Don’t Become Inured to the Trump Corruption

On June 23, 2026, Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) outlined the “unprecedented corruption of [the] Trump White House” in the first 500 days of the president’s second term. “This is a national crisis,” Murphy said, “and we should start acting like it.”

“The pay-to-play schemes. The pardons for donors. The contracts for friends. The favors for Trump’s children. The use of inside information to make money. This is not a disconnected series of scandals. This is a system.

“Government is supposed to serve us. It is supposed to lower costs, supposed to protect our families, strengthen our schools, make life better for people.

“But Donald Trump believes that government exists to serve him—to make him richer, to protect his friends, to reward his donors.

“That is why he doesn’t have time for you. He doesn’t have time to solve real problems because he’s making money for himself and his friends.

“And he’s betting that the corruption will be so constant that we stop hearing it. That the outrage will just turn into exhaustion, and the exhaustion will just turn into acceptance.

“We can’t let that happen.

“Because once corruption becomes normal, it becomes permanent.

“The White House is not a business opportunity. The presidency is not a license to steal from the American people. The government of the United States doesn’t exist to make Donald Trump rich.

“It belongs to the American people. And after 500 days of corruption, Democrats and Republicans in this body, along with the American people, should start acting like it.”