Donald Trump said vice-president JD Vance would lead a “war on fraud”, as he criticised the state of Minnesota, where governor Tim Walz last month dropped his bid for re-election over allegations of sprawling state welfare fraud.
Federal prosecutors have claimed scams, many involving Somali migrants, have occurred on a wider scale than previously thought. Trump zeroed in on Minnesota's Somali community during his speech.
Vance last month said the Department of Justice would create a new fraud section.
The announcement came after the DoJ disbanded units such as the national cryptocurrency enforcement team, which was set up under ex-president Joe Biden to focus on criminal misuse of digital assets including fraud and extortion.
Let me just put that in context. In January this year, The New York Times reported that:
The editorial board is a group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding values. It is separate from the newsroom.
President Trump has never been a man to ask what he can do for his country. In his second term, as in his first, he is instead testing the limits of what his country can do for him.
He has poured his energy and creativity into the exploitation of the presidency — into finding out just how much money people, corporations and other nations are willing to put into his pockets in hopes of bending the power of the government to the service of their interests.
A review by the editorial board relying on analyses from news organizations shows that Mr. Trump has used the office of the presidency to make at least $1.4 billion. We know this number to be an underestimate because some of his profits remain hidden from public view. And they continue to grow.
What we have on display here are two classic fascist techniques.
One is accusing your enemy of what you are actually doing.
The second is of straightforward distraction.
Both have been known for a long time. No one should fall for them.
We are becoming accustomed to misconduct in public office in the UK at present. It would appear to be happening all around us, but I doubt if anyone has done it so blatantly as Trump in the whole history of humankind.
My question is, will he and his family be stripped of this wealth in one day? And if not, why not?
Buy me a coffee!
If you were in charge would you strip Trump and his family (down to the third generation perhaps) of their wealth? A communist would entertain that idea so I’m guessing yes.
I would strip anyone of corrupt gains. That is what the law should and does require. why would you object to that? Is your politics one that supports criminality? My centre ground politics does not.
Should countries have laws to enable criminals to be stripped of the proceeds of crime?
The UK does, and it is quite hard work.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2002/29/contents
I can’t think of a reason why we WOULDN’T want criminals to be stripped of the proceeds of crime.
Why do you think people should have the right to unlimited wealth? Such a situation is clearly detrimental for the vast majority of people. Greed should be checked, it is fundamentally harmful to society.
And for clarity: I am a communist anarchist. Richard is a liberal. I still like him though 🙂
What is ‘communist’ about questioning wealth that has been appropriated through illegal means and taking action to recover it?
You are talking about a man whose wealth source is so questionable, and whose links have been pored over in multiple publications all saying the same thing.
Are those who want Andrew and Mandelson to be made accountable also ‘communists’?
Before you come here calling people names, why not find out what ‘communist’ means first, eh.
[…] I have already noted this morning, elsewhere, is that what we have on display here are two classic fascist […]
Might a another diversion/reality avoidance technique be the entertainment emphasis put into the reporting/distorting accounts of deep, mutiple corruptions here and abroad by a cartel like main stream media?
Distraction. He claimed a “golden age of America”, and the economy was “roaring like never before”
This is Trump’s USA.
A two-child household must earn $400,000 a year for childcare to be affordable, study says. ‘It’s easy to see why birth rates are falling’
https://fortune.com/2026/02/22/two-child-household-income-400000-childcare-affordability-crisis-cost-of-living/
Most people can’t afford Trump’s version of economic success.
Agreed
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/the-real-story-behind-the-minnesota-welfare-fraud-scandal?hide_intro_popup=true
This is a good account of what the Minnesota welfare fraud scandal is all about. The government was investigating it long before Trump and his boosters came on the scene. The author points out that it’s tough to keep up support for government programmes when it seems so easy to steal from them. At the same time, he says the gutting of the government’s various oversight functions by this administration will only enable more of this in the future.
Thanks, Ralph.
John Parry,
If you were in charge would you continue to celebrate Trump and his family (down to the third generation perhaps) of their ill gotten wealth? A libertarian disaster capitalist would entertain that idea so I’m guessing yes.
The trouble is when Trump falls, as he most certainly will, it will have two catastrophic effects. First, the US economy will be impacted negatively, then the UK and other dependent economies will suffer. This is bad news for ordinary citizens, especially the poorest in society.
Second, the USA will be weakened, albeit temporarily, as a major player influencing world events and stability. An opportune moment for dictators around the globe to do things they dare not do while the US might react forcefully to such things. Again, who suffers? Most probably, the poor and the powerless.
It is usually claimed that historically, dynasties and regimes tend to end suddenly rather than gradually. In Trump’s case, I hope it is a gradual fall from grace.
