The Security Enigma Called Trump
The most heavily guarded man on Earth runs the leakiest operation in Washington. It is not a mystery. It is a pattern.
President Donald Trump and the Trump family are the single biggest open security hole in the United States government. I don't say that as a slogan. I say it after going through the public record, episode by episode, and counting.
Look at what is on the record. Classified boxes were stored in a ballroom and a bathroom. Highly classified Israeli intelligence was handed to Russia's foreign minister in the Oval Office. Strike plans went out in a commercial chat app with a journalist reading along. A Chinese national got onto the grounds of Mar-a-Lago while the president was in Palm Beach. A son-in-law got a top-secret clearance that career staff would not sign off on. And a foreign spy chief bought into the family crypto business, months before the administration agreed to sell his country advanced AI chips.
Any one of these would end a career anywhere else in government. This page has 110 of them.
Ground Rules
Every entry is sourced and tagged. Convicted and Court ruling mean a judge or jury decided. Charged means an indictment, with no conviction. Official finding means an inspector general, the GAO or a congressional committee wrote it down. Documented means it is in the public record through major reporting or primary documents. Alleged means exactly that, and it is labeled.
Most of this is not a crime. A president can legally declassify and disclose. Taking foreign business money is not automatically illegal. That is the point. The security hole is mostly legal, and that is why it stays open.
Every entry was researched by one pass and then fact-checked by a second that opened the sources, cut what it could not confirm and corrected numbers and dates. If you find an error, tell me and I will fix it in the open.
The Paper
Classified material, stored, shown and spoken aloud · 14 entriesTorn and flushed records
In February 2022 the Washington Post reported that Trump habitually ripped up documents while in office. In August 2022 Axios, crediting Maggie Haberman, and CNN published photos of handwritten notes that appeared to have been torn up and flushed down White House toilets.
Israeli intel handed to Lavrov and Kislyak in the Oval Office
On May 10, 2017, Trump met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in the Oval Office, the day after he fired FBI Director James Comey. US press was barred, but a photographer from Russia's state agency TASS was present. The Washington Post reported on May 15 that Trump had shared highly classified intelligence about an ISIS plot involving laptops on airplanes. The New York Times, NBC and the Wall Street Journal reported that the source was Israel.
CIA asset pulled out of Russia
CNN reported in September 2019 that in 2017 the US extracted a high-level CIA source from inside the Russian government. According to CNN's sourcing, the decision was driven partly by concern over how the president and his administration handled classified intelligence.
Nuclear subs off Korea, told to Duterte
In an April 29, 2017 call with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Trump said: 'We have two submarines — the best in the world... we have two nuclear submarines,' in the context of North Korea. The transcript leaked and was published by The Intercept in May 2017. In the same call he praised Duterte's drug war.
Iran launch-site spy satellite photo tweet
On August 30, 2019, Trump tweeted a high-resolution image of a failed Safir rocket launch at Iran's Semnan site. Experts said it most likely came from a US spy satellite, and trackers identified it as USA 224, widely believed to be a KH-11. After a FOIA request from NPR, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency declassified the image in 2022. Trump said he had 'the absolute right' to release it.
Bragging to Woodward about a new weapons system
In a December 2019 interview with Bob Woodward, published in September 2020 with the book 'Rage', Trump said: 'I have built a nuclear — a weapons system that nobody's ever had in this country before.'
'Total declassification' tweets that weren't
In October 2020, Trump tweeted that he had 'fully authorized the total Declassification' of documents on the Russia probe and the Clinton emails. In a sworn court filing, his then-chief of staff Mark Meadows said Trump had told him the tweets were not 'self-executing declassification orders'. The material stayed classified.
Mar-a-Lago classified documents case (ballroom, bathroom, shower)
In June 2023 a federal grand jury indicted Trump on 37 felony counts, 31 of them for willful retention of national defense information kept at Mar-a-Lago after he left office. According to the indictment, boxes were stored in a ballroom, a bathroom and shower, an office space, his bedroom and a storage room. His aide Walt Nauta was charged with him on six counts. A July 2023 superseding indictment raised the total against Trump to 40 counts. Trump pleaded not guilty.
184 classified documents in the 15 boxes returned to the Archives
In January 2022, after months of requests, the National Archives retrieved 15 boxes from Mar-a-Lago. According to the FBI affidavit later unsealed, they held 184 documents with classification markings, 25 of them marked Top Secret, mixed in with other papers. The Archives referred the matter to the Justice Department, which led to the FBI investigation.
Bedminster Iran 'highly confidential' recording
On July 21, 2021, at his Bedminster golf club, Trump was recorded during an interview for Mark Meadows' memoir. With a writer, a publisher and two staff members present, none of them cleared, he described a document on military activity against Iran as 'highly confidential' and 'secret information'. CNN aired the audio in June 2023. The July 2023 superseding indictment charged retention of the document, marked TOP SECRET/NOFORN, as Count 32.
Nuclear-sub secrets to Australian billionaire Anthony Pratt
ABC News reported that in April 2021, at Mar-a-Lago, Trump told Australian billionaire Anthony Pratt how many warheads US submarines typically carry and how close they can get to Russian subs undetected. Pratt allegedly passed this on to at least 45 people, including journalists, Australian officials and three former Australian prime ministers. Prosecutors and FBI agents interviewed Pratt twice in 2023.
Superseding indictment: plot to delete the surveillance footage
A July 2023 superseding indictment added Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira as a defendant. It also charged Trump, Nauta and De Oliveira with trying to delete Mar-a-Lago security-camera footage that a grand jury subpoenaed in June 2022. It added three counts against Trump, bringing his total to 40. De Oliveira pleaded not guilty to four counts.
