of capital given yesterday's filing for $750 million in new common stock on top of Apollo's $3 billion.  Might they supply building products for Gaza?

Update 1-18-26:  Trump's goal of becoming King of the World is enhanced by his new Board of Peace proposal.  Of course members have to bring Trump lots of money to control.  As chairman Trump II would have the final say on anything.  Bloomberg reported:

The Trump administration is asking countries that want a permanent spot on his new Board of Peace to contribute at least $1 billion. 

 According to a draft charter for the proposed group seen by Bloomberg, President Donald Trump would serve as its inaugural chairman and would decide on who is invited to be members. Decisions would be taken by a majority, with each member state present getting one vote, but all would be subject to the chairman’s approval.

The draft appears to suggest Trump himself would control the money.

Voting meetings will be held at least annually and “at such additional times and locations as the Chairman deems appropriate,” the draft charter says. The agenda would be subject to approval by the chairman.

Trump would also have the power to remove a member, subject to a veto by a two-thirds majority of member states. “The Chairman shall at all times designate a successor for the role of Chairman.”

Yes, it is clear who the subjects are.  Trump II only needs three member states to vote the Board into existence.

It would become official once three member states agree to the charter.

Trump II, Javier Milei and who?

Board of Peace for Gaza, which would be formed under the broader umbrella of his new Board of Peace.

Trump II usurps the UN.

Trump II & Economic Twin to Speak at WEF on 1-21

Two special men will give special addresses at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland next week.  They are speaking within a half hour of each other.  Trump II goes first followed by his Quasimodo economic twin, Argentinian President Javier Milei.  

The World Economic Forum is an annual meeting of global tamperers that leverages state power on behalf of the wealthy.  If that were not true how did the WEF fail so badly on income inequality, a key issue for that body for over twelve years?

The Forum welcomed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman back with open arms after a Saudi consulate was used to kill Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the Crown Prince himself used the Riyadh Ritz Carlton to imprison and torture royal family members and Saudi businessmen in a monetary shakedown.  

Trump's first Defense Secretary wants history books to ignore the Gaza victims, as if trapping women and children in a war zone is an everyday occurrence and should be normalized.  

Trump is fresh off seizing Venezuela's Nicholas Maduro and his wife in order to control the country's oily parts.  Now he is considering a run at Greenland, fantasizing about grabbing that country by its icy patch.  

And who better to turn large chunks of Greenland real estate over to?  A bunch of transplanted South Africans, now U.S. TechGod billionaires.  They need a cheap place to cool data centers until they can locate them in space.  Also, they can do anything better than anyone else and that means running a city free of regulations and employment law.  Greenland has large open spaces in which to set up corporate towns, governed solely by TechGods.

This should all get a Henry F. Potter "hiss."  Potter was the robber baron villain in the movie "It's a Wonderful Life."  It was a tradition for college students to hiss at Potter when appeared on the screen during the movie showings at the end of a long fall semester.  

Trump and Milei are interested only in their wonderful lives, as are many of their supporters.  TechGods, major and minor, funded Trump II, gave him his #2-J.D. Vance and answer the phone every time Trump calls wanting money for his next boondoggle.  

TechGod Peter Thiel, Vance's mentor, needs a government free zone to accomplish his nefarious goals, so much so that he distorted The Bible's Revelations, turning the anti-Christ into a one world government regulator, a vile corporate oppressor.  

TechGod Joe Lonsdale needs a government free zone to bring back public executions.  That's why he helped found Palantir.  

Another TechGod wants to ditch the First Amendment, defining acceptable and unacceptable speech in order to ensure one national narrative.

Trump's fixation on Greenland is as opportunistic as his teen beauty pageant dressing room incursions.  He does things because he can.  Congress and the Supremes are the crowd on 5th Avenue sitting on their hands after Trump shot somebody.  

We'll see what the Davos crowd does next week with our Pedophile Protector in the White House.  I hope the F-You's and middle fingers abound.  Creep is as creep does.

Update 1-17-26:  Trump II's promise to cut Americans' energy bills in half is unfulfilled as energy prices rose during a time when many could not afford it.

“your energy bill within 12 months will be cut in half. I’ll have your energy bill down within 12 months, throughout the country … That’s my pledge, all over the country.”

I doubt this failure makes his Davos ramble.

Javier Milei made the Gaza Board of Peace and some Israelis are upset that Trump II made board choices without consulting Israeli leaders.

