Carnival of corruption

What distinguishes Trump’s second presidency is the breadth and depth of its crookedness – the enormous personal graft, of course, but also rampant abuse of power, subversion of the rule of law, violation of the Constitution, top-to-bottom dishonesty, and acts of violence, including murder. Over the last 11 months of 2025, he has conducted an orgy of corruption and criminality that threatens the American experiment itself.

“This is not just more – we’re in a different qualitative realm,” observes Melanie Manion, a Duke University political scientist who specializes in contemporary authoritarianism. “A narrow definition of corruption for what Trump is doing so misses the point. The much larger point is the undermining of the democratic system.”