FBI search of Mar-a-Lago
On August 8, 2022, the FBI executed a court-approved search warrant at Mar-a-Lago. Agents recovered 102 documents with classification markings, 27 from Trump's office and 75 from a storage room. This was in addition to material already returned to the Archives and the DOJ.
'Declassify it even by thinking about it'
On September 21, 2022, Trump told Fox News' Sean Hannity that a president can declassify 'just by saying, "It's declassified," even by thinking about it', and said 'I declassified everything.' His lawyers resisted the special master's request to say whether the seized records had actually been declassified.
The Phones
War plans in group chats, and devices anyone could listen to · 16 entriesTrump's cellphone calls and Chinese/Russian eavesdropping
On Oct 24, 2018 the NYT reported, citing current and former officials, that Chinese spies were regularly listening to Trump's cellphone calls. They wanted to learn whom he trusted and how he might be manipulated during the trade war. Russia was reported to be doing the same, less intensively. Trump carried two NSA-modified iPhones and one off-the-shelf phone, and aides had urged him to use only secure lines.
Iran hacks Trump campaign via adviser's personal email
IRGC-linked hackers broke into the personal Hotmail account of longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone and then got into the campaign. From July 22, 2024 they sent stolen material, including a 271-page Vance vetting report, to Politico, the Washington Post and the NYT. DOJ charged three IRGC-linked men on Sept 27, 2024.
Salt Typhoon targets Trump and Vance phones
The NYT reported on Oct 25, 2024 that Chinese state hackers (Salt Typhoon), who had penetrated US telecom carriers, targeted phones used by Trump and JD Vance. Harris campaign staff were targeted too.
Signalgate: journalist added to Houthi strike chat
In March 2025 national security adviser Mike Waltz's account added Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a Signal group called "Houthi PC small group". About 18 officials were in it, including accounts identified as Vance, Hegseth, Rubio, Gabbard, Ratcliffe, Bessent and Witkoff. On March 15, roughly two hours before the strikes on Yemen began, Hegseth posted F-18 launch times, MQ-9 drone launches and strike windows. The Atlantic published the full messages on March 26, after two days of administration denials.
Hegseth's second Signal chat with wife and brother
The NYT reported in April 2025 that Hegseth shared details of the coming March 15 Yemen strikes in a second Signal group called "Defense | Team Huddle", which had about 13 members. It included his wife Jennifer, a former Fox News producer with no Defense Department job, his brother Phil and his personal lawyer Tim Parlatore. According to WSJ reporting carried by PBS, the strike information came from a secure military channel.
Pentagon IG Signalgate report
The DoD Inspector General's report (DODIG-2026-021) went to Congress classified first, and the unclassified version was released Dec 4, 2025. It found Hegseth violated department policy by using a personal device and Signal for official business. Some of what he sent matched CENTCOM operational details classified SECRET/NOFORN, and the report said this risked operational security and potential harm to US pilots. It also found he and his office broke federal records law. Hegseth declined an interview, answered only in writing and did not hand over his phone.
Waltz ousted as national security adviser
On May 1, 2025, about five weeks after the Signal chat became public, Mike Waltz was moved out as national security adviser. Trump named Marco Rubio interim national security adviser while Rubio stayed on as Secretary of State, and said he would nominate Waltz as UN ambassador. Deputy NSA Alex Wong was also reported to be leaving.
Hegseth's 'dirty' internet line for Signal
AP reported in April 2025 that Hegseth had an internet line set up in his Pentagon office that bypassed department security protocols so he could use Signal on a personal computer. The 'dirty' line connected straight to the public internet without Pentagon security filters. That exposed it to hacking and surveillance and may have skipped federal record-keeping.
Waltz's NSC used personal Gmail
On April 1, 2025 the Washington Post reported that Waltz and other National Security Council staff had done government business through personal Gmail accounts, which are not encrypted the way secure government systems are.
Waltz team ran 20+ Signal chats
Politico reported on April 2, 2025 that Waltz's team regularly set up Signal group chats to coordinate official work. It counted at least 20, on crises around the world including Ukraine and China. That made the Houthi chat a habit, not a one-off.
Waltz's Venmo and contacts left public
Wired reported on March 26, 2025 that Waltz's Venmo account was public and linked to hundreds of people, including Susie Wiles and NSC staffer Walker Barrett. A Wired follow-up said Venmo accounts of more officials in the Signal group had also left data public. Waltz's account was made private after the reporting.
Witkoff added to Signal chat while in Moscow
FlightRadar24 data showed envoy Steve Witkoff arriving in Moscow around noon on March 13, 2025. He was added to the Houthi chat about 12 hours later. Ratcliffe's message naming an active CIA officer arrived at 5:24 p.m. ET, just after midnight in Russia. CBS's sources said no device Witkoff took to Russia had Signal on it.
Waltz photographed using unofficial 'TM SGNL' app
At an April 30, 2025 cabinet meeting, Waltz was photographed using what appeared to be TeleMessage's 'TM SGNL', a modified Signal clone that archives messages. TeleMessage was founded in Israel and is owned by Oregon-based Smarsh. The screen showed chats with Vance, Gabbard and Rubio.
TeleMessage Signal clone hacked
In May 2025 a hacker breached TeleMessage and took the contents of some direct messages and group chats from its Signal clone and its modified WhatsApp, Telegram and WeChat apps. 404 Media reported that archived chat logs were not end-to-end encrypted on their way to the archive and that the break-in took 15-20 minutes. A second hacker also claimed access. Smarsh temporarily suspended all TeleMessage services, and CBP paused its use.
Court orders Signal records preserved
On March 26, 2025 the watchdog group American Oversight sued Hegseth, Gabbard, Ratcliffe, Bessent, Rubio and the National Archives (NARA). It argued that auto-deleting Signal messages violated the Federal Records Act. On March 27 Judge James Boasberg issued a temporary restraining order requiring the government to preserve Signal messages from March 11-15.
