Who needs fighter jets when you can just bribe the president of the US to protect your skies? US President Donald Trump has turned US foreign policy into a pay-to-play casino and Taiwan would be foolish not to ante up. Russian bidding has begun for US Ukraine policy and Taiwan’s sovereignty is on the auction block, too. Why would anyone waste billions on overpriced US military hardware when a few tens of millions of dollars in payments in the right places could secure Trump’s loyalty?
Russia’s aggression in Ukraine was not just about military might; it was methodologically exploiting corruption to weaken resistance from within. I have explored how Russia targets the US with the same “strategic corruption” in the pages of Foreign Affairs.
As my non-governmental organization (NGO) said in a recent article, The King of Bad Ideas: Reviving Nord Stream 2, nobody has yet made a legitimate business case for lifting sanctions on Russia or reviving projects like Nord Stream 2 that obviously harm US natural gas companies. Indeed, we believe that the whole point of the latter scheme is to justify removing sanctions and open US markets to Russian money.
The whole point is personal gain, not the country’s strategic interests or, needless to say these days, democratic values. Trump made clear this was his priority on his first day in office in his second term by turning his inauguration in January into an initial public offering for President Trump 2.0.
Trump’s bonanza of deals has reached new heights, with his entourage hawking non-fungible tokens and cryptocurrency. His sons, Eric and Donald Jr, have turned grifting into a family business. The Trump Organization even weakened the ethical guidelines of its first administration and opened the door to agreements with corporations in foreign countries while he is in office. It has already struck golf and hotel deals in Vietnam, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Did Taiwan not receive the memo?
Crypto mogul Justin Sun (孫宇晨) reportedly paid US$75 million to curry favor with Trump, while under investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Coincidentally, the lawsuit has now been put on hold.
For anyone with business in the US, transactionalism represents a bargain compared with the Pentagon. Why spend US$19 billion on defense when you can buy influence for a fraction of that cost? A dinner photo-op with Trump might cost US$10 million — a bargain compared with the price of an F-16 (do not even ask about an F-35).
It is about setting a price for US loyalty and offering it to the highest bidder. And if Trump was willing to entertain such a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin, what is stopping China from doing the same with Taiwan?
In a matter of weeks, it has become clear that under Trump’s leadership, US foreign policy is no longer guided by strategic interests or democratic values — it is about his personal gain.
According to reports, Taiwan planned to spend US$19 billion on defense last year, much of it on expensive US military hardware.
Taiwan could show businessman Elon Musk some moves by replacing that with a three-pronged defense strategy: US$100 million to get Trump to denounce China on Truth Social; US$50 million to convince political strategist Steve Bannon to lobby for a US-Taiwan military alliance; and US$10 million for a photo-op at Mar A Lago — a gesture that carries as much weight in Make America Great Again circles as a formal treaty.
Taiwan has repeatedly asserted that it is “not for sale.” It might not be, but we are. If you believe your democratic values or strategic importance will protect it from being sold out, you are being dangerously naive.
By suspending enforcement of laws against the bribery of foreign officials or acting as a foreign agent and punishing countries that do not play ball with his cronies, Trump has effectively placed every nation’s sovereignty — including Taiwan’s — on the auction block. Beijing does not need to invade Taiwan if it can simply buy off the man who controls US foreign policy.
Military analysts have long debated how Taiwan can deter Chinese aggression, but the US president presents an easy answer: Make him a deal that profits him and his inner circle. If national defense is just another grift under his administration, Taiwan — and any other nation — would be foolish not to play along, as Ukraine has learned to its detriment. When Ukraine failed to promptly hand over their ore, it lost crucial assistance that provided things such as a head’s up on airstrikes that killed dozens of civilians
Under Trump, cutting a deal with the president and his buddies — what we would call bribery — is not just tolerated, it is incentivized. Taiwan, it is time to join the game and start bidding and hope you do not get outbid.
Kristofer Harrison is cofounder and president of the Dekleptocracy Project, a US investigative, anti-corruption non-governmental organization. He was a senior official at the US departments of state and defense under former US president George W. Bush, and has been involved in national security policy and finance for more than 20 years.
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