Update 1-18-26:  Other reporters have seen the schism between Trump II;s "might makes right" and the Davos set's rules based order.  The meeting will occur fresh off Trump's planned usurping of the United Nations via his Board of Peace, more aptly called Trump's Board of Pieces of Eight.

TechGods Have Plans for Greenland

Responsible Statecraft reported on Trump's nonstop push for Greenland:

...the forces that may be actually driving the minerals agenda: tech billionaires like Peter Thiel and Elon Musk, who see Greenland not just as a source of rare earths, but as a laboratory for their libertarian economic and social experiments. These tech-billionaires envision unregulated “freedom cities” in Greenland, free from democratic oversight, environmental laws, and labor protections.

Financelot posted on X:

The city is envisioned as a low-regulation, techno-libertarian hub backed by figures like Peter Thiel (via Praxis), Marc Andreessen, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Sam Altman. 

This project is an AI-driven data center project with aims to capture rare earth mining in Greenland. While exact details on land purchases for the city itself remain undisclosed in public sources, the initiatives are concentrated in southern Greenland, where the island's primary rare earth mineral deposits are located. 

This obsession with annexation reduces everything to a resource grab.

It seems lots of rich and powerful people in the U.S. want to grab Greenland by the Ice Patch.  How are they able to divert our attention from their ceaseless disgusting and disturbing predation?

It's the utopia angle, only there's no "you" in their utopia.

Libertarian TechGods have attached themselves to the federal teat like no other in terms of rapidity and scope.  Their wealth expands exponentially with each and every new valuation of their vast holdings.  

The new greed-based order will meet the old in Davos, Switzerland next week.  The theme is "A Spirit of Dialogue."  Trump II, the digital Caligula, is on tap to speak.  I wouldn't call what Trump does "dialogue."  It's more like derision, manipulation, the unbridled joy of hearing himself speak, mixed in with a little sociopathy and a number of spontaneous "savage whims."

Blackrock's Larry Fink will interview Palantir's Alex Karp, a major TechGod of Spying.  Karp is known for his hyperbolic, one way communications.  Not a good fit for a program centered on dialogue.  Karp has long felt comfortable with super wealthy global tamperers given his history protecting the annual Bilderberg Meeting and serving on its Steering Committee.

White House AI/Crypto Czar David Sacks will converse with Salesforce's Marc Benioff.  Sacks believes the U.S. is "being eaten alive" by little people fraudulently gaming the system.  That includes elections.  Sacks is part of the California billionaire exodus after a local labor union requested a one time 5% billionaire tax be placed on the ballot.

Also speaking at Davos 2026 is Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein.  He is on a panel addressing the topic:  Can We Afford Longevity?"  

That's very different from Elon's future "AI/robot world of abundance" where saving for retirement is "irrelevant."  Is that because regular people have to work until they die?  TechGods are pushing the 96 hour work week, 16 hours a day, six days a week.

Davos 2026 is centered around five themes (in blue text below).  My comments are in red.

Trump II, the Great Contester, will speak on topic #1.  He's fresh off a meeting with the Danes over Greenland.

What chaps my backside is the Trojan Horse nature of it all.  The great democracy grabs Greenland only to make large portions of it ungoverned by the people, turned into a corporate controlled paradise where TechGods can trash the environment and set up abusive workplaces.  

That's not a "freedom for the people" city, not in the least.  It has a Beijing, Tony Blair's and Jared Kushner's Gaza "economic freedom" feel.  Go along to get along.  Nothing enlightening about that.  

I can smell the insider enrichment from here.  It's like being told you are getting a horse and all you see and smell are road apples.  

Fine Would Make It Harder to Sue Over 401(k) PEU

Blackstone Group, a politically connected private equity underwriter (PEU) struck a deal with Empower

Empower enables employers to offer private market Collective Investment Trusts CITs within their plan's investment lineup, provided they partner with an advisor to deliver the solution through an advice-based managed account.

Blackstone has lots of holdings it can dump into a CIT for Empower 401(k) holders.

Red Team Congressman Randy Fine authored a House Bill that would make it harder for retirement plan holders to sue 401(k) administrators and associated financial advisors for bad advice relative to private equity, private credit and cryptocurrencies.

Private equity has long sought access to Americans' retirement accounts and Trump II made that dream come true.

Fine introduced the grab "Greenland by their Ice Patch" bill under Trump II's orders.  That's not all for the first term legislator.  

Following the lead of PEU Legends, the first to take up the right of Israel to enact massive casualties on women and children in Gaza, Fine introduced the "No Anti-Semitism in Education Act."  Blackstone's Jon Gray, Bill Ackman and Leon Cooperman were the first to strike out at university associated Gaza protests at Penn, Columbia and Harvard.

