It cannot be denied that President Donald John Trump of the U.S. currently is attacking the major pillars of civil society – universities, science, the media, the law, and the arts. Censorship and the suppression of constructive criticism, of any dissenting view, is taking hold and fear for work and safety is silencing journalists and cultural workers. The chill has even reached a quite insignificant person like myself. Recently, I got a call from an editor telling me that an article of mine could not be published. I was told it was well written and appreciated, but could I not soften, or even better remove my critique of President Trump? It is currently too sensitive to air this kind of critique. Maybe I could replace him with Maduro, or some other equally corrupt world leader.
I am not depending on my writing. I am not paid anything for my literary efforts and I would like it to continue like that. I write for my own pleasure and if I criticise someone like Donald J. Trump I assume I do so righteously and the name of the free press. So, here I give you my article, which I assume is neither fake new, nor unfounded.
THE GREED OF WORLD LEADERS: Putin, Netanyahu, and Trump
Wealth shields from judgement, lifts you out of the crowd in the underworld, shuts you up in a chromium-plated car and isolates you in huge expanses of protected parkland.
Albert Camus, The Fall
On 1st of August, the death toll in Gaza had since October 2023 reached 60,034 Palestinians, 174 of them had died from starvation, of which 88 were children or infants. Since the Russian invasion in February 2022, 15,400 civilians have been killed in Ukraine, of them 599 were children. Between 60,000 and 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed. Deaths of Russian soldiers are even harder to estimate. The Russian independent outlet Mediazona has identified the names of more than 111,000 military personnel killed in Ukraine, though it is commonly agreed that losses are greater. Do these deaths weigh heavily on Netanyahu’s and Putin’s consciences? Do they have any compassion for the families of war victims and mutilated survivors?
Putin apparently does not care about Ukrainian victims to his “military operation” and seldom reveals any grief for the loss of Russian lives, expect for occasional, quite awkward and widely published, meetings with hand-picked widows of the “heroes”.[1]
Otherwise, Putin continues to depict the attack on a sovereign country as a defensive war.
“We are defending Russia itself, are fighting together for the Motherland, for our sovereignty, spiritual values and unity, for victory.”
Not much of compassion there. As in the Camus quote above, Putin tends to seclude himself behind a wall of wealth. Behind the smokescreens conjured up by his minions it is difficult to find out how big Putin’s personal wealth really is. According to the Kremlin he earns an annual salary of USD 140,000 and his disclosed assets include an 800-square foot apartment, a trailer, and three cars. However, “insiders” have to Russia’s ever-threatened investigative journalists claimed that Putin owns 20 houses, 700 cars, 58 aircraft and helicopters, including a USD 716 million luxuriously furnished plane, as well as a USD 100 million yacht.
William Browder, an American/British financier, asserted in 2017 to a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee that Putin was probably the richest man in the world. Browder had been CEO of Hermitage Capital Management, an investment advisor to the Hermitage Fund, at the time the largest foreign portfolio investor in Russia, taking on giants like Gazprom, Surgutnetfgaz, Unified Energy Systems, and Sidanco. In 2005, Browder was refused entry to Russia. Hermitage’s offices were raided and seized documents were used to re-register the ownership of investment holding companies. Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian tax advisor known for exposing corruption and misconduct by Russian government, was hired to examine the case. Magnitsky was subsequently arrested by Russian authorities and died in prison.
According to Browder, Putin had through threats to Russian oligarchs ensured a 50 percent cut of their profits, dedicated not to the presidential administration, but destined to him personally:
“I estimate that he has accumulated USD 200 billion of ill-gotten gains from these types of operations over his 17 years in power. He keeps his money in the West and all of his money in the West is potentially exposed to asset freezes and confiscation. Therefore, he has a significant and very personal interest in finding a way to get rid of sanctions.”
To this Putin replicated with some sentimental empty talk:
“I am the wealthiest man, not just in Europe but in the whole world: I collect emotions. I am wealthy in that the people of Russia have twice entrusted me with the leadership of a great nation such as Russia. I believe that is my greatest wealth.”
The Russian opposition leader and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny did in 2011 establish a Foundation for combating corruption (FBK), which published investigations into alleged corruption by high-ranking Russian government officials. In 2021, FBK accused Putin of using fraudulently obtained funds to build an estate by the Black Sea. His property is by 70 square kilometres of land cut off from the surrounding area and protected by the Federal Security Service (FSB). Its construction cost over USD 1.4 billion, allegedly laundered through a national project called Health, for which the Russian State, above market prize, bought medical equipment from a company owned by Putin’s friends Shamalov and Gorelov. The Kremlin denies Putin’s ownership, claiming that the mansion belongs to Arkadi Rotenberg, Putin’s longtime friend and judo partner, with a fortune estimated at USD 3.5 billion.
