Trump says 'This is truly the golden age of America' in remarks

cultureJul 21, 2026191,142

President Donald Trump declared "This is truly the golden age of America" in recent public remarks. Critics point to reporting in The Bulwark that Trump personally earned $2.2 billion as president in 2025 and has treated the White House like a private palace, including outfitting parts of it with gold plating. The Bulwark says Trump, his family, and allies have used public office to extract payouts, payoffs, and pardons, and that a new pardon economy in Washington reportedly fast-tracks pardons for "$1 million and up." In November 2025 Trump pardoned crypto billionaire Changpeng Zhao after Zhao donated software to help the Trump family launch a cryptocurrency; Trump said he would "rather not have you ask the question" about appearances of corruption and asked, "Will we be No. 1 in crypto?" The Bulwark argues the presidency has become a lucrative grift but notes legal remedies exist: disgorgement laws and civil asset forfeiture can follow and recover ill-gotten gains, operate outside presidential pardon power, and could be used to claw back proceeds distributed to third parties. The piece urges applying those tools to recover public funds rather than rely on pardons or criminal prosecutions alone.

Steve Rattner

@steverattner.bsky.social

Trump claimed his tariffs would bring about a golden age of American manufacturing. Yet since his re-election, we've lost 75,000 manufacturing jobs. Over the same time period, Biden had created 625,000.

29946d ago

Lance Boil4

I'm all for bashing Trump and there is plenty of material to work with, but this is just cherry-picked bullshit. Everyone knows the Covid recovery caused job growth in 2021. There are more honest and compelling arguments for why tariffs are bad and this ain't it. Losing manu. jobs for decades.

John Navas ⛵🌉1

Your chart is misleading. A continuous curve gives the real picture. Presidents inherit the economy they’re handed. My chart below reflects that transition. Trump does now appear to be reversing Biden's decline.

eldemocrato1

Too bad MAGA is a cult and thinking is frowned upon there.

Navigator Research1

Tariffs have proven to be broadly unpopular among Americans, with 57% opposing Trump’s tariff plan…including increasing shares of non-MAGA Republicans.

Quoting this

John Hanger18

True! Repealing the IRA is one reason why manufacturing jobs are falling in the USA! #energysky

Nancy7

President Joe Biden created 625,000 manufacturing jobs in the same period of time that it took the Felon to lose 75,000 of those jobs. “Trump claimed his tariffs would bring about a golden age of American manufacturing.“

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver7

We were promised a manufacturing renaissance. Instead, workers got layoffs, businesses got uncertainty, and communities got left behind. Turns out “golden age” wasn’t an economic plan, it was just a campaign slogan.

MJ3

💥💥BOOM💥💥 Tarrifs were responsible for 75K lost mfg jobs. Total job losses due to lardass 1.0 tariffs were 330K.

Navigator Research2

Tariffs have proven to be broadly unpopular among Americans, with 57% opposing Trump’s tariff plan…including increasing shares of non-MAGA Republicans.

JT Compton 🌊 fighting tyranny2

Trump is a pathological liar. He lied to get elected, promising the Moon but delivering a big steaming pile of crap. In nearly every way, in every economic metric, Trump makes America worse for regular people. Worst president in US history. Everything Trump touches dies. #FDT #25A #WPE

Harvey G. Cohen2

Trump hates it when economists report economic facts backed up by verified data:

Marie 🇨🇦

@pawbaby2.bsky.social

Trump gets asked a simple question” what’s the plan in Iran?” and instead of an answer, we get a tantrum. No strategy. No timeline. Just insults for the female reporter who dared to notice he doesn’t have one. The Golden Age? #USDemocracy #Pinks apple.news/AkedUufvtT2C...

19245d ago

Ruben Garcia3

19, she was just a baby

Kevin Donoghue3

The thing is, if Biden had behaved like that, the Republicans would have had a field day, or rather a month of field days. Can't Democrats learn how to play this game?

Mt Pleasant 🇨🇦 🇩🇪3

imagining Thiel and the real criminals, using his nonstop bluster as cover, and the jokes they tell over it all on the happy-hour-zoom for Spectre

maryburns.bsky.social2

The POS in the Oval Office 😡

laurak4.bsky.social1

He actually hates women that he can't use. Especially smart ones.

RealUSAPatriot1

At least she asked it.

Quoting this

franklee246.bsky.social2

Sometimes trump’s head looks bigger than usual. Don’t worry, it just means he hasn’t farted in a while.