Fine cosponsored  the "Voting Only through English" Act.

“If the only language you can speak is a foreign language, then go vote in a foreign election,” said Congressman Fine. “American elections are for Americans who speak English, period.

Fine discussed denaturalizing and deporting New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

He also introduced a bill designating the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) a foreign terrorist organization.  CAIR called out Fine for his words suggesting wiping out those who would wipe out us in reference to Muslims.  

It is common for members of Congress to support Israel whole-heartedly and push the agendas of their largest donors. 

Red Team Fine has a bright future given his outstanding service of PEU legends.  He need only look at Blue Team Kysten Sinema's post Congressional rewards for inspiration.

 Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and their new TechGod brethren.  Increasingly, more are one.

Applecart: Funded by Orchard Owners

Semafor reported:

A marketing technology firm that seeks to influence C-suite executives, policymakers, and other important people is getting a major infusion of cash from one of the world’s biggest investors. 

Applecart received a $100 million investment from the private equity giant Blackstone last year, two people familiar with the situation first told Semafor, in a fundraising round that would value the New York-based data company at around $500 million. 

Applecart has a leading place in an emerging but discreet cohort of companies and organizations aimed at reaching key figures in industry and government.

Applecart's founders and funders do not need software to reach key figures in industry and government.  Most of them will be in Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum meeting.

Blackstone co-founder Stephen Schwarzman is a legendary private equity underwriter (PEU) who supports the political Red Team.  

Now that our country has but one decision maker, Trump II, the software must be designed to get your messages to Don Jr., Eric, Dominari, Yorktown Advisors, World Liberty Financial, American Bitcoin, the Executive Branch Club, Trump Media & Technology Group, as well as The Trump Organization and its numerous international joint ventures.  Eric has been in Saudi Arabia marketing $10 billion in real estate.  

The Saudi Crown Prince just froze residential and commercial rents in Riyadh in their affordability crisis.  Trump II is trying something similar with credit card interest rates.  It's good to be king.

Just know the people trying to sell you "decision maker marketing" software are the people who don't need it to influence decision makers. 

Politicians Red & Blue love PEU (staid) and their new TechGod (brash) brethren.  Increasingly, more are one.  That's the apple cart that needs to be upended.

Note:  Trump II will be joined by a large entourage in Davos for their annual meeting of PEUs, TechGods and global tamperers:

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright will join President Donald Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, later this month. 

Jamieson Greer, head of US trade policy; Steve Witkoff, special envoy to the Middle East; AI and crypto czar David Sacks; Michael Kratsios, head of the White House’s science and technology policy; and Mehmet Oz, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, are also part of the planned delegation, an official familiar with the planning told Semafor.

Many of these government officials will interact with their former PEU and TechGod peers.  

Trump Punches Powell, Market Flinches

Trump II's latest savage whim involves Fed Chair Jay Powell, whose chairman role ends in May.  Impatient "Donroe" wants his way right here, right now on multiple fronts.  

Powell has been impervious to Trump's meddling, other than showing obvious irritation at the President's lies and mischaracterizations.  The Fed chair called Trump II out again this evening.  

"The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President."

Trump II could be patient and maybe Powell would surrender both the Chair and his Board of Governor seat.  Tantrums and bullying could motivate Mr. Powell to remain a governor after stepping down as Chair.  

Gold futures are up and stock futures down upon hearing of Trump's Fed tampering.  I'll wager the market can reign in Trump far better than his morality (which is apparently housed in a vacuum chamber on the dark side of the moon).  

Trump is headed to The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.  U.S. manufacturing employment declined in 2025.  

Donroe fired his latest shot across the Fed's bow and it may boomerang back.  Shouldn't those DOJ staffers be working on the Epstein files? 

Update 1-12-26:  Former Fed Chairs shared a statement condemning Trump's interference with the Fed.

Update 1-13-26:  Trump II's team is spinning the Fed subpoena as instigated by Bill Pulte and Jeanine Pirro.

Emboldened: Trump II "the Raider"

Mediaite reported on Trump II's hostile takeover desires:

CNN commentator Maggie Haberman said President Donald Trump is feeling himself like never before. Haberman appeared on Friday’s episode of The Lead, where Jake Tapper aired remarks by Trump, who claimed the president is totally unchecked in the international arena, except by “my own morality.” 

Trump has also repeatedly insisted that the U.S. will take Greenland “whether they like it or not.” 