Susie Wiles impersonation
In May 2025 the WSJ reported that someone impersonating White House chief of staff Susie Wiles had texted and called senators, governors and business executives. The person seemed to have gotten access to the contacts on Wiles's personal phone, and some recipients heard a voice that may have been AI-generated. In 2024, Iran-linked hackers had sent journalists messages to and from Wiles.
The Front Door
Mar-a-Lago, the golf courses and the hotels: access for sale · 15 entriesAccess for Sale: Mar-a-Lago Doubles Its Fee
Right after Trump's election, Mar-a-Lago doubled its initiation fee from $100,000 to $200,000 plus tax, effective Jan 1, 2017, on top of $14,000 in annual dues. Former Obama ethics lawyer Norm Eisen called it 'naked profiteering off of a government office.' The Trump Organization did not respond to CNBC's request for comment.
The Patio Situation Room (North Korea missile at dinner)
On the weekend of Feb 11, 2017, North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile while Trump was dining with Japanese PM Shinzo Abe on Mar-a-Lago's terrace in view of club members. Member Richard DeAgazio said staff used phone flashlights to light documents for the leaders, and he posted photos on Facebook, including one with the military aide who carries the nuclear football. Press secretary Sean Spicer said Trump was briefed in a SCIF before and after dinner.
GAO: Who Gets Near the President at Mar-a-Lago
At the request of Democratic lawmakers, GAO reviewed Secret Service vetting at Mar-a-Lago across four presidential trips (Feb 3 to Mar 5, 2017). Its public report, GAO-19-246, was released Feb 7, 2019. It found that people who meet the President generally get physical screening plus enhanced background checks, while others pass only outer physical checkpoints. GAO identified no Secret Service shortcomings, but it withheld sensitive details, and the Executive Office of the President did not respond to GAO's requests about its role.
White House for Sale: $7.8M From 20 Foreign Governments
A 156-page House Oversight Democratic staff report released Jan 4, 2024 and based on Mazars accounting records estimated that Trump businesses took in at least $7.8 million from 20 foreign governments during his presidency. That included nearly $5.6 million from China, mostly Trump Tower rent paid by the state-owned ICBC bank, and more than $615,000 from Saudi Arabia. It argued the payments violated the Foreign Emoluments Clause. Eric Trump called the Democrats' narrative 'insane.'
Foreign Officials at the Trump D.C. Hotel
Records released by House Oversight Democrats on Nov 14, 2022 showed six countries (Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Turkey and China) spent at least $750,000 at Trump International Hotel in Washington while he was president. The hotel sits a block from the White House. The Trump Organization closed the sale of the hotel lease for $375 million in May 2022.
The Mar-a-Lago Crowd Runs the VA
ProPublica reported on Aug 7, 2018 that three Mar-a-Lago figures with no government role steered the Department of Veterans Affairs: Marvel chairman Ike Perlmutter, Palm Beach doctor Bruce Moskowitz and lawyer Marc Sherman. They shaped policy and personnel decisions, and VA officials traveled to Mar-a-Lago at taxpayer expense to hear their views. The White House said the three 'have no direct influence' over the VA.
The Mar-a-Lago Intruder (Yujing Zhang)
Chinese national Yujing Zhang got onto Mar-a-Lago grounds on March 30, 2019, while Trump was in Palm Beach, and was charged with entering restricted grounds and lying to federal officers. A jury convicted her. On Nov 25, 2019, U.S. District Judge Roy Altman sentenced her to 8 months in prison, which with credit for time served left about a week to go. Prosecutors had asked for 18 months, and the judge ordered her turned over to immigration officials for deportation.
The Second Chinese Intruder (Lu Jing)
Prosecutors said Chinese national Lu Jing ignored a warning to leave Mar-a-Lago in December 2019, came back in through a side entrance and kept taking pictures. Palm Beach police arrested her on Worth Avenue on Dec 18, 2019, and she resisted being handcuffed. On Feb 13, 2020, a Palm Beach County jury acquitted her of trespassing but convicted her of misdemeanor resisting an officer without violence, a charge that carries up to one year in jail.
The Fake Rothschild Heiress (Inna Yashchyshyn)
A joint Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/OCCRP investigation in August 2022 reported that Ukrainian-born Inna Yashchyshyn posed as 'Anna de Rothschild' and got into Mar-a-Lago. She arrived for a gathering there on May 1, 2021, and the next day posed for photos with Trump at a fundraiser at Trump International Golf Club. She was also photographed with Sen. Lindsey Graham. Reports said the FBI was looking into her. She told the Post-Gazette there had been 'some misunderstanding'.
Documents shown off on the Mar-a-Lago patio
Former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said in 2023: "I watched him show documents to people at Mar-a-Lago on the dining room patio."
Butler: A 'Preventable' Secret Service Failure
At the July 13, 2024 rally in Butler, Pa., a gunman fired from an unsecured rooftop, wounding Trump and killing a spectator. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned on July 23, 2024. A Senate Homeland Security committee report led by Chairman Rand Paul (July 2025) called it a preventable tragedy, with Paul saying 'nobody was in charge' of roof security. Six agents were disciplined and none were fired. A GAO review released by Sen. Grassley found the Secret Service had received classified threat intelligence 10 days earlier but had no process to share it with partners, and a DHS-appointed independent panel warned that 'another Butler can and will happen again.'
The Gunman in the Shrubbery (Trump International Golf Club)
On Sept 15, 2024, two months after Butler, Ryan Routh aimed a rifle through the shrubbery at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach while Trump was playing. A Secret Service agent spotted him before Trump came into view and opened fire, and Routh dropped the rifle and fled without firing. A federal jury convicted him on all counts on Sept 23, 2025. On Feb 4, 2026, Judge Aileen Cannon sentenced him to life in prison.
