‘The corruption is so blatant’: Eric Trump grifts $1.5B Vietnam resort to family’s corruption haul as their net worth mysteriously jumps to $2.9B

It’s not fair that being evil, amoral, and corrupt is so lucrative. From the very minute Donald Trump returned to office, he, his family, and their cronies have been busily stuffing their pockets with as many ill-gotten gains as they can.

The most insulting part is that they’re not even trying to hide it. Trump himself even horrified his most loyal allies by accepting a $400 million bribe from Qatar in the form of his new “flying palace” personal jet. This will initially be Air Force One, and then his personal property on leaving office.

Golden age of corruption: Vietnam’s prime minister and Eric Trump held a groundbreaking for a $1.5B luxury golf resort near Hanoi.

PM Pham Minh Chinh said Eric’s visit “motivated us to expedite this project,” and urged officials to provide maximum support to complete the… pic.twitter.com/wSh83ZIWQS

— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) May 22, 2025

But for Trump, a $400 million jet is now basically peanuts. Over in Vietnam, Eric Trump just hosted the groundbreaking for a $1.5 billion luxury Trump golf resort near Hanoi. Back in April, Trump slapped Vietnam with a crushing 46% tariff, which would effectively destroy their economy. Frantic negotiations ensued, with Vietnam having to make multiple embarrassing concessions (many of which personally benefited Elon Musk).

Oh really https://t.co/0y1n7vPHgJ pic.twitter.com/HhbQU2CBV1

— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) May 22, 2025

You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to suspect that agreeing to this massive new Trump golf resort was one of the administration’s requirements for getting rid of the tariffs. Qatar also seems to be bowing to the Trump crime family, agreeing to build another luxury golf resort there. All of which means the Trump bank account just bulged to an obscene $2.9 billion.

They’re calling it turbo-corruption

I suspect the MAGA position will be that this is simply smart business from Trump. After all, The Art of the Deal goes into great detail on how to maximize whatever leverage you have over your adversaries to make as much money as possible.

Unfortunately for Americans, the leverage the Trump family is spending is the rapidly shrinking reputation of the United States of America. At least theoretically, America is supposed to be a respected superpower and reliable ally, so behaving like a two-bit mob family shaking down smaller countries to build tacky golf resorts will send other nations running straight into the arms of China. Sure, they’ll also exploit you, but at least they won’t humiliate you while they do it.

As a comment points out, “can you imagine if Hunter Biden did that?” But, frankly, this almost doesn’t need to be said. MAGA indignation at corruption was never actually about the corruption, it was about who’s doing it. Once it’s Trump and his goons lining their pockets, they’ll line up and clap like seals as he drains the nation’s bank account, fritters away international goodwill, and leaves them without Medicare and social security.