Nicholas Goldberg: How the White House became a path to obscene riches for ex-presidents
by Nicholas Goldberg, Los Angeles Times
Feb 22, 2022
3 minutes
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Does it come as any surprise that Donald Trump is squeezing every possible penny out of his post-presidency, holding $30,000-a-head fundraisers and pocketing the money, performing for arena crowds with Bill O’Reilly at $100 a ticket, selling $50 MAGA hats and $95 Mar-a-Lago Christmas ornaments at his Trump merchandise store? It’s just what you’d expect from a huckster billionaire who’s always on the make.
But let’s keep his behavior in perspective.
Long before Trump showed up at the White House, the presidency had become a stepping stone to enormous, beyond-the-pale riches. Although some of us suckers still think of
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