Repeated Mar-a-Lago breach attempts in 2024
On Nov 7, 2024, two days after the election, Zijie Li, 39, a Chinese citizen on a student visa living in Southern California, was arrested at Mar-a-Lago while Trump was on the property. It was at least his third attempt that year. He had been warned in July after trying to get in to tell Trump that China was behind the assassination attempt. He was charged with misdemeanor trespass after warning and held on $100,000 bond.
Counter-Sniper Team Running 73% Short
A DHS Inspector General report issued after the Butler attempt, reported Sept 2, 2025, found the Secret Service Counter Sniper Team was staffed 73 percent below the level its mission requires. Demand for counter snipers rose 151% from 2020 to 2024, and the agency had no effective process for hiring them, since joining the team takes about three years. The Secret Service agreed with the findings.
Fighter Jets Over the Golf Weekend (Palm Beach airspace)
Because Trump keeps returning to Mar-a-Lago, NORAD keeps scrambling fighters to intercept civilian planes that violate Palm Beach flight restrictions, in some cases releasing flares. By March 8, 2025, it had responded to more than 20 tracks of interest since Jan 20, and NORAD commander Gen. Gregory Guillot cited the 'excessive number' of violations. By late October 2026 NORAD said it had intercepted more than 60 aircraft in the West Palm Beach area since January 2025.
The Clearances
Vetting, overridden for family and friends · 9 entriesKushner's Secret Line Through the Russian Embassy
The Washington Post reported in May 2017, citing U.S. intercepts of Russian communications, that Kushner proposed a secret channel to Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak at Trump Tower on Dec 1 or 2, 2016. It would have used Russian diplomatic facilities, apparently so the talks would be harder to monitor. Michael Flynn also attended. Kislyak reportedly told Moscow he was 'taken aback,' and the channel was never set up.
Kushner leaves 100+ foreign contacts off his clearance form
Kushner's first security clearance application, filed in January 2017, listed no foreign contacts. He amended it three times and added more than 100 names. His lawyers moved to amend it after finding emails about the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Kremlin-linked lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya. His lawyer called the omissions an error.
Michael Flynn lies to FBI about Russian ambassador contacts
National Security Adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 to making false statements to the FBI about his contacts with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. He tried to withdraw the plea in January 2020, and in May 2020 the Justice Department moved to drop the case. Judge Emmet Sullivan did not grant the dismissal. Trump pardoned Flynn on Nov 25, 2020, before he was sentenced.
Rob Porter works for a year on an interim clearance despite FBI flags
Staff Secretary Rob Porter worked in the White House for more than a year on only an interim security clearance. FBI Director Christopher Wray testified on Feb 13, 2018 that the FBI sent the White House a preliminary report in March 2017, its completed investigation in late July 2017, and follow-up information in November 2017. Porter resigned in February 2018 after two ex-wives publicly accused him of abuse.
Ivanka's private email for government business
The Washington Post reported on November 19, 2018 that throughout 2017 Ivanka Trump, a White House adviser, sent hundreds of emails about government business from a personal account. This came after the 2016 campaign had attacked Hillary Clinton over private email.
Trump orders Kushner's top-secret clearance over objections
Citing The New York Times (Feb 2019), NBC reported that in May 2018 Trump ordered Chief of Staff John Kelly to give Jared Kushner a top-secret clearance. Security officials and White House Counsel Don McGahn had raised concerns, and McGahn had recommended against a clearance that high. Kelly and McGahn each reportedly wrote internal memos about it. Two NBC sources said Kushner's case was one of at least 30 in which security office chief Carl Kline overruled career experts.
Ivanka Trump's clearance pushed through after Kelly and McGahn balked
In March 2019, CNN reported, citing three sources, that Trump pressed John Kelly and Don McGahn to grant Ivanka Trump a security clearance despite their recommendations against it. Both refused, and Trump granted the clearances himself. About three weeks earlier, Ivanka had told ABC News that her father had 'no involvement' in her clearance or Kushner's.
Tricia Newbold whistleblower: 25 clearance denials overturned
Tricia Newbold, an adjudications manager in the White House Personnel Security Office, told the House Oversight Committee that about 25 denials by career staff had been overturned. Her complaint accused office director Carl Kline of granting clearances despite background-check concerns. The committee sought adjudication records for nine people, among them Kushner, Ivanka Trump, John Bolton, Michael Flynn and Rob Porter. Newbold said she was suspended for 14 days without pay in January 2019.
John McEntee: fired over clearance problems, then put in charge of personnel
Trump's personal aide John McEntee was fired and escorted out of the White House on March 13, 2018. Sources tied it to problems with his security clearance, and one source said he faced a Homeland Security probe into 'serious financial crimes.' Minutes after the news broke, Trump's reelection campaign announced it had hired him. In 2020 he returned to the White House as head of the Presidential Personnel Office, and House Oversight Democrats sought documents on him.
The Money
Gulf sovereign funds, spy chiefs and crypto, paid to the family · 26 entriesSaudi PIF's $2B bet on Kushner's Affinity Partners
About six months after leaving the White House, Jared Kushner's new firm Affinity Partners got $2 billion from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), which is chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Fund officials reportedly objected to the investment, but they were overruled at the top. Affinity told Sen. Wyden that PIF pays a 1.25% annual fee on its $2B commitment. Wyden's September 2024 letter estimates about $157M in fees from foreign clients, $87M of it from the Saudi government, and says Affinity had produced no return for investors.
