Ever since Donald Trump the businessman engineered a hostile takeover of the United States government, he has been modeling the for-profit presidency of the future.
For example, by making the Tomahawk cruise missile his weapon of choice when he attacked Syria, whether intentionally or inadvertently, he made money off it.
How? A 2015 Business Insider report shows that in Donald Trump’s portfolio are shares in Raytheon (RTN), the defense contractor which makes all sorts of goodies for the military, including the Tomahawk missile.
According to Reuters Business:
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JUST IN: Shares of Tomahawk cruise missile maker Raytheon up 2.1 percent in premarket trade after U.S. missile strike in Syria.
— Reuters Business (@ReutersBiz) April 7, 2017
We already know the missile strike, like Trump’s very presidency, was a publicity stunt. It’s unlikely Trump didn’t hear a “Ca-Ching!” when he issued the order to use Tomahawks for the job.
As Bill Palmer writes in The Palmer Report, “we’ve now reached the phase where Trump has ordered military action which has given direct financial benefit to a company that he owns stock in.” And as Palmer explains, those missiles he fired were worth about $100 million and will now have to be replaced.
Moreover, they were a poor choice of weapon against an enemy airfield (the airfield was very quickly back in operation), leaving Palmer to argue therefore that Trump chose them only because he owns stock in the company. This adds a profit motive to the distraction from the Russia scandal the attack afforded.
Obviously, the United States cannot afford a president who makes war because he will profit from it personally.
We are used to the military-industrial complex profiting off wars and having a dangerous presence in the halls of power, but here is a president who can and will make foreign policy decisions based on the simple equation of “what’s in it for him.”
There is a reason why Donald Trump was called upon to divest. He has already shown that there is a conflict between what’s good for the U.S. and what’s good for Trump, he will choose Trump very time.
His whole family has shown that they see his election as an opportunity to “cash-in.” Trump himself is no different.
We have a draft dodger as president, who refused to put himself in the line of fire, who will put other young men and women in the line of fire all so he can make a few bucks. And that’s as scary as it is wrong.
Hrafnkell Haraldsson, a social liberal with leanings toward centrist politics has degrees in history and philosophy. His interests include, besides history and philosophy, human rights issues, freedom of choice, religion, and the precarious dichotomy of freedom of speech and intolerance. He brings a slightly different perspective to his writing, being that he is neither a follower of an Abrahamic faith nor an atheist but a polytheist, a modern-day Heathen who follows the customs and traditions of his Norse ancestors. He maintains his own blog, A Heathen’s Day, which deals with Heathen and Pagan matters, and Mos Maiorum Foundation www.mosmaiorum.org, dedicated to ethnic religion. He has also contributed to NewsJunkiePost, GodsOwnParty and Pagan+Politics.