“It’s quite a view of the president’s view of his powers,” Tapper said of the president’s claims. 

 “And I think we’re seeing it on display over and over, which is that essentially, you’ve seen this administration say that courts that try to stop him are illegitimate authorities or usurping his power,” Haberman responded. “We are clearly seeing him flex, and he is emboldened in a way I don’t think we’ve ever seen before. But where that leads remains to be seen.”

Trump II is raiding countries like he would takeover a company.   Identify the target based on resources.  Begin to accumulate support from expats and seed the move with money inside the target country while garnering support within the political Red Team.  Lay down demands via Truth Social.  Summon the sticks and dangle just a few carrots.  

Even as he answers only to himself, Trump II prefers to punish far more than he utilizes rewards.

The political Red Team has deferred to Trump II in cases where the President has strong armed, law firms, universities, high tech companies, media companies, even allies and enemies.  There is no stage where Trump II will not bully and usurp.  

A recent story cited the Executive Branch's extravagant spending, rigid security and strict loyalty rules.  That sounds and feels very familiar as my first real job was for a Trump like boss.  He was the CEO of a large, regional teaching hospital.  It's difficult to describe being in such an environment where the top man wields all the power and everyone else is a bit player on his stage.  

Ethics, like international law for Trump II, did not matter.  Women were second class citizens, there for the viewing and grabbing.  The CEO held court daily.  Supplicants searched for clues that this was a good day to approach with effusive praise, hoping not to get a verbal lashing and be turned into a ritual sacrifice such that others could smell the burning flesh and flee, saving their supplication for another day.

The waste of time and money was tremendous.  The cost of people's integrity and self-esteem was incalculable.  Good people set aside their management/leadership knowledge and ethical standards and became hollow shells.  Some became enforcers, others tattle tales.  After enduring a series of expletive filled tirades, most became eunuchs.  

The CEO won the company golf tournament every year.  After spraying the ball all over the hole, his scorekeeper recorded par, sometimes a birdie.  A grand celebration of his win would go well into the night.

On business trips an official suite would be stocked with alcohol, snacks and pornography.  Expensive dinner reservations included the CEO and the whole entourage.  The alcohol bill sometimes rivalled the food total.  Trump II does not drink but his Chief of Staff said he has "an alcoholic's personality."

There was a political pecking order and I was nowhere near the top and had no desire to compete for a higher rung.  God blessed me with a move to Texas where I worked for a solid family man of deep faith. He took Christ's teachings a a guidebook for living, not a fancy cloak to manipulate others.  This gentleman was the first of many outstanding leaders who mentored me.  I am grateful to them all.

My last healthcare job before retiring was for a post acute care healthcare company.  In the midst of my employment we were majority acquired by a two private equity underwriters (PEU).  I experienced firsthand the carnage done by PEUs in New York with their spreadsheets and operating models.  

Trump II employed the PEU playbook with DOGE.  That brought back another set of difficult memories.  

Trump's country raiding is but a PEU takeover on a grand scale.  Under PEU ownership, things can always get worse.  I imagine it's the same with Trump calling the shots for Venezuela, Gaza, Greenland, Canada, Mexico, Iran and Cuba.  

I don't plan on leaving our country.  I made it over three years before and I can do three now.  I am counting on Congress and the Supremes to establish a few guard rails.  That would help me sleep at night and make our 250th anniversary more enjoyable.  It's hard to celebrate a country I no longer recognize as the Presidency has morphed in the most miserable aspects of my first and last jobs.

Note:  The description of the Executive Branch is Don Jr.'s exclusive social club in Georgetown area of Washington, D.C.   I assume the apple does not fall far from the tree and that "extravagant spending, rigid security and strict loyalty rules" also apply to the Executive Branch of government.  

Update 1-12-26:  Trump II is going after Fed Chair Jay Powell via a "Just Us" Department investigation.  He hit back on Exxon and threatened to keep the company out of Venezuela.  Trump called the five Senators that voted to restrict his military moves regarding Venezuela and threatened them with primary challenges as part of his displeasure.  Unhappy Trump...

Trump wants ownership of Greenland "because it is psychologically important" to him.  Trump does not believe in Greenlanders' right of self determination.

Update 1-13-26:  Trump II's team is spinning the Fed criminal subpoenas as instigated by Bill Pulte and Jeanine Pirro.  Enforcers R Us.

TechGods of Autonomous War & Spying Cheer Trump II

Trump II, the digital Caligula, announced he plans to increase his Pentagon budget proposal to Congress from $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion, a 50% increase in one year, in order to create a "Dream Military."  

