Elon Musk’s Latest Donations Show a Disturbing Pattern (2025)

Donald Trump has a new scheme for making money off of the sweeping tariffs he rapidly imposes, adjusts, and delays, first reported by independent journalist Judd Legum.

Trump Media and Technology Group unveiled a “suite” of thematic “Truth Social-branded Separately Managed Accounts” that it had crafted in collaboration with Yorkville America Equities and Index Technologies Group.

The investment portfolios were organized around the themes of “Faith & Values,” “Liberty & Security,” “Energy Independence,” and “Made in America.”

TMTG CEO Devin Nunes said that the SMAs were designed to meet investors’ demand “to support a wide range of outstanding, non-woke, and innovative companies across key sectors of the U.S. economy.”

It’s not clear what specific assets will be in each portfolio. “Made in America” is likely to contain stocks associated with American manufacturers, while “Liberty & Security” could contain assets for defense contractors and private prisons, which stand to make a killing off of Trump’s massive deportation scheme.

But Trump’s position as a shareholder of TMTG presents a clear conflict of interest, considering the amount of power he has to roil the stock market. Since entering office, Trump has demonstrated the ability to manipulate the value of any particular stock by simply announcing a tariff or exemption, putting him in a particular position of power over his yields from TMTG.

Trump profits directly from TMTG in two key ways, Legum explained in his newsletter Public Notice. “First, TMTG will invest a portion of its cash reserves in accounts. Secondly, as the majority shareholder in TMTG, Trump will benefit from the fees generated by these accounts. The performance of the underlying assets held in these accounts will determine both TMTG’s return on its cash reserves and interest from outside investors,” he wrote.

Through TMTG’s actively managed investment accounts, Trump would be able to directly financially benefit simply by announcing or rescinding a policy. For example, Apple stock sank when Trump announced his sweeping “reciprocal tariff” policy on April 2 and continued to drop as he escalated tariffs on Chinese goods to the triple digits. But when the administration announced that there would be an exemption applied to electronic devices on April 11, Apple stock began to improve.

The man in charge of U.S. counterterrorism said that anybody against Donald Trump’s mass deportation plan is technically committing a felony by “aiding and abetting” terrorism.

“There’s a line that divides us. Do you love America, or do you hate America?” Trump’s Director for Counterterrorism Sebastian Gorka said in an interview with the far-right news outlet Newsmax Wednesday night.

“And we have people who love America, like the president, like his Cabinet, like the directors of his agencies who want to protect Americans,” he continued. “And then there is the other side that is on the side of the cartel members, the side of the illegal aliens, on the side of the terrorists.

“You have to ask yourself, are they technically aiding and abetting them? Because aiding and abetting criminals and terrorists is a crime in federal statute,” Gorka said, absurdly equating opposing unlawful deportations with terrorism.

Ignoring court orders, as Trump has now done multiple times while carrying out his deportation efforts, is also “a crime in federal statute.” Last month, he ignored U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s order to halt the deportation of more than 200 Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador, the majority of whom have no criminal record. On Wednesday, Boasberg said there is a high probability Trump could face criminal contempt charges for his refusal to comply.

Disregarding the law once again, the White House is also refusing to bring back Kilmar Abrego Garcia—a Maryland man who was unlawfully deported to El Salvador because of an “administrative error”—despite the Supreme Court ordering the government to “facilitate” his return. Abrego Garcia is now being held at CECOT, a megaprison in El Salvador notorious for human rights abuses.

Even though it already admitted Abrego Garcia’s deportation was a mistake, the Trump administration has doubled down on unbacked and harmful claims the father of three is an MS-13 gang member, “human trafficker,” and “violent criminal.”

“The question is solved.… Number one, this individual is a foreign national who came here illegally. So that’s your first two strikes,” Gorka said of Abrego Garcia Wednesday, insisting that his removal was a national security issue. “Then we find out he’s a member of an organization that we recently designated as a foreign terrorist organization. So, three strikes, and you’re out.”

Donald Trump is threatening to take away Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students after the institution refused to agree to his demands.

The White House is demanding that the university change its hiring, admissions, and education practices, ostensibly to oppose antisemitism, and has already pulled $2.2 billion in federal funding. Now Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has asked for records on the “illegal and violent” activities of its foreign student visa holders, saying that Harvard will lose the “privilege of enrolling foreign students” if it doesn’t comply.

Harvard President Alan Garber said Monday in response to administration demands that the “university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.” Trump denigrated the university in a Truth Social post on Wednesday, saying that “Harvard can no longer be considered even a decent place of learning, and should not be considered on any list of the World’s Great Universities or Colleges.”

“Harvard is a JOKE, teaches Hate and Stupidity, and should no longer receive Federal Funds,” Trump posted.

The loss of international students would be a big blow to America’s oldest university. This year, 27 percent of its enrollment came from foreign students. Trump has already threatened to pull Harvard’s tax-exempt status, an unprecedented move that could cost the university millions. But Harvard’s decision not to give in to Trump comes after other institutions, such as Columbia University, gave in to administration demands and were still penalized.

Donald Trump isn’t too happy after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the president’s tariff policy would cause more inflation and slow growth.

In a post on Truth Social Thursday morning, Trump furiously blamed Powell for not lowering interest rates. The European Central Bank had announced just a few hours earlier that it would make yet another round of cuts to offset Trump’s tariffs, which have roiled the markets and deteriorated the outlook for growth.

“The ECB is expected to cut interest rates for the 7th time, and yet, ‘Too Late’ Jerome Powell of the Fed, who is always TOO LATE AND WRONG, yesterday issued a report which was another, and typical, complete ‘mess!’” Trump wrote.

“Oil prices are down, groceries (even eggs!) are down, and the USA is getting RICH ON TARIFFS. Too Late should have lowered Interest Rates, like the ECB, long ago, but he should certainly lower them now,” Trump added. “Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!”

In fact, egg prices have once again risen, ahead of Easter weekend, after falling in mid-March. Trump’s claim that the U.S. is getting “rich on tariffs” also deserves some scrutiny. While the president has claimed that the U.S. is raking in up to $2 billion a day, U.S. Customs and Border Protection revealed this week that the number was more like $250 million.

At an event hosted by the Economic Club of Chicago Wednesday, Powell had warned that “the level of tariff increases announced so far is significantly larger than anticipated, and the same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth.”

Trump had already been pushing for the Fed to cut interest rates ahead of announcing his sweeping “reciprocal tariff” policy earlier this month.

Despite Trump’s latest call for his “termination,” Powell has already been clear that the president does not have the power to remove him. His term as Federal Reserve chair ends in May 2026.