There is a price tag on talking one-on-one with President Donald Trump, and D.C. politicos apparently know it’s around $5 million, according to a staff writer for the New Yorker.
In an interview with MSNBC, staff writer Evan Osnos explained that the sitting president has monetized the White House to a point that he said we’re experiencing a “politics of plunder because of the sheer flood of money that is swirling around the White House.”
“It takes all kinds of forms, some of it is so flamboyant and in our face that it almost exhausts the public,” Osnos said. “When you hear about the jet you begin to wonder, does anyone out there even pay attention to this? But day in and day out in Washington, people who have been involved for years in the kind of – let’s call it normal pay-to-play politics – will tell you that this is completely outside anything that a president has ever been involved in. The sheer monetization of the White House is taking all kinds of forms.”
“One of which is that government affairs executives in town are now quite aware of the fact that if you want to get a one-on-one conversation with the president, the price tag is $5 million.That may go to MAGA Inc. – the super PAC that is accumulating money for midterms – but the truth is, as one executive put it to me, we have no idea where that money goes, whether it’s in favor of your interests or against you. I think that what we’re seeing now is just a level of utter and shameless transaction.”
Trump sparked a fervor in the news in May when he chose to accept a $400 million jet from Qatar as a gift to use as the new Air Force One. The news led to an outcry from many, concerns about safety from others, and jokes from many late night hosts. Stephen Colbert applauded the president’s baffling decision after it was announced.
“After all these years, it’s nice that Donald Trump is still able to surprise us,” Colbert joked. “It’s kind of sweet how he keeps the nausea fresh!”
“Because we all know he’s a sack of loose skin stuffed with greed, but I don’t think any of us expected him to accept a luxury 747 jet from Qatar for use as Air Force One,” he continued.
Watch the full MSNBC clip above.
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