How is Trump paying for his 'expanded' Fourth of July fireworks show? A fireworks company gift
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As part of Donald Trump's self-insertion into Washington, D.C., Fourth of July programs, he has insisted that the usual long and dramatic fireworks display be even longer and dramatic-er. This is apparently important to Trump, part of his lifelong obsession wHow is Trump paying for his 'expanded' Fourth of July fireworks show? A fireworks company gift
As part of Donald Trump's self-insertion into Washington, D.C., Fourth of July programs, he has insisted that the usual long and dramatic fireworks display be even longer and dramatic-er. This is apparently important to Trump, part of his lifelong obsession with making everything around him bigger and shoutier, a schoolchild's vision of achieving respect. If you're wondering where Donald Trump is getting his additional fireworks from, wonder no more: He's getting them for free. The fireworks company is apparently just giving him $750,000 worth of fireworks. This act of selfless corporate generosity comes in the midst of a fierce Trumpian trade war with China, where nearly all fireworks used in U.S. are manufactured. The American Prospect's Daniel Boguslaw observes that Trump and the CEO of the fireworks company, Phantom Fireworks, met quite recently. As in, just a month ago. As he notes, it «seems conceivable that in the private meeting between Phantom’s CEO Bruce Zoldan and Trump, which took place on May 22, Zoldan asked Trump about more than his favorite type of bottle rocket.» It's difficult to even remember where normal politicking ends and new-style Trumpian politicking—which is little more than imported Russian kleptocracy wrapped in a more boorish exterior—begins at this point. It certainly seems likely that the fireworks CEO ponied up the better part of a million dollars in free goods for Trump's self-celebration extravaganza for the purpose of buttering Trump up as he ponders new tariffs that might or might not target the company's cornerstone import. Is that crooked, or ... just business as usual, now? Does it count as a campaign donation? A bribe? A gift? Something else? Read more