In 2022, Navalny was sentenced to 11 years in prison, accused of “embezzlement and contempt of court”. The following year, he was condemned to an additional 19 years for “extremism”. After being confined to a high-security prison, Navalny did after some weeks re-emerge in an Arctic “corrective colony”, where he died in 2024.
Another warlord, Benjamin Netanyahu, apparently does not have many qualms about the human suffering his war is causing Palestinians, blaming it all on Hamas, as well as Palestinians’ refusal to accept a Jewish state. Two weeks ago, Netanyahu repeated that Israel
“has no choice but to finish the job and complete the defeat of Hamas. […] Israel is preventing hunger, but cannot prevent the global campaign of lies we are all witnessing.”
Personally, Netanyahu also lives within a sphere of wealth. His net worth is estimated at USD 13 million and according to the magazine Forbes, Netanyahu’s wealth has grown by 400 percent annually. Since January 2017, Netanyahu has been investigated by Israeli police. He is suspected of having obtained inappropriate favours from businessmen, among them the Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan. Prosecutors state there is sufficient evidence to indict Netanyahu on charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust.
Arnon Milchan is an Israeli billionaire businessman and film producer. In 2024, Forbes estimated Milchan’s net worth at USD 3.3 billion. Prosecution alleges that Netanyahu received gifts from Milchan at an approximate worth of USD 195,000, among them expensive cigars, champagne, and jewellery for his wife Sara. In return Milchan might have obtained tax breaks and other essential services. At the same time, Netanyahu is accused of using bribes and illegal promises to press magnates and journalists to provide him with positive publicity and favourable treatment.
In accordance with his common practice of respecting wealth and power, Donald Trump has not expressed much concern about the plight of the Palestinian people, more so for his fiend Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu:
“ I was shocked to hear that the State of Israel, which has just had one of its Greatest Moments in History, and is strongly led by Bibi Netanyahu, is continuing its ridiculous Witch Hunt against their Great War Time Prime Minister!”
It is easy to get the impression that President Trump likewise considers yet another wealthy and conceited war criminal to be his good friend. After his Alaskan meeting with Putin, Trump had no qualms about stating that: “I've always had a fantastic relationship with President Putin, with Vladimir. We had many, many tough meetings, good meetings.” Like Putin and Netanyahu, Donald Trump has also been accused of unashamedly using his presidency to enrich himself. This only comes natural to a man who after he had starred in the reality show The Apprentice, his real estate firm branched out into branded products; selling Trump-stamped vodkas, board games, university diplomas, and even made attempts at an airline. The licensed Trump flag was flown over buildings he didn’t build or own, while firms used his name to sell shirts, mattresses, or pizzas. More recently, the Trump family business has focused on tech businesses, launching several crypto products.
Since becoming president a second time, Trump now sells the opportunity to mingle with him and his circle. In April this year Donald Trump Jr. and his business associates, affiliated to Trump’s MAGA elite, did in Washington D.C. establish the private club Executive Branch, where membership fee for "founding members" is USD 500,000, with additional annual dues. Access to Trump’s exclusive Mar-a-Lago resort has risen to USD 1 million. On top of this comes licensing income of USD 1.1 million from a Trump guitar, USD 2.8 million from Trump watches, USD 2.5 million from “sneakers and fragrances,” USD 3 million from an illustrated book called Save America, and USD 1.3 million from a God Bless the USA Bible, as well as so far unrevealed income from wares like a Gulf of America baseball hat at USD 50, Trump beer koozies at USD 18, and Trump flip-flops at USD 40. Below is and an example of an NTF, a Donald Trump Digital Trading Card from 2022 sold on Truth Social for USD 99.
All this fades by Trump’s Arabian Gulf investments, to a great degree made possible through his presidency – billions waiting to flow in from real estate deals, like luxury resorts and golf courses. Spectacular wealth also comes the Trump family’s engagement in the lucrative crypto currency market. So far Donald Trunp and his wife Melania have made USD 14 million from licensing NFT:s. An NFT is a non-fungible (not interchangeable) token, a unique digital asset representing ownership of a specific item, whether physical or digital. Criminals love Crypto since it is a means of getting around anti-money-laundering laws and other regulations and so far, it has been an amazing method to gain money fast.
In short, it appears that is no exaggeration to claim that money rules the world and it is sad to realize that so much wealth is controlled by men who appear to have no interest whatsoever in the welfare of others. Their consciences are softened, or simply become absent, due to all the luxury and comfort they have usurped through their offices.