Pardon for Binance founder Changpeng Zhao
In October 2025 Trump pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao. In November 2023 Zhao had pleaded guilty to a Bank Secrecy Act violation, failing to maintain an effective anti-money-laundering program, as part of Binance's multibillion-dollar settlement with the Justice Department, and he served four months in prison. Before the pardon, Binance had taken a $2B investment from MGX paid in the Trump family's USD1 stablecoin. Trump said: 'I don't know him. I don't believe I've ever met him.'
Affinity: 99% foreign money, $6.16B, while Kushner works as envoy
Affinity raised another $1.5B from Abu Dhabi's Lunate and the Qatar Investment Authority, a deal reported between December 2024 and March 2025, which brought its assets to about $4.8B. In April 2026 Rep. Jamie Raskin's investigation put Affinity's assets at about $6.16B, $1.2B of it raised in the past year. He said 99% came from foreign sources, including the sovereign funds of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar. Over the same period Kushner was negotiating in the Middle East as Special Envoy for Peace, which Raskin said 'creates a glaring and incurable conflict of interest.'
Dar Global / Dar Al Arkan: $25.8M from the Saudi developer
Saudi developer Dar Al Arkan and its Dubai arm, Dar Global, are the Trump Organization's main Gulf licensing partners on multiple Trump-branded projects. According to CNBC's review of the disclosure, $25.8M of Trump's income is tied to projects with them. AP also reported that Dar Global would launch a $1 billion Trump-branded project in Saudi Arabia.
Kushner's Belgrade tower on a bombed army HQ
Affinity planned a $500M luxury complex on the site of Belgrade's former Yugoslav Army General Staff headquarters, under a 99-year rent-free lease from Serbia's government. On December 15, 2025, Serbian organized-crime prosecutors indicted Culture Minister Nikola Selakovic and others over the illegal removal of the site's heritage protection. A heritage-institute official had admitted fabricating an expert opinion. Affinity withdrew from the project on December 16, 2025.
Kushner's Albanian island resort
Affinity pursued a luxury eco-resort on Sazan Island, a former military island off Albania's coast, and entered advanced talks with Aman Resorts in March 2024. The project was part of the Saudi-backed firm's Balkan push alongside the Serbia project.
The Witkoff family's crypto windfall
Steve Witkoff, Trump's Middle East envoy, has sons Zach and Alex who co-founded World Liberty Financial. While Witkoff negotiated in the Gulf, his family's entities got about $31M from the Tahnoon-backed UAE stake (WSJ via CNBC). Zach Witkoff announced the MGX USD1 deal in Dubai. Steve Witkoff is also a named defendant in the October 2026 emoluments suit.
Justin Sun's $75M in Trump crypto, then the SEC backs off
Tron founder Justin Sun said he put $30M into World Liberty shortly after Trump's election and another $45M days before the inauguration. A few weeks later the SEC asked a judge to pause its securities fraud case against him.
Kushner's stake in an Israeli arms-linked firm while brokering Gaza
CNN reported that Affinity is the largest shareholder in Phoenix Financial, with a 7.4% stake worth more than $1B. Phoenix holds investments in at least nine suppliers to Israel's military, the largest being Elbit Systems. Kushner held the stake while helping negotiate the October 2025 Gaza ceasefire. In October 2026 Rep. Robert Garcia demanded answers on the arms investments, after he and Sen. Wyden had opened an inquiry in March 2026 into Affinity's Middle East fundraising.
The Qatari 'Flying Palace' Air Force One
On May 21, 2025, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth accepted a Boeing 747-8 from Qatar, valued at about $400M, for Trump to use as Air Force One. Hegseth signed a memorandum of understanding for the gift in July 2025, and CNN reported that it calls the plane an 'unconditional' donation. The plan is to transfer the jet to Trump's presidential library after his term. CBS reported that $934M was moved from a nuclear-missile program to help pay for the retrofit, and Trump first flew on the jet as Air Force One in early July 2026.
Senate Democrats protest the jet by holding DOJ nominees
On May 13, 2025, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer announced a hold on all of Trump's Justice Department political nominees until he got answers about the Qatari jet gift. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, a close Trump ally, said the plane 'poses significant espionage and surveillance problems.'
'Spy Sheikh' buys 49% of World Liberty Financial
Days before Trump's January 2025 inauguration, Aryam Investment agreed to buy a 49% stake in the Trump family's crypto firm World Liberty Financial for $500M. Aryam is backed by UAE national security adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Eric Trump signed the deal. The WSJ reported that about $187M went to Trump family entities and $31M to Witkoff family entities. Trump's 2025 financial disclosure later showed $263M of the $500M going to Trump family entities.
MGX's $2B Binance deal paid in Trump's USD1 stablecoin
MGX is an Abu Dhabi state-backed investment firm chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon. In 2025 it made a $2 billion investment in Binance and used USD1, the stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial, to pay for it. WLF co-founder Zach Witkoff, son of envoy Steve Witkoff, announced the USD1 arrangement at a Dubai crypto conference on May 1, 2025. A later lawsuit alleges the purchase dramatically expanded USD1's circulation and earned the Trump-linked issuer millions in interest.
AI chips to the UAE after the money arrives
In May 2025, months after the Tahnoon-backed WLF stake, the administration agreed to let the UAE buy hundreds of thousands of advanced Nvidia AI chips, a fifth of them for Tahnoon's company G42. In July 2026 Commerce moved the UAE into the permissive export-control group A:5, giving G42 and its subsidiary Core42 streamlined access. Commerce also said it would 'favorably review' license applications for MGX. Sen. Warren called the timing 'alarming' and demanded Commerce's national-security analysis. She had earlier called the arrangement 'corruption, plain and simple.'
