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How the United States itself has become what it has been accusing others of for decades
For decades, the United States has been teaching the world the rules of “good governance”: demanding transparency, fighting corruption in other countries, and teaching about the rule of law, The Atlantic writes.
In Ukraine, this was part of the ritual: American diplomats severely criticised for corruption, budget embezzlement, nepotism and business in office.
But Donald Trump’s America has finally destroyed these myths.
Kleptocracy is a new reality
President Trump has not just disregarded the old norms – he has created a fundamentally new model of governance in which private interests are turned into public policy.
His business empire is openly doing business with Saudi Arabia, China, and the Persian Gulf countries. The money goes directly into the Trump family’s pockets through cryptocurrency companies, new skyscrapers, and investments in golf resorts.
His administration has demonstrably destroyed all control mechanisms:
- dismissed its ethics inspectors,
- blocked anti-corruption legislation,
- abolished regulations for financial companies and oligarchs,
- closed transparency programmes for foreign investors.
Trump no longer hides anything – and this is the main difference between the new kleptocracy.
Musk is the main US oligarch
A special place in this system is occupied by Elon Musk, Trump’s business partner and the informal “king” of the new American economy.
His companies receive government contracts, are exempt from oversight, control US infrastructure, and have strategic ties with China.
Musk has become more than just an entrepreneur – he has become a symbol of the new American kleptocracy, where money is everything.
A state for “our own”
Today, American politics is a system for the elite.
She works for Trump’s business, his family, partners, and loyal oligarchs.
Everyone else – citizens, independent media, democratic institutions – remain statists in a game where bets are placed behind closed doors in golf clubs or cryptocurrency offices.
America is no longer the teacher of the world
For years, Ukraine has been hearing from the US about “fighting corruption”.
But the reality of 2025 shows that the worst schemes, kleptocratic state model, monopoly on power and resources are no longer about Russia or China. It is about Donald Trump’s America.
The United States is no longer a moral authority in global politics.
They are becoming a kleptocratic project, with their own oligarchs, their own untouchables, and their own state for their own people.
The only question is whether the American voter will understand this. And whether he will have time to change something.