"This will allow us to build the 'Dream Military' that we have long been entitled to and, more importantly, that will keep us SAFE and SECURE, regardless of foe."

TechGods of Autonomous Killing include Palmer Luckey of Anduril (unmanned vehicles/aircraft) and Elon Musk of Tesla (robots).

"It’s just, if we build this robot army do I have at least a strong influence over that robot army? Not current control but a strong influence. That's what it comes down to in a nutshell. I don't feel comfortable wielding that robot army if I don't have at least a strong influence."

And what might Elon do with that robot army?  

Elon Musk shared and endorsed a post on X that declared that white men cannot become a “minority” and “white solidarity is the only way to survive.”

TechGods of Spying are just as excited as their Autonomous Killing counterparts.  Alex Karp of Palantir can now be more bizarrely arrogant and violent in his language about his enemies, domestic and abroad.  Alex Karp and fellow TechGod/Palantir investor Peter Thiel cut their teeth protecting Bilderberg Group meetings.  Both Thiel and Karp served on Bilderberg's Steering Committee.  

Will any of that new Pentagon money be used to fund TechGod of Immortality Bryan Johnson's live forever fantasy?  I imagine Trump II would be very interested in that.

Trump II's deal with TechGods involves vast sums of federal money from Uncle Sam's wallet in return for complete loyalty and total fealty.  It appears both Trump and the TechGods are holding up their end of this dark bargain.

Their dream is our nightmare.

In Don We Strut

America's 250th anniversary celebrates everyone, including Trump II's creeps and financial criminals.  A new Trump $1 coin could be issued in support of that event.  I took the liberty of editing the mockup and adding a few of his ardent followers.

Trump's Proud Boys creeps returned to the Ellipse yesterday for the five year anniversary of Jan. 6th.  His various creep supporters who enacted violence that day are regrouping and aiming for retribution.  These are dark people with racist, violent agendas.  

Trump's pardoned financial criminals include fraudsters, tax evaders, witness tamperers and those who made or took illegal campaign donations.  Michael Milken is a private equity underwriter (PEU) founding father.  

"Milken is the junk-bond king who personified the 1980s buy-and-destroy era"

Milken's leveraged buyout organizations (LBO) became private equity (PE) in an effort to soften its image, but their "buy and destroy" tactics continued.  

George Santos promoted himself as a digital PEU in his run for Congress.  He ended up as fake as the coin pictured above.  

Americans voted for a businessman as President to fix their personal financial problems.  Trump II isn't interested in that.  He chose to adapt PEU's "buy and destroy" into "usurp, appendage and drain."  Trump wants to run everything and that comes with a management fee, direct or indirect.

"Corporate America has realized that President Trump likes to make major decisions that can effect Corporate America."--Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein on Bloomberg 1-7-26

For a Trump target it goes like this:  

Trump II decides your industry is making too much money and he wants a cut.  He picks a company within the industry and bores in.  A Trump goon tells the CEO "We can do this the easy way or the hard way."  A whole of government attack plan is revealed to the target.  CEOs may initially resist but they are the pretty lady in the dressing room.  Trump will have his way.  

The key is how much Trump II can extort from his victims while setting up obscene ongoing profit streams for his family and friends.

Trump's goal is to have a $200 billion net worth by the end of his second Presidency.  That comes on someone else's back be it in the U.S. or elsewhere.  Trump II, the digital Caligula, has empire on his mind and so far Congress and the Supremes have been lickspittle in holding up the pillars of democracy.

Trump II's entourage includes rich financial parasites, professional politicians, and his "all image, all the time" team.  Those closest to him are generally a group of sick, spineless, and acquiescers, all hoping for their share of drippings from their boss' obscene table.  A few are as twisted and mendacious as Trump II.

I don't know how the media covers it with the incessant lying, the rude insulting, his inability to admit error (which is learning), his creepiness towards women and his unceasing need for attention and adulation.

America's 250th birthday will be celebrated by Americans.  It's getting harder to believe Trump II is one worth celebrating given his widespread and significant destruction of U.S. Executive Branch norms, practices and legal obligations.

Update 1-9-26:  Trump II does not want or need international law.

The rules are his to make.  In reality they are all savage whims.  It's what he wants in that present moment.

Update 1-10-26:  The White House is "reviewing protocols" after Trump released unemployment data a day early.  Trump's release was described by economists as “unprecedented” and potentially in violation of long-standing federal policy." 

