This Is the Real Story of Trump’s Presidency—If Democrats Will Tell It

His Truth Social subscription scheme and IRS immunity are just the latest chapters in a massive, ever-growing book about his self-dealing and corruption.

On Saturday morning, Donald Trump posted more than 40 times on his own social media platform, Truth Social, which is his primary megaphone. Nearly all of these posts could charitably be described as AI slop, and none of them is worth dwelling on at any length. OK, fine: In one image, he wore a garish, bedazzled white jumpsuit reminiscent of Vegas-era Elvis; in another, he was depicted as a screaming George Washington, leading soldiers in the Revolutionary War. He posted a doctored photo of Bruce Springsteen looking haggard, and bragged about his own physique at 80, claiming he was “aging in reverse.”

How much would you pay to access such posts slightly faster than nearly every other human? Truth Social reportedly is charging as much as $100,000 per month to high-frequency trading firms to gain access to the website’s API, allowing traders to see these stupid posts a few milliseconds before everyone else. The service was announced a few weeks ago, resulting in accusations of self-dealing and a Democratic bill (that will go nowhere) to ban selling speedy access to the president’s posts. Meanwhile, thanks to congressional Republicans, Trump has held onto his immunity from IRS audits, his (probably spyware-filled) plane from Qatar, and the billions of dollars he’s already raked in by selling the presidency.

This is the story of so much of Trump’s presidency: an unending series of scandals that amount to the biggest act of public corruption in American history. The scandals just keep coming, and yet, aside from complaints from the usual corners—the minority party, The New Republic, etc.—they’re largely greeted by a collective shrug. Of course Trump is corrupt. Of course he’s profiting from the presidency. What will it take to snap Americans out of this complacency?

The Truth Social API scheme is debased, even by Trump’s standards. As with many of his scams, it comes with a fig leaf: Truth Social is not just selling access to Trump’s posts, but to........

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