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

cultureJul 21, 202618944

President Donald Trump said "This is truly the golden age of America" in recent remarks. The Bulwark reports Trump personally earned $2.2 billion as president in 2025 and has turned the office into what the piece calls a lucrative grift, using public funds to outfit the White House with gold plating and directing payouts and pardons that benefit his circle. The article says Trump and his family are exploiting public office and that lobbyists reportedly fast-track 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; when asked about controversial pardons Trump said, "I’d rather not have you ask the question" and "I only care about one thing. Will we be No. 1 in crypto?" The Bulwark notes legal countermoves: reporters Justin Florence and Justin Vail outline disgorgement and civil asset recovery tools that operate outside presidential pardon power, can follow money to third parties, and rely on a preponderance of evidence rather than a criminal standard. Those civil recovery mechanisms are presented as a practical way for government actors to claw back alleged ill-gotten gains even if criminal prosecutions or pardons block other avenues.

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.

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