MS NOW analyst Hayes Brown argues that President Donald Trump does not object to corruption itself, but to corruption that does not provide him with a financial share. In an analysis published by MS NOW, Brown wrote that Trump “loves corruption, actually. He adores it.”

“Trump’s jealousy over money that he feels was unfairly earned on his coattails is legendary,” Brown said. He cited Brad Parscale, Trump’s digital strategist in 2016 and campaign manager in 2020, who made millions through his strategy company’s contracts with Trump-affiliated groups. According to reporting on Parscale, Trump reportedly exclaimed, “That’s my money!” after learning about the high-spending lifestyle Parscale had developed. Parscale was demoted in July 2020 and left the administration before Election Day.

Trump’s former personal lawyer and former acting attorney general, Alina Habba Mildon, was similarly criticized by the president for “profiting off her place in his orbit,” Brown said. Mildon allegedly signed a $50 million contract last year to serve as general counsel for a billionaire Venezuelan family, just weeks before a member of that family received a clemency deal from Trump, according to reported details. Trump allegedly complained to aides and allies that Mildon should donate part of the money “to his future presidential library or another Trump-related entity,” according to multiple people briefed on the conversations. Additional reporting also addressed the matter.

A more recent example involved Chris LaCivita, Trump’s 2024 co-campaign manager, and adviser James Blair. Trump reportedly objected to their political work in a Balkan territory whose nationalist government is aligned with Russia, according to reporting on the two men.

“This side hustle taking their focus off the U.S. midterms was bad enough, but the hundreds of thousands of dollars they each reportedly earned certainly didn’t help matters,” Brown said. The U.S. midterms are the nationwide congressional elections held at the midpoint of a president’s term. Trump threatened to cut LaCivita and Blair off entirely, but later restored them to his good graces through what he described to reporters last week as “charity.” The two men then donated the money they earned from consulting to the Trump presidential library, according to social media posts, including a post by Blair. Presidential libraries are customarily financed through private donations rather than federal funds, a structure that keeps their fundraising outside the congressional appropriations process.

“The money flowing to his presidential library instead of his businesses or personal bank account makes it no less of a racket,” Brown said. “There still have been no good answers as to where millions of dollars pledged to the library went after the initial fund was dissolved last year.” He added that it was shocking for a sitting president to consider a tithe of this kind from a former staffer necessary, but said it fit Trump’s “zero sum understanding of the world.”

Trump’s personal brand is a source of income, Brown said, and licensing that influence for questionable activities requires Trump to receive a share of the proceeds. “The alternative is risking Trump harnessing the full power of his office to collect what he sees as his due,” Brown concluded. The account was published by Alternet.