Office of Management and Budget policy bars executive branch officials from commenting on or releasing market-moving economic statistics prior to their official publication, and also prohibits public statements until at least 30 minutes after release. 

“No serious country does this.”

Trump showed the world long ago that he makes the rules and does not have to follow them.

The Guardian ran a story on Trump's international lurching based on personal whim and advised by close friends and family.  It quoted John Bolton:

“Trump has no philosophy, no national security grand strategy,” he said. “He doesn’t even do policy the way normal people understand that word. It’s all transactional, it’s all about Donald Trump, and that’s the prism through which he sees everything, including domestic policy, not just foreign policy. He listens to all these other people, but at the end of the day, it’s what’s in it for Donald Trump.”

And for that our democracy, our republic suffers.

Update 1-12-26:  Trump hit back on Exxon and threatened to keep the company out of Venezuela.   Eric Trump is marketing $10 billion in Saudi Arabian Trump branded real estate.

Polymarket Wager on Maduro: Insider Trading Encouraged

Futurism reported: 

....an unidentified user bet tens of thousands of dollars on various predictions that Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro would be imminently “out” or that the US forces would show up “in Venezuela by” a specified date during the runup to the incursion. 

The account “existed for only one week and quickly became the biggest ‘yes’ holder in the Maduro out market,” Brody tweeted. The evidence of insider trading is compelling, to say the least, given the highly suspicious timing. 

The account invested over $30,000 less than two days before the United States launched its invasion to kidnap Maduro and his wife and “profited $400,000 in less than 24 hours,” as sports entrepreneur Joe Pompliano calculated in a post on Bluesky. 

“Seems pretty suspicious!” he added. “[Secretary of defense] Pete Hegseth making some beer money on the side?” Brody joked. 

“Insider trading is not only allowed on prediction markets; it’s encouraged,” Pompliano argued.

Polymarket may not care but federal employees have ethics standards they are required to meet.  I imagine that $370,000 profit is taxable under federal law.  Self reporting is required.   

So who was the insider?  Was it an insider's insider?

Polymarket, the world's largest predictions market, has received an investment from Donald Trump Jr.'s venture capital fund, 1789 Capital.  Don Jr. also joined Polymarket's Advisory Board.

Was the tip passed in the Executive Club, an exclusive high dollar club promoting access to Trump administration officials?  Don Jr. and his 1789 Capital peers are owners of the Executive Club.  

If it was a U.S. user Polymarket should know their identity:

The U.S. Requirement: Full Identity Verification 

If you are a “Polymarket Bro” based in the United States using the new regulated app, the rules are different.  To comply with federal law and CFTC regulations: 

Mandatory KYC: You must complete full identity verification before you can deposit a single dollar. 

What You’ll Need: Be prepared to provide your full name, date of birth, residential address, and your Social Security Number (SSN). 

Document Upload: You will likely need to provide a photo of a government-issued ID (Driver’s License or Passport).

I look forward to learning who the new account holder was.  It would be rich if the insider knowledge profiteer was a Trump son, given the harangues delivered over Hunter Biden.  Yes, that was part of Trump's whipping up the crowd five years ago on Jan. 6, 2021.  

The political Red Team does double standard better than anyone.  It's danged near perfection.

Plethora of Trump Related Products Confusing

It's hard keeping the various Trump branded money making initiatives straight.  Trump Media made two year end announcements that further muddied the picture.  

The first involved Truth Social Funds and its five new ETFs.

These are different than the three Truth.Fi ETFs announced last year in conjunction with crypto.com.  Those are yet to come to market.  Truth Social Funds are a collaboration with Yorkville America and Commonwealth Fund Services.

Truth Social Funds showed a Richmond, Virginia address.  That address houses a number of funds.  It probably has a long way to go to equal the Ugland House (Caymans) but at the rate Trump named products are hitting the market I believe they can get there.

Trump Billionaires Club game was released at the end of December.  It pushes the $TRUMP meme-coin, not to be confused with $WLFI token, USD1 or the yet to be released DJT (Trump Media) digital token for shareholders (the other announcement).  All four are Trump related crypto products.

That's not all.  Don't forget:

Trump Media Group CRO Strategy, will focus on acquiring CRO tokens from the Cronos blockchain ecosystem. The end result will be a $6.42bn digital asset treasury company.

2025 ended with a merger announcement between Trump Media and TAE Technologies.  Trump's digital scattershot enterprise will combine with nuclear fusion, clean power/storage and small molecule cancer treatment.  

