He came to the Palm Beaches to talk about corruption in President Donald Trump's administration, and said he found an echo chamber of local Democrats saying they have quite a view of the profiteering.
Some told U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, about a state college giving away public land worth tens of millions of dollars for free to the Trump for a presidential library in downtown Miami. Others complained about the millions in costs from renaming an airport in the president's honor.
Still others raised questions the president's offer to "gift" his Trump International Golf Club as a Camp David-like presidential retreat.
"I would say that was the dominant theme of my visit," Raskin said of the invite to speak at the county Democratic
Party's Jefferson-Kennedy-Johnson dinner on Oct. 3.
"People are in an uproar about the fact that they've converted the entire executive branch of government into a money-making operation for Donald Trump and his family."
Polls show corruption surging as voter concern
Polls show it's "people" across the United States, too.
A CNBC All-America Economic Survey released Oct. 23 showed found 36% of those asked citing "government corruption" as their top concern, ahead of the cost of food and groceries at 34%, while "protecting democracy" and price of gasoline tied at 23%.
An Oct. 15 Fox News poll found 60% of respondents revealed they are either "extremely" or "very concerned" about corruption. A Gallup survey last month found 89% believe government corruption in the United States is widespread.
Voter worries about government corruption has surged late in an election year dominated by concerns about inflation and kitchen-table issues. But Raskin, the ranking member of the U.S. House's Judiciary Committee, said he believes the economy and government impropriety are symbiotic because the latter is the "ultimate" affordability issue.
"The corruption just means that the government is working for a tiny, tiny group of the people who are benefiting from all the bribery and insider trading and kickbacks," Raskin told The Palm Beach Post. "And that means that there's no program for the rest of society. So I don't really distinguish between corruption and accountability as issues."
Raskin rattled off a list of problematic actions from reports that presidential pardons are "a pay-to-play enterprise" in the administration to the $1.776 billion "slush" fund of taxpayer dollars that the president can dole out to political allies.
There is also the venture capital firm in which Donald Trump Jr. is a partner, 1789 Capital, that has been linked to more than a $1 billion dollars in federal contracts, he added.
Plus, Raskin noted, Trump's net income in just his first year back in the White House topped $2 billion from a myriad of business dealings, including digital currencies, union movie royalties, lawsuit settlements, watches and Bibles. The figure also includes more than $100 million in profits from the Mar-a-Lago Club and Trump International.
Raskin, a constitutional expert and historian, recalled how Congress told President Abraham Lincoln that accepting a pair of elephant tusks from the king of Siam would violate the Constitution's emoluments provision. But in 2025, Trump gladly accepted a $400 million aircraft gifted to him by the Qatari government.
"This is the most corrupt administration in presidential history. Nothing even comes close," he said. "People see the way that. ... The whole government is operating on a coin-operated system."
Trumps reject idea president, family profits off presidency
After Trump's financial disclosure form became public this summer, the White House pushed back on assertions the president was profiting from his tenure in the White House.
"Neither the President nor his family has ever engaged — or will ever engage — in conflicts of interest," a White House media statement said.
The statement added: "All actions by President Trump and his administration are taken in the best interest of the American people — and any so-called 'reporters' pushing otherwise are recycling the same, tired, false narrative that Democrats and the legacy media have been pushing for a decade."
Speaking to reporters at that time, Trump said his personal income went up because Wall Street gains, adding that is the case for all Americans with investment accounts.
"I'm profiting because the stock market's going up," he said. "Everybody's profiting. So we're all profiting."
The president also noted that he was a wealthy man before switching to a political career 11 years ago.
"I made a lot of money before I became president," he said. "Yeah, I've had a great career in business. … I don't know if I've had a better career in politics or business, but I had a great career in business."
An attorney representing Trump Jr. also rejected claims the president's eldest son is engaged in improper dealings with government contracts.
"In reality, 1789 Capital is a professional investment firm registered with the SEC as an investment advisor and its principals collectively bring decades of experience across Wall Street, investing law and business," wrote attorney William Burke in a letter to Congress.
"Moreover, 1789 Capital does not invest a loan. Its investments are made alongside preeminent institutional co-investors that conduct their own independent diligence and acquire the same securities. Your letter is characterization."
Raskin has been among the most vocal congressional Democrats who have criticized Trump's two administrations. He led the House Democrats in Trump's second impeachment. He served on the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, violence at the U.S. Capitol and recommended criminal charges be filed against the then-former president.
The Maryland congressman has been a target of Trump's social media blasts. The president has called him a "dope," a "loser" and a "total loser."
Raskin also noted the billionaire class that permeates the highest levels of the administration, and orbits the Winter White House at Mar-a-Lago.
Raskin noted the news this week that Elon Musk, a trillionaire and the world's richest man, wielded immense power and sought to thwart U.S. foreign policy in Ukraine.
Congress, Raskin noted, voted to apply sanctions to Russia in a law that Trump signed. The objective was to help Ukraine defend itself against an invasion driven by Vladimir Putin. Musk, though, reportedly undermined U.S. policy by disconnecting Ukraine's military from his Starlink system in what Raskin said was "an absolute betrayal of our system of government" and America's allies.
All in all, Raskin said all this points for Congress to legislate "a statutory infrastructure" so that presidents must ask for approval from Capitol Hill within 48 hours of the offer of a gift from a foreign government.
Another change: The Hatch Act preventing federal officials form making endorsements or engaging in the domestic electoral arena needs teeth, Raskin said.
Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at afins@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Trump says everybody is profiting. Why Democrat Jamie Raskin disagrees
