AMY GOODMAN: In The Wall Street Journal, you recently revealed that ventures launched since Trump's reelection have generated at least $4 billion in proceeds and paper wealth for the Trump family, that figure based on company statements and security filings. In addition, you've reported how one of the family businesses, Trump Media & Technology, recently announced a $6 billion merger with a firm aiming to build the world's first viable nuclear fusion plant to power AI projects and data centers,
One Friday in November, armed police blocked off the road that runs beside Gibraltar's medieval city walls to clear the way for a convoy of blacked-out BMWs. The vehicles pulled up at the offices of Hassans, a law firm. The British enclave in the Mediterranean is a hub for the international ultra-rich, and Hassans counts many of them as clients. But few as highly placed as that day's visitor: Donald Trump Jr, the man running the family business while his father is in the White House.
According to a report by The New York Times, the deal entails an all-stock deal valued at more than $6 billion between TMTG and TAE, which was founded in 1998. This new partnership would be its first foray into nuclear fusion, a still unproven experimental energy technology, and would be one of the first publicly traded nuclear fusion companies in the world, according to a press release about the merger.
You've likely heard that David Ellison, the son of Larry Ellison, and his company Skydance, completed an $8 billion merger with Paramount in August. And reporting by the New York Times and others suggests that Ellison had planned to then go after an acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), creating a new behemoth in movies and streaming that could take on the likes of Netflix.
Prior to last week, only highly specialized political insiders knew the extent of David Sacks' influence in the Trump White House: tech policy hawks, lobbyists, reporters, and right-wing operatives infuriated that the billionaire venture capitalist was turning Donald Trump toward artificial intelligence and against the interests of the MAGA base.
The best line of Donald Trump's three-hour-plus Cabinet meeting last week came not from the president but from Marco Rubio. "Personally, this is the most meaningful Labor Day of my life, as someone who has four jobs," said Rubio, who was serving as secretary of state, acting national security adviser, acting archivist of the United States, and acting administrator of USAID. (He's since handed the latter to Russell Vought, who now also has three titles.) Three of these roles are subject to Senate confirmation; Rubio has been confirmed, and for that matter nominated, only as secretary of state. Trump has not put any nominee forward for the other two positions.
Dr. Casey Means, Trump's pick for U.S. surgeon general, has criticized health systems for corruption, yet profits from promoting wellness products, raising ethical concerns.
Lin Gui'an, a former assistant commissioner of the NYPD, was fined $5,000 for illegally soliciting donations for Mayor Adams' campaign while in a substantial policy role.