Dealing with the fallout of a sudden collapse in Trump’s power, might stretch the financial world beyond it’s elastic limit.
I do believe Trump will survive politically, but with much reduced sway following the November mid-term elections. Also, the Supreme Court have recently tried to thwart him and seem likely to be less compliant in future.
When Keats’ Ozymandias failed, nothing remained of his great empire except a broken statue. In Trump’s case, we might turn to Mark Anthony who claimed that the evil he’s doing might live on, while any vestige of goodness will be buried with him. Debatable point.
Vance is being lined up by the tech oligarchs and Project 2025 as the replacement. I expect Trump to die/be displaced and Vance installed. If Trump was impeached, Vance and Johnson would fall with him. A successful assassination blamed on a Muslim would be their optimal outcome.
Question for Mr Surtees. When did the USA influence world events for the better? Even in the early years after achieving sovereignty they overthrew governments who pursued policies they didn’t like. Since 1945 the record is unbelievable. The dictatorships you fear have been installed all over the globe. In 1899 McKinley sent 40000 troops to occupy the Philippines. In 1973 the elected government of Chile was overthrown by one of the worst tyrants in history.Cuba has suffered blockades for decades under several presidents. The USA was responsible for the years of cruelty under Suharto in Indonesia. Then Eat Timor got the same treatment. Thousands perished at the behest of a man planted by America. People all over the world now hate America. That is why they have no support in the global South , Africa and nearly all South America. It is my contention the USA has the worst record in human history for depravity
Fair points, Stephen. I might be wrong, and it may be for the best, but I think if USA was in turmoil, China would annexe Taiwan and Russia flex its muscles in the Baltic and Black Sea. I agree US has often been a malign force, especially in the America’s. Maybe you feel a weakened Uncle Sam would be a plus for the world at large.
Please note:
When the founders of the United States were considering how much power to vest in a presidential committee or in a single president, they were coming from a Scottish and English constitutional tradition. So they had in mind:
1. The king can not tax by himself, or you cut his head off.
2.The king cannot spend by himself, or you cut his head off.
3. The king cannot arrest and bother members of parliament, or you cut his head off.
Article I of the U.S. Constitution creates the Congress. Please note that the U.S. Congress is much stronger in its power than the Parliamentary model of the UK, Canada, Australia.
Nevertheless, since the Lyndon Johnson administration, Congress after Congress has relinquished, even abdicated, more and more of its responsibilities and powers. See 1-3 above.
Today, Republican members of Congress have more loyalty to the president than they have toward their daughters, their constituencies, the Constitution, the truth. Cassandra-like, I tell you from personal experience that no good can come of this. When the GOP Congress is overthrown, a Democratic Congress will have to fight to recover its lost authority, as has happened again and again. Today, the fascist funders are much stronger, and the only unblooded way to overcome them is at the state, not federal level (See California bill AB1984). But even at that, the Supreme Court may block the will of the people.
At the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin said there were only 2 ways to control a president, assassination or impeachment; he preferred impeachment as it gave a greater chance to correct a mistake.
Thanks
Appreciated
So this is how things seem to go in politics nowadays:
– A country’s government fails to look after all its citizens, resulting in widespread distress and discontent;
– Populists cash in by stirring that discontent and promising to fix things by blaming a handy, visible “other”;
– A totally unsuitable person is elected on a wave of euphoria;
– That person, facilitated by their “puppeteers”, erodes democracy and demolishes legal methods of dissent, including by vilifying/arresting rivals;
– That person, despite being clearly unfit to govern, remains in power because there is, by then, no acceptable alternative; (better the devil you know/so and so would be even worse);
– The electorate (if elections are still permitted) is left with no choice but to vote “tactically’ – against what they dislike – than voting for something they DO believe in.
It is morally reprehensible to allow such people to remain in power simply because there is no obvious successor.
Back to the evening hallucinatory drugs……..
Despite the wealth of America there are pockets of horrible poverty that never get much attention. Paul Theroux wrote a book in the last 10 years or so called “Deep South” that wasn’t overtly political but revealed how many Americans live in out of the way places. A recent TV show “60 Minutes” revealed how residents of a small West Virginia village deal with no jobs, underground pollution from ages old coal mines polluting their water, (it comes out deep brown from the taps, staining their sinks and toilets ) they end up getting water from a roadside waterfall that at least runs clear. Several years ago I believe the Times did a series on the lack of septic services and the resultant spread of parasites etc on those forced to live in poor conditions. I don’t think the Trumpists even know those places exist and they certainly wouldn’t help I’m sure. Inequality is awful for those on the bottom but we rarely see it behind the glitsy image projected.