Trump's foreign licensing take jumps to $59.5M, mostly Gulf
CNBC's analysis of Trump's financial disclosure found $59.5M in foreign real-estate licensing income for 2025. That is up 71% from 2024 and nearly ten times the 2023 figure. More than 60% came from the Gulf: about $22M from UAE-linked projects, $9M from Saudi Arabia and $5M from Qatar. The Trump Organization's ethics policy bars new deals with foreign governments but allows deals with private foreign companies, and several of these projects involve state-linked partners.
Qatar's Trump golf resort with the sovereign fund's developer
On April 30, 2025, two weeks before Trump's visit to Doha, a Trump-branded golf club and luxury villa development was announced at Simaisma on Qatar's coast. The partners are Dar Global and Qatari Diar, a real-estate company established by Qatar's sovereign wealth fund. Trump's disclosure shows $5.25M from the deal.
Oman's government tourism arm partners on the Trump 'Aida' project
The Trump-branded Aida development in Oman is a joint venture between Dar Global and Omran Group, the Omani government's tourism development arm. Trump's disclosure shows nearly $1M from the project.
Damac pays $10M in fees for Abu Dhabi projects with nothing under way
Dubai developer Damac paid Trump two $5M fees tied to Abu Dhabi projects, part of $11.3M from Damac in total. CNBC found the Trump Organization has no active developments in Abu Dhabi.
Vietnam's $1.5B Trump golf project, advanced during tariff talks
On May 21, 2025, Eric Trump broke ground on a $1.5B Trump golf development in Hung Yen province outside Hanoi, with Vietnam's then-prime minister Pham Minh Chinh in attendance. Trump's disclosure shows $5M from the deal. The project moved forward while Vietnam was negotiating to avoid a threatened 46% U.S. tariff.
Saudi Arabia buys Electronic Arts with Kushner along for the ride
On September 29, 2025, Saudi Arabia's PIF, Silver Lake and Kushner's Affinity agreed to buy video-game maker Electronic Arts for about $55B including debt, the largest leveraged buyout on record. According to the WSJ, PIF would own about 93.4% and Affinity 1.1%. The deal closed on August 4, 2026.
Gulf sovereign money in the Paramount bid for Warner Bros.
In December 2025 Kushner's Affinity joined Saudi, Qatari and Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth funds in backing Paramount's bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, the owner of CNN. Affinity withdrew from the bid later that month.
Pakistan signs up with the Trump family's crypto firm
In January 2026 Pakistan's government signed an agreement with World Liberty Financial to bring crypto into its financial system. Reuters reported that the deal covers a dollar-linked stablecoin. Zach Witkoff negotiated it with Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb. In May 2025 Pakistan had signed an earlier deal with a WLF-affiliated company to explore using USD1 for cross-border payments.
Tahnoon-linked entity owns 49% of the Trump family's new crypto bank
In August 2026 the OCC gave World Liberty preliminary conditional approval to set up a federally chartered national trust bank. StringZ Holding, an entity linked to Sheikh Tahnoon and his co-investors, owns 49% of the bank's holding company, WLTC Holdings, and a Trump-affiliated entity owns 38%. That gives the Tahnoon-linked entity a larger stake than the President's family in a U.S.-chartered bank.
Emoluments lawsuit over UAE crypto money
On October 22, 2026, Circle shareholder J. Benjamin Greenberg filed a derivative suit in U.S. District Court for D.C. (1:26-cv-03686). It names Trump, World Liberty Financial, Steve Witkoff and four related LLCs as defendants. The suit alleges that the $500M Tahnoon-backed stake and the $2B USD1 purchase are illegal foreign emoluments. CNBC reports that Trump's 2025 disclosure showed $1.4B in crypto income, about $800M of it tied to WLF.
Don Jr. and Eric's drone company pitches Gulf governments
Powerus is a drone-intercept company tied to a merger with a golf-course holding company backed by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump. During the U.S. war with Iran it offered its systems to several Gulf nations to counter Iranian drone attacks, and it is also seeking Pentagon work.
No hearings on Trump's crypto windfall
Trump's 2025 financial disclosure, made public June 30, 2026, showed at least $2.24B in revenue. More than $580M of that was crypto income, including about $515M from World Liberty token sales. Five Senate Democratic ranking members asked for hearings on the national-security risks and on whether UAE money shaped policy. Separately, Rep. Gregory Meeks and 40 other House Democrats asked Treasury to investigate WLF.
China and Russia
Adversary exposure, from trademarks to chips · 11 entriesChinese state bank as Trump Tower tenant
The state-owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China ran a branch in Trump Tower from 2008 until October 2019, on three floors totaling 25,356 square feet. It was the building's third-largest tenant and paid $95.48 per square foot in 2012. Forbes estimated about $1.9 million a year in rent going to Trump, about $5.4 million in total by October 2020.
Trump's undisclosed Chinese bank account
In October 2020 the New York Times reported that Trump's tax records showed a Chinese bank account controlled by Trump International Hotels Management. The account was left off his public financial disclosures because it is held under a corporate name. It paid $188,561 in Chinese taxes from 2013 to 2015 while Trump pursued licensing deals in China.
Trump Tower Moscow, and Cohen's lies about it
Trump's company pursued a Trump-branded tower in Moscow during the 2016 campaign. On Nov. 29, 2018, his lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress. He had said the talks ended in January 2016, but they ran until June 2016. He also admitted that he briefed Trump more often than he told Congress, and that he agreed to travel to Moscow and suggested Trump go too.
Trump Tower meeting with the Russian lawyer
On June 9, 2016, Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort met at Trump Tower with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya and others. The meeting followed an email offering dirt on Hillary Clinton as 'part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump.' Trump Jr. replied 'if it's what you say I love it.' His first public statement said the meeting was about Russian adoptions. In a January 2018 letter to Mueller, Trump's lawyers acknowledged that Trump had dictated that statement.
