Draining the Swamp, or Drowning in It?

When Trump stood before cheering crowds in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on October 17, 2016, he promised to restore integrity to government:

“I will issue a lifetime ban against senior executive branch officials lobbying on behalf of a foreign government.”

Thousands applauded, energized by the promise of radical change.

He signed that ban into law on January 28, 2017. Then, quietly, just hours before leaving office on January 19, 2021, he revoked it.

No announcement, no proud tweet, just silent betrayal.

Donald Trump never drained the swamp. He made it deeper, richer, and more dangerous.

In his first term, Trump filled critical positions with 281 former lobbyists. He handed oversight of the Environmental Protection Agency first to coal lobbyist Scott Pruitt — who resigned amid scandal — and then to former energy lobbyist Andrew Wheeler.

Regulations meant to protect the air you breathe, the water you drink, and your children’s futures quietly disappeared.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross openly maintained personal financial interests while shaping national policy. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, a billionaire donor, ran public education like a private equity firm.

The swamp wasn’t drained; it just became privatized.

Trump promised he would eliminate Washington’s revolving door, yet his administration swung it open wider than ever.

At Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, club regulars — a doctor, a lawyer, and a Marvel Entertainment executive — exercised influence over critical decisions at the Department of Veterans Affairs without any official oversight. Private profit replaced public duty.

Taxpayers paid up to $650 per night for Secret Service stays at Trump’s hotels. Foreign diplomats openly booked rooms at Trump’s Washington hotel, hoping to buy influence.

Your tax dollars enriched Trump’s family businesses, turning democracy into a commodity.

But Trump’s second term, beginning January 20, 2025, took corruption to new heights.

On day one, Trump dismantled Biden-era ethics rules, removing restrictions on lobbyists joining the government, accepting lavish gifts, and shadow lobbying. This single act tore away the last safeguards of accountability.

Days later, Trump orchestrated a purge, firing 17 independent inspectors general responsible for overseeing fraud, waste, and abuse.

Trump signed Executive Order 14151, banning Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) programs across federal agencies, eradicating civil-rights infrastructure, and firing dedicated federal staff.

He weaponized executive power against dissent, targeting major law firms like Perkins Coie, WilmerHale, Susman Godfrey, Paul Weiss, and Jenner & Block.

These firms faced threats of losing government contracts or clearances, forcing some into multimillion-dollar "pro bono" agreements to avoid punishment.

Legal experts denounced this as authoritarian intimidation and a direct attack on the justice system.

Trump’s administration set new records for lobbyist influence. Lobbying revenues soared to $123 million in the first quarter of 2025 alone, the highest ever recorded. It was fueled by Donald Trump Jr.’s "Executive Branch" club in Washington, D.C., offering exclusive government access starting at $500,000.

Trump family businesses, from real estate to crypto ventures tied to foreign funds, raked in hundreds of millions during his presidency. Cabinet members shifted business interests to spouses and children, circumventing conflict-of-interest rules.

This was systemic corruption on an unprecedented scale:

• Lobbyists openly ran government.

• Ethics rules evaporated overnight.

• Independent watchdogs vanished.

• Civil rights protections were abolished.

• Justice was weaponized against opponents.

• Presidential power became a family business.

Yet the most alarming truth isn’t Trump’s betrayal but the collective refusal to face it. Millions still repeat the "drain the swamp" mantra, unable or unwilling to admit how thoroughly they were deceived.

Accountability begins with the public not the politicians.

Politicians thrive on passivity, resignation, and cynicism. They depend on your exhaustion and silence. The swamp persists because it is accepted as inevitable rather than rejected as intolerable.

But you can choose differently.

Politicians profiting from corruption fear your clarity, vigilance, and your voice. They fear voters demanding truth over spectacle and justice over comfort.

You are not powerless.

Real change occurs when citizens demand honesty, transparency, and accountability. Your power lies not only in how you vote but in how loudly and relentlessly you insist on integrity.

Trump flooded the swamp with corruption. This betrayal should be a wake-up call for those who value democracy and are willing to deliver on what it truly demands: unwavering vigilance and active citizenship.

Politicians will only respect the boundaries you draw, enforce the accountability you demand, and fulfill the promises you refuse to let them forget.

Demand they drain the swamp before it drown America and the world.

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Image: AI Generated

Sources:

• President Trump’s Executive Order Implements Campaign Lobbying Pledge

• Trump revoked lifetime ban on foreign lobbying in late executive order

• Trump Revokes Lobbying Ban He Signed At The Beginning Of His Presidency

• Trump revokes rule barring lobbying by former officials as he leaves office

• Trump imposes lifetime ban on some lobbying, five years for others

• Full text: Donald Trump campaign speech in Wisconsin

• Donald Trump Rally Transcript Janesville, WI October 17

• One of Trump's final acts will allow former aides to profit from foreign ties

• Trump revokes rule preventing White House staff from lobbying

• 281 lobbyists have worked in Trump administration: report

• 1 in 14 Trump appointees is a former lobbyist, four times the rate under Obama

• Update: We Found a “Staggering” 281 Lobbyists Who’ve Worked in the Trump Administration

• Scott Pruitt: Requiem for a Grifter

• Scandal-Plagued Scott Pruitt Resigns from EPA, Coal Lobbyist Andrew Wheeler Now Interim EPA Chief

• Scott Pruitt Out At EPA

• Who is Andrew Wheeler, the ex-coal lobbyist who will become the acting administrator of the EPA?

• Get To Know Andrew Wheeler, Ex-Coal Lobbyist With Inside Track To Lead EPA

• Andrew R. Wheeler

• Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is tied up in major financial conflicts of interest

• Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross may have violated criminal conflict of interest law in stock holdings, Campaign Legal Center complaint says

• Wilbur Ross’s Web of Financial Conflicts

• Wilbur Ross reported at least $53 million in side income while at Commerce

• 'Not In Compliance': Wilbur Ross, The Trump Official Who Keeps Watchdogs Up At Night

• Has Commerce Secretary Ross resolved all potential conflicts of interest?

• Betsy DeVos

• How Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Will Be Remembered

• As Evidence of Wrongdoing Mounts, Veterans Press Legal Challenge Against Trump for Outsourcing Veterans Policy To His Golfing Buddies at Mar-a-Lago

• VA acknowledges Mar-a-Lago members had ‘pervasive access’ to VA officials and sought to exert influence

• Watchdog office to probe Mar-a-Lago members' influence at VA

• U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Acknowledges Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Council Had “Unusually Pervasive Access” To Certain Senior Political Officials In The Department

• Mar-a-Lago Crowd

• Trump company charged Secret Service 'exorbitant' rates at his hotels, documents suggest

• Trump hotels charged his Secret Service protectors 'exorbitant' rates

• Trump Organization charged Secret Service $1.4M to stay at his properties, committee says

• Trump Hotels Charged Secret Service Exorbitant Rates, House Inquiry Finds

• Documents show big foreign gov’t spending at Trump hotel

• Foreign officials spent more than $750,000 at Trump's D.C. hotel, new documents show

• Trump D.C. hotel receipts reveal $10,500-a-night rooms for foreign officials seeking to influence U.S. policy