Trump First Term vs. Second Term Scandals: A Side-by-Side Comparison

How much money did foreign governments pay Trump's businesses in each term?

For the first term, the most-cited figure comes from House Oversight Committee Democrats. Their January 2024 report, as NPR reported, documented more than $7.8 million in payments from at least 20 foreign governments to Trump-owned businesses, covering only two years of the term. The largest was $5.4 million in rent from China’s state-owned Industrial and Commercial Bank. CREW, an advocacy group, estimates in its own analysis that Trump likely benefited from $13.6 million over the full term, and says the Trump Organization donated only $448,000 in foreign-government profits to the Treasury. House Oversight’s review of the Washington hotel’s books, reported by CNN, put foreign-government spending there at an estimated $3.7 million.

The second-term figures on our tracker measure different kinds of transactions, so they are not added together here. Trump reported $59.5 million in foreign licensing income for 2025, nearly two-thirds from Gulf projects, according to CNBC’s analysis of his disclosure (tracker entry); most of those payers are private developers, not governments. A vehicle backed by UAE national security adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bought a 49% stake in the family’s World Liberty Financial for $500 million, the Wall Street Journal reported (tracker entry). Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth accepted a Boeing 747 from Qatar valued at $400 million (tracker entry). Abu Dhabi’s state-owned fund MGX settled a $2 billion Binance investment in the family’s USD1 stablecoin, CNBC reported (tracker entry). The White House and World Liberty say there are no conflicts of interest.

No court has ruled, in either term, on whether any of these payments violated the Foreign Emoluments Clause.

Second-term entries on the tracker: Trump's foreign licensing income hits $59.5 million, mostly from the Gulf, UAE royal's $500 million World Liberty stake, then U.S. AI-chip access, Qatar's $400 million 747 accepted for use as Air Force One, Abu Dhabi fund settles $2 billion Binance deal in Trump family stablecoin.

What business deals did Trump's family make while he was in office?

First-term family-business questions centered on foreign approvals and real estate. China approved three Ivanka Trump trademarks on April 6, 2017, while she and Jared Kushner dined with Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago, NPR reported, citing AP, and gave initial approval to 16 more in October 2018, CNBC reported. Her company said the filings were defensive. In August 2018 Brookfield paid about $1.1 billion in upfront rent on the Kushner family’s 666 Fifth Avenue, The New York Times reported. The Qatar Investment Authority is a major Brookfield backer, though Brookfield says Qatar had no involvement in the deal, Bisnow reported. After the 2016 election, Mar-a-Lago doubled its initiation fee to $200,000, CNBC reported.

Second-term family income has come largely from new ventures. Trump’s 2025 disclosure showed about $636 million tied to the $TRUMP memecoin business, according to Bloomberg Government (tracker entry). CNBC reported that the president and family members were entitled to about $500 million from ALT5 Sigma’s $750 million World Liberty token deal (tracker entry). Amazon paid $40 million for the “Melania” documentary, at least $28 million of it to the first lady, per the Wall Street Journal via CNN (tracker entry). Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners has invested alongside Gulf sovereign funds while Kushner works on Middle East diplomacy (tracker entry), and MAGA Inc. sold $1 million seats at an April 2025 dinner where Trump spoke, CBS News reported (tracker entry).

Our first-term research found no counterpart to the crypto ventures.

Second-term entries on the tracker: $TRUMP memecoin: about $636 million to Trump and dinners for top holders, ALT5 Sigma's $750 million WLFI deal: about $500 million to the Trump side, Amazon pays $40 million for the "Melania" documentary, Kushner's Affinity Partners invests alongside Gulf sovereign funds, $1 million-a-seat MAGA Inc. dinners with the president.

Did Trump host government events at his own properties in both terms?

In October 2019 acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney announced the 2020 G7 would be held at Trump National Doral, saying world leaders could stay at cost, NBC News reported. Within 48 hours Trump reversed the decision after criticism from both parties, CNN reported, blaming “Media & Democrat Crazed and Irrational Hostility” in a tweet (NBC News).

Records later obtained by House Oversight show the government spent more than $1.4 million at Trump-owned properties from the start of the term through Sept. 15, 2021, Semafor reported, and that the Secret Service was charged as much as $1,185 per room per night, nearly five times the government rate, NPR reported. Those figures exclude properties outside the U.S. Oversight Democrats also cited $11 million in military fuel purchases since October 2017 at Prestwick airport near Trump Turnberry, the BBC reported; the Air Force said initial reviews found crews followed its rules, NPR reported.