Ivanka's Chinese trademarks approved the day she dined with Xi
On April 6, 2017, China approved three new trademarks for Ivanka Trump's brand, covering handbags, jewelry and spa services. That same day she and Jared Kushner sat next to Xi Jinping and his wife at dinner at Mar-a-Lago, per the AP. Larry Noble of the Campaign Legal Center said the speed 'raises questions whether there was any favoritism,' and a trademark lawyer called the timing 'very suspect.' China's foreign ministry said it handles all trademark applications equally.
ZTE rescue
On April 16, 2018, the Commerce Department banned U.S. companies from selling to Chinese telecom maker ZTE for seven years. It found ZTE had violated its 2017 sanctions settlement and made false statements about complying. On May 13, 2018, Trump said he would work with Xi Jinping to reverse the ban.
Helsinki: siding with Putin over U.S. intelligence
At a joint press conference with Putin in Helsinki on July 16, 2018, Trump called Putin's denial of 2016 election interference 'extremely strong and powerful.' He said, 'President Putin says it's not Russia. I don't see any reason why it would be.' U.S. intelligence agencies had concluded that Russia directed the 2016 cyberattacks.
AI chips to China for a 15% government cut
In August 2025 Nvidia and AMD agreed to pay the U.S. government 15% of their revenue from selling AI chips to China: Nvidia's H20 and AMD's MI308. The Commerce Department began issuing H20 export licenses on Aug. 8, two days after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang met Trump.
TikTok deal keeps a ByteDance stake and a licensed Chinese algorithm
In September 2025 the White House approved a framework for a U.S. TikTok joint venture. The venture gets a licensed copy of ByteDance's recommendation algorithm, retrained on U.S. data, with Oracle overseeing security. In the final structure, Oracle, Silver Lake and the Emirati MGX each hold 15%, other investors about 5%, ByteDance-linked investors about 30.1%, and ByteDance itself keeps 19.9%. The venture launched in January 2026.
'Made in USA' Trump phone that isn't
Trump Mobile announced its $499 T1 phone in June 2025 with claims that it would be made in the U.S. About a week later, after analysts noted there was no U.S. manufacturing, the site changed its wording to 'designed with American values in mind.' Early images showed a reskinned Chinese-made Wingtech REVVL 7 Pro 5G. The phone that shipped matched Taiwan's HTC U24 Pro, which uses Chinese parts.
$TRUMP coin dinner for anonymous, largely foreign buyers
On May 22, 2025, Trump hosted a dinner at his Virginia golf club for the top 220 holders of his $TRUMP meme coin. Guests were known only by leaderboard usernames, and NPR reported that many holders were based abroad. Chinese-born crypto billionaire Justin Sun said he was the top holder. NBC reported that the winners spent a combined $394 million.
Purging the Watchmen
Firing and punishing the people whose job is to sound the alarm · 19 entriesBrennan clearance revoked as payback
On Aug 15, 2018, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders announced that Trump had revoked the security clearance of former CIA Director John Brennan, a vocal critic. The statement cited his 'erratic conduct and behavior' and said nine other current and former officials were being evaluated. The written statement was dated July 26. Former officials said none of the accepted grounds for revoking a clearance applied.
Transition stalls the DOJ agreement that lets the FBI vet nominees
After the 2024 election, Trump's transition held off signing the Justice Department agreement that lets the FBI run background checks and clearance processing for nominees. It signed only on Dec 3, 2024, weeks after naming picks like Matt Gaetz and Pete Hegseth. NPR and CNN reported in November 2024 that the transition was skipping FBI checks for at least some picks.
Joint Chiefs Chairman CQ Brown fired
On Feb 21, 2025 Trump fired Gen. CQ Brown as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His only public comment was a social media post thanking Brown for his service. In the same shake-up Hegseth removed Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti and other senior officers. Hegseth had said on a podcast before taking office that the chairman should be fired. Trump nominated Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan Caine to replace Brown.
NSA/Cyber Command chief Haugh fired after Loomer meeting
In early April 2025 Trump fired Gen. Timothy Haugh, head of the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command, and his civilian deputy Wendy Noble. No official reason was given. The firings came one day after far-right activist Laura Loomer met with Trump and urged him to fire National Security Council staffers. Several NSC officials were fired soon after that meeting. Loomer had questioned Haugh's and Noble's loyalty, and she later wrote that she was grateful Trump 'acted on my concerns.'
DIA director Kruse fired after Iran strike damage assessment
On Aug 22, 2025 Hegseth fired Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. Earlier, a preliminary DIA assessment that was widely reported in the media found the June 2025 U.S. strikes set Iran's nuclear program back only a few months. That contradicted the claims of Trump and Netanyahu. AP, citing sources including a White House official, reported that the assessment had angered Trump. The Pentagon gave no reason, and Sen. Mark Warner said the firing showed a habit of 'treating intelligence as a loyalty test.'
Gabbard fires intel council chiefs over Tren de Aragua memo
In May 2025 DNI Tulsi Gabbard fired Michael Collins, acting chair of the National Intelligence Council, and vice chair Maria Langan-Riekhof, both career analysts. Before that, an April 2025 NIC memo concluded that Tren de Aragua does not take orders from Venezuela's Maduro government. All agencies except the FBI agreed. The finding undercut the administration's stated basis for invoking the Alien Enemies Act. Gabbard's office said the two had 'politicized intelligence.'
Gabbard strips 37 clearances and posts the names
On Aug 19, 2025, at Trump's direction, DNI Gabbard revoked the security clearances of 37 current and former national security officials. She accused them, without evidence, of politicizing or leaking intelligence. She shared the named list publicly, and the New York Post published it first. National security lawyer Mark Zaid called the revocations unlawful and a possible Privacy Act violation. He said the people named were not notified first.
