The Guardian reports on plans for Donald Trump's coronation inauguration:
America's business elite won't just break the old record, they'll pulverize it. There's no definitive source for the cost of inaugurations, but the estimates are all pretty close. Here they are:¹
Aside from Trump's own previous inauguration, his 2025 blowout is budgeted to be twice as expensive as any other inauguration in history.
Trump's 2017 inauguration was famously puzzling because no one could figure out what he spent all his money on. He only held three parties and a lunch, and the entertainers were the likes of The Piano Guys, Lee Greenwood, and DJ RaviDrums. So where did it go?
Presumably Trump will host a more ostentatious show this time around. But all the money in the world still won't get Beyoncé to sing for him. Obama will always have that.
¹This is the cost of all the balls and parties, using funds raised privately. It doesn't include the cost of security or the ceremony itself, both of which are paid for by the federal government.
This year a big donation gets you a ticket to a pre-inauguration prayer service. Assuming it's going to be in a church, I expect the insurance against lightning strikes will cost a bomb.
It's not clear if Trump plans on being there himself, but I imagine he'd demand a seven-figure fee for putting up with such a boring event, especially after he already had to sit through that Notre Dame thing where he wasn't allowed to speak and it wasn't even in English.
IIRC there were a lot of consulting fees to friends and relations although there never was a full accounting. Let's just assume that he will be wetting his beak.
When US business leaders make record donations to Trump's inauguration fund, I clutch my wallet a little more tightly.
Yeah, isn't it funny how our Titans of Industry push back on corporate taxes by telling us how they're ultimately paid by customers anyway so there's no sense trying to tax our businesses, but they never tell us we're the ones ultimately paying for inaugural grift?
I get it, but I don't like it. Trump has the power now to decimate the businesses of those he doesn't like, and he won't think twice about using it. I think this goes beyond just the usual pandering around tax breaks, this is pandering to keep their businesses out of his crosshairs.
The protected industries/countries/products list for tariffs will likely reflect who donated the most. The whole thing is starting to feel like a mafia protection racket.
Nice business you have there, be a shame if it went up in flames tomorrow night...
Trump.
I thought the 2017 costs were supposed to be accounted for and never were. IIRC some huge chunk went to some adviser/confidante of Melania. Can you say Kickback?
Exactly. This time around, he'll have a few puny parties and just pocket the rest. It's what he does, when he's not hawking his ("His"?) signed Bibles, gilded hats and tennies, and who knows what other kitsch.
Oh, and all the parties will be held in Trump-owned properties, so that not one cent leaks away to anybody else.
He doesn't own the hotel in the neighborhood any more though.
The GSA should never have given the lease (we own the actual building) to him in the first place. The decor/furniture etc. were in Trump dictator chic style, not in harmony with the Richardsonian architecture of the building which would have been actually far better, if lacking in giant crystal chandeliers.
And when he became President he was then both tenant and landlord which is explicitly illegal - and ignored.
"So where did it go?" That's easy, he stole it.
"Presumably Trump will host a more ostentatious show" NO, because every penny he spends on the actual inauguration is one less that he can't pocket.
You’re pranking us , right? You know where it goes. Trump has multiple extra roomy pockets in his suit lining.
Last time:
A more chronologically relevant account comes from Michael Lewis, who has reported about Trump’s lack of interest in planning for his presidential transition during the campaign. Trump could not let go of the idea that the money for the transition was somehow coming at his personal expense:
The first time Trump paid attention to any of this was when he read about it in the newspaper. The story revealed that Trump’s very own transition team had raised several million dollars to pay the staff. The moment he saw it, Trump called Steve Bannon, the chief executive of his campaign, from his office on the 26th floor of Trump Tower, and told him to come immediately to his residence, many floors above. Bannon stepped off the elevator to find Christie seated on a sofa, being hollered at. Trump was apoplectic, yelling: "You’re stealing my money! You’re stealing my fucking money! What the fuck is this?'
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/02/trumps-inaugural-crimes-hotel-investigation.html
And MAGA, while deriding "out of touch elites" will swoon over whatever it is that Trump has planned. Bet on it.
I'm unhappy with the Guardian article that Kevin is referring to. Only has headshots of Bezos and Zuckerberg. It should also have an image of a smug Trump for context.
better yet of the feckless rich ones sitting on his lap.
Why do you want to see EVEN MORE images of that smirking, self-satisfied person? Any day I don't get more photos of the First Felon pushed in my face is a win for me.
"Trump's 2017 inauguration was famously puzzling because no one could figure out what he spent all his money on."
I know Kevin is (or does a good job of pretending to be) naive about a great many things. But I do hope that this is intended to be a rhetorical question.
This is that odd situation where many readers assume this is a rhetorical question, whether it was intended as rhetorical or not!
I don't think there's any doubt about where a lot of the money ended up and the only question is how the accounting worked to get it there.
I also doubt that the CEOs who are donating money to this protection racket have any doubt about where the money will end up.
I suspect they will spend a lot of the money on flying and bussing in crowds. Trump is going to make sure he has the biggest crowd ever this time.
We all know he pockets as much as possible. This inauguration will be yet another t-Rump dud.
I believe he's trying to make how he runs the Inauguration the model for how he runs the government.
Trump and his gang of thugs are going to prove that US Federal government is corrupt and oppressive. And no one will really care!
To be honest, it always has been. Much like the racism, the corruption was hidden and that was ok. Trump took the hood off the racism and starting saying what the darker side of America really thought.
Everything is bought and sold in some fashion. The fight between political parties has always been over where the money goes.
I don't suppose anyone has posted a plot of how much these companies have donated to the inauguration vs how much they paid in taxes.
The grift must go on! It's embarrassing that anyone would participate in such an obvious cash grab. But I guess fear of Trump will loosen many a billionaires wallets.
That’s a lot of money for a VP inauguration.
Plus d'argent pour les claques.
I hear Kid Rock is available and can be had for pretty cheap.
I do love the idea of Trump billing his own inauguration for appearing at the inauguration. It's not the most Trumpiest thing in the whole world, but it is pretty close.
"I mean, look, how much do the Obamas make for public speaking anyway?"