@service-worker.bsky.social

You can paint the entire country trailer park gold but it still won’t make it the golden age

27645d ago

Katharine Noll22

🎯 only I’d say piss “gold” on all of American institutions and it will only reek of urine…

The Bulwark

@thebulwark.com

"The laws, if applied, are clear. No one is allowed to keep the profits of ransacking the public trust. It does not matter if your name is Donald Trump or Bernie Madoff." @amandacarpenter.bsky.social on undoing Trump's corruption:

14845d ago

Amanda Carpenter

@amandacarpenter.bsky.social

Donald Trump has turned the presidency into a grift. Here is how to undo Trump's golden age of government corruption. From me for The Bulwark. www.thebulwark.com/p/undoing-tr...

9445d ago

imarriedaswede.bsky.social1

I hope the next administration is Democratic and that they have the courage and perseverance to claw back this ill-gotten gain of Trump, his family and cronies.

benfranklinsaid.bsky.social1

We must do court reform first because our bad faith SCOTUS loves itself a corrupt monarchy... That said, the fvcking “flying palace” belongs to the nation per the emoluments clause, and I’m willing to also test the theory that foreign purchases of Trump cryptocurrency is an emolument as well.

Quoting this

Nathaniel William Horadam3

This, from Amanda, is a good start. More important than the policy programs amalgamated in "Project 2029" is the roadmap from now until the end of the next administration for ensuring justice — and proper deterrence. It starts with the Dems' investigative powers today.

Adam Keiper

@adamkeiper.com

"Trump is living it up in his corrupt golden era, acting as if the White House is his personal palace....He, his family, and his allies are exploiting public office as if it were a private gold mine and are using taxpayer funds to rig the system with all manner of payouts, payoffs, and pardons."

2145d ago

Sherri

@walkingumchewer.bsky.social

Putting fake gold crap on the walls does not a golden age make.

2745d ago

tomwellborn3rd

@wellborn.net

Trump made $2.2 billion as president in 2025. Civil asset forfeiture can't be pardoned away. Hungary just threw out Orbán and is already clawing back stolen public money. The legal tools exist. What's missing is a government willing to use them after January 2029. www.thebulwark.com/p/undoing-tr...

1345d ago

Blue Georgia

@bluegeorgia.bsky.social

Trump promised a manufacturing "Golden Age." Instead, America lost 75,000 jobs.

1245d ago

Jonathan

@frakitall.bsky.social

Doesn't anyone wonder how Trump's grand economic pronouncements always culminate in job hemorrhaging and massive fiscal liabilities?

1146d ago

Lise Latulippe

@liselatulippe.bsky.social

On Monday, he took to X to share a graph charting the growth in American manufacturing jobs under former President Joe Biden and the same growth under Trump. www.alternet.org/trump-manufa...

445d ago

Paul Russell

@pwrussell.bsky.social

It’s the golden age of the Oval Office alright but I’m not sure about the rest of America.

1045d ago

Pedropiepsy

@pedropiepsy.bsky.social

The golden age of corruption in America. The golden age of hiding evidence and denying evidence. The golden age to be a billionaire and grift money from every hard working American. To make them work in servitude until they die from healthcare debt.

745d ago

Jerelle

@shankhead.bsky.social

“This is truly the golden age of America.” —Trump, just now. Seriously. 🙄

745d ago

flywrangler.bsky.social2

Trump just now "Their killing people like it's candy" - WTF? He's a real rocket surgeon.

flywrangler.bsky.social1

Because he's looking at the Oval Office - it's all golden. He's speaking literally, not figuratively. Golden for him

Alex1

There's only so much fucking gold because of all the tacky stick-on shit they've bulk ordered from Temu.

Dr Eric Farmer

@himself132.bsky.social

BREAKING: Presidential announcement--grocery chain has summer sale, temporarily reducing the cost of some items. The Golden Age of America has arrived! I wonder whether Trump has ever done any actual shopping in his life. Paying a prostitute doesn't count.

446d ago

3 sources

thebulwark.comUndoing Trump’s Golden Age of Corruption floridasunjournal.comHistoric Marcus Hook Plank House Offers Window Into Golden Age of Piracy rileyandkimmyshow.blogspot.comPodcast Actor Robert Young Golden Age of Radio Tribute

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Trump says 'This is truly the golden age of America' in remarks

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