{"text":[[{"start":11.5,"text":"President Donald Trump flew to Medora, North Dakota, this week to dedicate the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library. It was notable for being his first trip aboard the new $400mn Boeing 747 gifted to him by the Emir of Qatar."}],[{"start":26.65,"text":"Trump flew out on the same day it was disclosed he had earned more than $2.2bn since his return to the White House, a windfall without precedent in US presidential history and one that has raised more troubling questions about conflicts of interest in his administration."}],[{"start":42.4,"text":"The size of the earnings — largely from crypto ventures — is inviting comparisons that might have seemed outlandish even a year ago. Some political scientists are beginning to see parallels between Trump’s behaviour and those of foreign strongmen in Africa and Asia notorious for their self-enrichment in office."}],[{"start":61.9,"text":"Nic Cheeseman, an Africa expert at the University of Birmingham, said Trump’s way of governing had echoes of the “patrimonial” system in parts of Africa, where the ruler treats the state as an extension of his personal household."}],[{"start":77.2,"text":"“It’s typically associated with blurring the line between public office and private wealth,” he said. To Cheeseman, Trump’s $1bn earnings from cryptocurrencies and the Qatari jet exemplify that."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":91.05,"text":"Some also see echoes of Turkey under Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, a close ally of Trump’s who has faced persistent allegations that he, his family and his political network benefited financially from his more than two decades in office — claims that he has consistently denied."}],[{"start":108.05,"text":"Howard Eissenstat, a history professor at St Lawrence University in New York and an expert on Turkish politics, said that in many ways, Trump had surpassed Erdoğan."}],[{"start":118.75,"text":"“There’s a ‘greed is good’ vibe in the Trump administration and that is not how Erdoğan does business,” he said. In Trump’s desire to accumulate wealth, he said, “things are bigger and more brazen and more obvious in a way that’s stunning”. The Turkish president “is a lot more cautious”."}],[{"start":136.95,"text":"Anna Kelly, a White House spokesperson, denied Trump was cashing in on the presidency. “The president has implemented policies that have made all Americans wealthier and more prosperous — including cutting taxes, reshoring manufacturing, negotiating fairer trade deals, creating Trump Accounts for children, and more,” she said."}],[{"start":155.35,"text":"Others caution that the comparisons with foreign despots can only go so far in explaining Trump’s idiosyncratic style of governance."}],[{"start":163.5,"text":"“The US isn’t Russia under Putin — it’s not Indonesia under Suharto,” said Scott Greytak, deputy executive director of Transparency International US, the anti-corruption watchdog. “We still have independent courts, a free press and a strong civil society.”"}],[{"start":180.3,"text":"Trump’s lucrative trading in shares and crypto has been disclosed in regular filings, a level of transparency never provided by notorious kleptocrats such as Mobutu Sese Seko. During his reign in Zaire from 1965 to 1997, he owned a yacht on the Congo river, châteaux in France and other luxury properties even as his country’s infrastructure collapsed. General Sani Abacha, Nigeria’s military ruler from 1993 to 1998, is alleged to have looted billions of dollars from the Nigerian state."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":213.4,"text":"However, Cheeseman sees plenty of similarities between Trump and corrupt regimes in Africa — such as their tendency to use the levers of power to punish political opponents and their habit of “promoting individuals with a personal connection to the executive into prominent positions where they can also then accumulate [wealth]” ."}],[{"start":230.85,"text":"In the case of the Trump administration there’s the oft-cited example of Steve Witkoff, an old friend of Trump’s from the world of New York real estate, who is his special envoy to the Middle East. Witkoff has faced allegations of potential conflicts of interest stemming from his family’s business in the region — allegations he has denied."}],[{"start":255.54999999999998,"text":"Anti-corruption advocates point to what they see as the most glaring ethical issue arising from Trump’s financial disclosure this week — that he and his family have benefited from crypto ventures that his administration has a hand in regulating."}],[{"start":269.15,"text":"“The pattern is familiar to us — a leader and his family profiting off the presidency while the government they control are literally designing the rules around how that wealth can be accumulated,” said Greytak."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":282.04999999999995,"text":"Transparency International has lobbied hard for an amendment to the Clarity Act, a major piece of legislation governing digital assets in the US, which has been passed by the House but is still languishing in the Senate. "}],[{"start":296.04999999999995,"text":"The proposal would prohibit elected officials and their immediate families from profiting from crypto businesses affected by federal policy. But Republican opposition means it is unlikely to succeed."}],[{"start":306.44999999999993,"text":"Other measures could be adopted to avoid a conflict of interest. “You could make it a legal requirement for a president to put his or her assets into a blind trust,” said Susan Rose-Ackerman, professor emeritus of jurisprudence at Yale Law School."}],[{"start":322.6499999999999,"text":"Since the 1970s, US presidents have sought to avoid the appearance of conflicts by placing their assets in a blind trust administered by an independent trustee. But those moves were taken voluntarily. "}],[{"start":334.49999999999994,"text":"Trump has refused to adopt such an arrangement, preferring to retain ownership of his business interests — though he has delegated management of the Trump Organization primarily to his sons Eric and Don Jr."}],[{"start":346.59999999999997,"text":"That sets him apart not just from his predecessors in the White House but also leaders including Rishi Sunak, who was Britain’s richest prime minister when he entered Downing Street in 2022 and who placed his financial investments into a “blind management arrangement” while at Number 10."}],[{"start":363.49999999999994,"text":"The same goes for Andrej Babiš, a 71-year-old billionaire currently serving his second stint as prime minister of the Czech Republic. Babiš, who calls himself a “Trumpist”, has placed Agrofert, his sprawling agrifood and chemicals conglomerate, into a blind trust as required by Czech law — though with his children as beneficiaries. Anti-corruption activists say the arrangement, which does not cover Babiš’s other business interests, is an insufficient safeguard against conflicts of interest."}],[{"start":394.34999999999997,"text":"Kelly, the Trump spokesperson, dismissed concerns about the absence of a blind trust. “All of the president’s assets are held in fully discretionary accounts managed by independent third-party financial institutions,” she said. “There are no conflicts of interest.”"}],[{"start":409.29999999999995,"text":"Back in Washington, Trump could barely conceal his excitement over the new plane, nicknamed the “palace in the sky”, that he’d been given by the Qataris and that was about to whisk him to Medora. Speaking before take-off on Wednesday, he called it the “greatest commercial plane ever built”."}],[{"start":425.94999999999993,"text":"“You can low-key it or you can show it,” he told reporters. “And I think the country should be very proud of it.”"}],[{"start":431.99999999999994,"text":"Data visualisation by Eva Xiao"}],[{"start":442.9,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1783136708_3923.mp3"}