It has the same feel and consistency of U.S foreign policy.  Cobble a bunch of whims together and sell the hell out of it.  We'll see who buys outside the MAGA faithful and billionaires wanting to indirectly funnel money to Trump II and his family.  This too shall pass.

Update 1-6-25:  A Trump U.S. dollar coin (real currency) may be on the way for our 250th Anniversary.

I took the liberty of changing "In God We Trust" to "In Don We Strut."  We now have the "Donroe Doctrine" for Trump II's land, resource and power grabbing whims in our neighborhood.  Trump II already charges tariffs (protection money).   As he said in his speech today, world leaders are happy to pay.

Update 1-11-26:  Trump already has a gold tennis shoe for sale but added one with 2028.  They sell for $799.  

Insufferable, Conflicted Sacks is Window into Trump II

Trump II's Crypto/AI czar David Sacks holds stakes in hundreds of AI related companies through Craft Ventures, Valor Equity Partners, direct investments, the Production Board, Beldore Capital, Sequoia and AL Ventures.  

His financial disclosure shows 30 investments with AI in the company name under Craft Venture Funds.

David Sacks is co-founder and partner at Craft.

Sacks recently cited widespread fraud in government programs.

This occurred during an "All In Podcast."  

The country is being "eaten alive" by little people gaming the system.

Wow, I thought VC's new how to analyze financial numbers.  The deficit has been caused by the government spending far more money than it takes in and has done so for decades under both Red and Blue political teams.  

"Stolen money maybe leading to stolen elections."  Really, David?

Silicon Valley poured more than $394.1m into the US presidential election

The latter half of the podcast focused on California's billionaire tax, an upcoming ballot measure.  The measure imposes a 5% tax on assets.  CBS News reported:

Craft Ventures, a venture capital firm co-founded in 2017 by billionaire tech investor David Sacks said on December 31 that it had opened a new office in Austin, Texas. The firm added that Sacks, who also serves as a White House adviser on AI and cryptocurrency, had relocated to Austin earlier that month, although it didn't mention the proposed wealth tax. He had previously resided in San Francisco.

Sacks isn't the only one scoping out new locations:

Peter Thiel announced on Dec. 31 that his private investment firm, Thiel Capital, has opened a Miami office.

Fraud is fraud and should be investigated, with charges brought based on evidence.  Crypto is historically fraught with fraud.  One might expect Sacks to be laser focused in that area, especially has his favored Solana has been a source of frequent "pump and dumps" and "rug pulls."

Trump II has gutted many federal financial investigative bodies.  He has blown through historical ethical norms around public servants declaring and disposing of conflicting assets.  

Trump II's giant money grab for his family and friends is concerning for this independent voter.  That money grab comes with a price, fealty and constant complimenting of the boss.  It also requires giving way to offensive comments, rude actions, manipulative behavior and sexual creepiness by that same boss.  I'm sure the "All In" Crowd thinks it is worth it.

The time will come for them to atone for their earthly behavior.  I'd love to be alive to see that final "All In" Episode.  "How did we do with our time on this plane?"  

Title it:  "TechGods meet the real God."  I doubt the term "winning" comes up.  

And the last shall be first......

Update 1-6-26:  Addition to the theme that billionaires and giant corporations hate paying taxes but love tapping Uncle Sam's wallet.

“...the deal waters down a landmark 2021 agreement that set a minimum global corporate tax of 15%.

This deal risks nearly a decade of global progress on corporate taxation only to allow the largest, most profitable American companies to keep parking profits in tax havens.”

Trump II and the Red Team are far more concerned about boosting corporate profits than helping with the high cost of goods and housing.

Update 1-9-26:  Fortune reported:

Google cofounder Larry Page has quietly—or loudly—joined the billionaire exodus from California, shifting businesses east and dropping about $173 million on two ultra-luxury waterfront mansions in Miami’s Coconut Grove.  

​​Some Silicon Valley executives, notably Anduril’s Palmer Luckey, warned such an outcome was possible, saying in late December founders would have to sell off parts of their companies to pay for “fraud, waste, and political favors for the organizations pushing this ballot initiative.”

The Un-Revisable Donald Trump

The toxic sludge of 2025 is oozing into 2026.  The ending of a year is supposed to be a time to take stock of what went well, what is not working or going poorly, and how to make changes going forward.  

Trump II, the digital Caligula, is undeterred in his efforts to turn the U.S. government into a money funnel for his family and friends.   That means holding Congress for the Red Team in the 2026 midterms.  