Ukraine intelligence cutoff
In early March 2025, after the Oval Office blowup with Zelensky, the administration paused intelligence sharing with Ukraine along with military aid. CIA Director John Ratcliffe told Fox Business that Trump 'had a real question' about whether Zelensky was committed to peace 'and he said, let's pause.' Ukraine used the intelligence to track and target Russian forces. The pause was lifted about a week later, after talks in Jeddah.
Hegseth leak hunt ousts his own top aides
In March 2025 Hegseth's chief of staff Joe Kasper announced a leak investigation and warned that staff could face polygraphs. In April, senior adviser Dan Caldwell, deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick, and Colin Carroll, chief of staff to the deputy defense secretary, were put on leave and removed. In a joint statement the three called it 'baseless attacks' and said they 'still have not been told what exactly we were investigated for.'
Patel's FBI purge and lawsuit
On Sept 10, 2025, fired senior FBI officials Brian Driscoll (former acting director), Steven Jensen and Spencer Evans sued FBI Director Kash Patel and AG Pam Bondi. They allege Patel fired them to keep his job, as part of the White House's 'campaign of retribution' against agents who worked on Trump-related cases. The suit says Patel acknowledged the firings were 'likely illegal' but that he was powerless to stop them. The FBI declined to comment.
Day-one order strips clearances from laptop-letter signers
On Jan 20, 2025, Trump signed an executive action ordering the clearances of the former intelligence officials who signed the October 2020 Hunter Biden laptop letter revoked, if still active. The letter had 51 signers, two of whom have since died. Named signers included Brennan, Clapper, Hayden and Panetta. The same order also targeted John Bolton, who was not a signer, over his book.
Biden's clearance and intelligence briefings cut off
On Feb 7, 2025, Trump said he was revoking Joe Biden's security clearance and ending his daily intelligence briefings, a courtesy traditionally given to former presidents. He framed it as payback for Biden ending Trump's briefings in 2021. He also cited the Hur report, saying it showed Biden had a 'poor memory.'
Enemies-list memo pulls clearances from Harris, Clinton, Cheney, Bragg, James
A March 21, 2025 presidential memo revoked the clearances of 15 named people, among them Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton, Antony Blinken, Jake Sullivan, Lisa Monaco, Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, Fiona Hill, Alexander Vindman, Norman Eisen, Mark Zaid, Letitia James and Alvin Bragg. It also covered 'the entire Biden family.' James and Bragg had prosecuted Trump, and DNI Tulsi Gabbard had already pulled their clearances earlier that month.
Court: Zaid clearance revocation was 'retribution'
Whistleblower attorney Mark Zaid was one of 15 people whose clearances were pulled under the March 2025 memo. On Dec 23, 2025, U.S. District Judge Amir Ali granted him a preliminary injunction. Ali found the administration acted in 'retribution' and summarily cancelled the clearance without an individualized national-security assessment or the process given to others.
Law-firm executive orders strip clearances, struck down
In March and April 2025, Trump signed executive orders against Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, WilmerHale and Susman Godfrey. Among other measures, they suspended or revoked the firms' lawyers' security clearances. On May 2, 2025, Judge Beryl Howell permanently blocked the Perkins Coie order, ruling it violated the First, Fifth and Sixth Amendments. On May 27, Judge Richard Leon struck down the WilmerHale order as unconstitutional, and the Jenner and Susman orders were also blocked in court.
NSC staff purged after Loomer hands Trump a list
On April 2, 2025, Laura Loomer met Trump in the Oval Office with a list of about a dozen aides she called insufficiently loyal. The next day more than half a dozen National Security Council staff were fired. They included Brian Walsh, senior director for intelligence, as well as Maggie Dougherty, Thomas Boodry and David Feith.
Hegseth's Pentagon polygraphs its own staff; White House tells it to stop
A March 21, 2025 memo from Hegseth's then-chief of staff Joe Kasper opened a leak probe, and polygraph testing began in April with Hegseth's approval. Aides Dan Caldwell, Colin Carroll and Darin Selnick were fired in April over alleged leaking, which they denied. The Washington Post reported in July 2025 that the White House stopped the polygraphs after senior adviser Patrick Weaver complained he could be ordered to take one.
Patel's FBI uses polygraphs on its own officials
Under Director Kash Patel, the FBI intensified its use of polygraph tests to find leakers. The New York Times reported in July 2025, under the headline 'The F.B.I. Is Using Polygraphs to Test Officials' Loyalty,' that the tests were being used on bureau officials.
About 50 Joint Staff officers polygraphed in a leak hunt
In August 2026 the Pentagon gave polygraph exams to roughly 50 Joint Staff members, according to a New York Times report published Sept 5, 2026. The leak hunt concerned disclosures about munitions shortages caused by the Iran war. A retired Navy judge advocate general called it 'unprecedented.'
So what is the enigma?
It is not why it happens. The pattern is plain. Rules apply to the staff and not to the family. Access goes to whoever is in the room, and the room is for sale. Loyalty counts for more than vetting.
The enigma is why it is still tolerated. Any Marine with a clearance who did a tenth of this would lose that clearance, then the career, and maybe a court-martial would follow. Here the generals and intelligence chiefs get fired, critics lose their clearances, and the staff get polygraphed.
On January 3, 2027, the House and Senate change hands. The committees that can subpoena records about foreign money, clearance decisions and Signal chats will be run by people who have said they intend to. Every entry above is a question for them.
Companion pieces
- Lawyer Up, the incoming House Oversight chair's warning and the full catalog of Trump scandals.
- The Long Docket, fifty-three years of Trump's legal history, every case tagged by outcome.
Opinion and analysis by the Jelia Notebook. Each fact is linked to its source in its entry.