Trump faces new impeachment calls after massive TikTok fee revealed: 'Abject corruption'
The Trump administration is reportedly about to pocket a whopping $10 billion from the president's TikTok deal, cashing in big time as investors take control of the app's U.S. operations from Chinese parent ByteDance.
Oracle, Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi's MGX are leading the charge, having already forked over $2.5 billion to the Treasury when the deal closed in January, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Trump said in September of the deal, "It hasn’t been fully negotiated, but we’ll get something.” He emphasized that "The United States is getting a tremendous fee-plus—I call it a fee-plus—just for making the deal and I don’t want to throw that out the window.”
The $10 billion haul is nearly unheard of for a government brokering a deal, the Journal noted. Investment bankers typically rake in less than 1% on transactions. Bank of America is set to make just $130 million advising on a $71.5 billion railroad deal, one of the largest fees ever recorded.
Administration officials say the massive fee is justified since Trump saved TikTok from the ban and navigated tricky negotiations with China while addressing lawmakers' security concerns about Americans' personal data.
This TikTok fee is just the latest example of the administration's expanding business portfolio. Trump's also holding stakes in Intel and Nvidia chip sales, plus wielding influence over U.S. Steel through Japan's Nippon Steel takeover.
The Journal's report astonished tech reporter Karl Bode, who wrote on Bluesky, "this is just open and abject corruption, but the way U.S. journalism frames it you'd not really understand that there's anything untoward."
"Like maybe you'd want to explain, you know, ANYWHERE in the article, that this is not f---ing normal and that the 'national security' and 'privacy' improvements weren't real? Maybe quote an objective expert or academic?"
Law Dork's Chris Geidner wrote on Bluesky, "JFC. Impeach and remove this lawless man, you fools."
Forbes journalist Kieran Meadows wrote on Bluesky, "Anyone remember when there was this little thing called a lawthat banned TikTok in the U.S.? It was passed by Congress and signed by the President so it was indeed a law Like if that means nothing, does anything mean anything anymore?"
Entomologist and photographer Alex Wild wrote on Bluesky, "Maybe you could report plainly that this is corruption and it is illegal."
Stephen Soldz, a psychologist and psychoanalyst, wrote on Bluesky, "The regime gets brokers' fees? Silly question: Who decides what is done with that money? The Crook-in-Chief?"