Blackstone Group co-founder Stephen Schwarzman has long been a Red Team political supporter.  Private equity underwriters (PEU) have sponsored politicians of both stripes for decades, preferring to do so quietly, behind the scenes.  Trump II added a new big money group to his side, TechGods.

TechGods are far brasher than PEUs (aka the greed and leverage boys).  Never mind that their products harm children or have criminal early adopters.  Meta had a policy that forgave child sex predators fifteen times.  TechGods know that their federal immunity from criminal liability would be long gone based solely on public will. 

PEUs have a similar benefit, highly unpopular with the American electorate.  It's their preferred "carried interest" taxation which enables billionaires to pay lower tax rates on income than their secretary or gardener.  Both political teams have run campaigns on eliminating this benefit, but can never get together to actually implement those promises.

In 2025 Trump II granted PEUs their wish to enter worker 401(k) retirement accounts.  Retirees can now chose to invest in private equity, private credit and other alternative investments.  One can now have a Bitcoin IRA.  

Why should anyone put supposedly safe retirement money into a speculative cryptocurrency?  It only makes sense if the U.S. economy is morphing into a giant casino.  That leads us to a recent TechGod offering, prediction markets.  They market user opinion as knowledge in order to avoid the stain of wagering.  Nearly 80% of the public has no interest in using prediction markets.  

Trump II is a salesman and is selling on behalf of TechGods (in addition to subsidizing them).  

Only 38% think AI will improve health, whilst 36% think AI will improve the national economy, 31% see a positive impact on the job market, and 37% believe it will enhance their own jobs.

The Trump boys are profiting far more directly from their father's executive orders and budgetary priorities than Hunter Biden ever did selling a few paintings and sitting on the Burisma board.  Don Jr., Eric and Jared's take is in the billions in Year 1 of Trump II.

The New Year pump is on for $TRUMP now that Trump Billionaire Club game has launched.  $TRUMP rose from $4.70 to over $5.00.  

Trump family companies make money three ways, by owning the vast majority of Trump meme-coins, earning licensing fees and a cut of trading revenues.  

$TRUMP's trend line has mostly gone down, but several events caused a bounce.  His "dinner with the President" competition for top $TRUMP holders spiked the meme-coin from $12 to over $16.  The Saudi Crown Prince's visit ran it from $6 to $9.  Time will tell what Trump Billionaires Club game does for his meme-coin.  

A Bloomberg columnist derided Trump II's impact on norms.  I decry his impact on knowledge, which requires theory.

"One failure of a theory requires its modification" - Dr. W. Edwards Deming

Trump's irreality has him doubling down on false facts and nonsense narratives.  He is incapable of revising his beliefs that have no basis in reality.  As a wise physician once told me, "That person is refractory to learning." 

Why should anyone care that our President is incapable of ingesting new information and revising his theories about the world as his mind is overloaded with hubris, greed and self aggrandizing?  Because like attracts like.  Because the President is a role model for youth

Trump is un-revisable.  For most of us that requires endurance, awareness and naming that which is going on.  Thus, having closed out a 2025 PEU Year, we enter 2026, the Year of the society harming TechGod.  

Independent voters may have ditched Trump II, but the PEU boys and their TechGod brethren remain firm supporters.  They have the money and technology to manipulate people and intend to do just that.  Please revise your world view to incorporate this.

Closing Out 2025 PEU Year with Sprinkles

It was the best of times for private equity underwriters (PEU) and their TechGod brethren in 2025, as long as they aligned themselves with Trump II, the digital Caligula.  Trump II, freshly installed, brought disruption and dislocation to the federal government, dumping workers in exchange for expensive technology.  

The Department of Ungodly Greedy Executives Biased Against Government (DOUGEBAG) fell far short of its goal of saving $2 trillion.  Federal employee headcount decreased by 271,000 workers but overall federal spending rose by $435 billion.  Trump II may be loathe to spend money on people but he knows how to turn a monetary firehose at his priority projects.

It was the worst of times for employees of Sprinkles Cupcakes, a private equity affiliate of KarpReilly.  The chain of cupcake shops closed for good on New Year's Eve (12-31-25).  At best, employees got a day's notice of the closure.  Little warning of job loss during the holidays sounds like a PEU move.

Trump II, in addition to bringing the PEU model to government, dismantled regulations and enforcement mechanisms for what remains.  All in all, 2025 was a very PEU year.

Update 1-11-26:  WaPo did a story on Sprinkles failure and the shabby ending inflicted by PEU owners.