In the second term the Doral plan has returned. The United States plans to host the Group of 20 summit there on Dec. 14-15, 2026, CBS News reported, “fulfilling a plan the president initially proposed during his first term.” The White House says the resort will host “at-cost” and receive no profit from the State Department or any foreign government; no contract figures have been published that would let that claim be checked (tracker entry). Comparable second-term spending at Trump properties is not yet covered on our tracker.

Second-term entries on the tracker: G20 summit booked at Trump's own Doral resort.

Which Trump officials left over ethics scandals in each term?

By our count, four first-term Cabinet-level officials left amid ethics investigations. HHS Secretary Tom Price resigned in September 2017 after 10 days of reporting on his charter flights, PBS NewsHour reported; the HHS inspector general later found the government wasted at least $341,000 on his travel, AP reported. VA Secretary David Shulkin was replaced in March 2018 after his department’s inspector general found taxpayers covered more than $4,000 of airfare for his wife, CNN reported. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt resigned in July 2018 after at least a dozen ethics investigations, PBS NewsHour reported, and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke left at the end of 2018 facing federal investigations into his travel, political activity and potential conflicts, AP reported. Price apologized and repaid nearly $60,000; Shulkin, Pruitt and Zinke disputed the findings or blamed political attacks.

In the second term, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was fired in March 2026. An administration official told AP her roughly $220 million ad campaign, awarded without a fully competitive process, was among the reasons, and the DHS inspector general is reviewing Noem-era contracting, according to CNN sources and Reuters (tracker entry). That probe reportedly includes adviser Corey Lewandowski, who denies seeking payment from a contractor (tracker entry). Ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle resigned at the White House’s request on Oct. 13, 2026, after a former donor said she asked him for $100,000; she calls the allegations false (tracker entry). The Justice Department closed its case involving border czar Tom Homan, whom undercover FBI agents recorded accepting $50,000 in cash in 2024 while he was a private citizen, MS NOW and The New York Times reported; the White House says he never took the money (tracker entry).

Second-term entries on the tracker: Noem's $220 million DHS ad campaign and the firms that got it, Ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle and the $100,000 credit card request, Tom Homan and the $50,000 recorded in an FBI undercover operation, Corey Lewandowski, contractor pay requests, and the DHS inspector general probe.

How many inspectors general did Trump fire in his first and second terms?

By our count, five inspector-general-level officials were removed or displaced between April 3 and May 15, 2020. Trump fired Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson, who had handled the Ukraine whistleblower complaint, AP reported. He removed acting Pentagon inspector general Glenn Fine, which ended Fine’s role overseeing $2 trillion in coronavirus funding, CNN reported. He named a replacement for acting HHS inspector general Christi Grimm after calling her report on hospital shortages “wrong” (CNN), replaced acting Transportation inspector general Mitch Behm (CNN), and fired State Department inspector general Steve Linick at Secretary Mike Pompeo’s request, AP reported. Our research found no lawsuit over those removals.

The Office of Special Counsel, which enforces the Hatch Act, called counselor Kellyanne Conway a “repeat offender” in 2019 (PBS NewsHour) and recommended her removal; Trump said he would not fire her, AP reported. A 2021 OSC report found at least 13 former officials violated the Act, AP reported.

The second term began with a larger action. The administration dismissed more than a dozen inspectors general on the fourth full day of the term, and by October 2025 Trump had fired nearly 20 watchdogs; Judge Ana Reyes said the firings likely violated the law but declined to reinstate those who sued (tracker entry). Trump also removed Office of Government Ethics director David Huitema (tracker entry) and fired Office of Special Counsel head Hampton Dellinger, who dropped his lawsuit after an appeals court sided with the administration (tracker entry).

Second-term entries on the tracker: Mass firing of inspectors general; judge says law likely violated, Government ethics office director removed; no confirmed successor yet, Office of Special Counsel head fired; replacement nominee withdraws.

How many pardons did Trump issue in his first term, and how do second-term pardons compare?

The Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney table records 144 pardons and 94 commutations in Trump’s first term, 238 grants in all (DOJ table); many news outlets report 237, likely a counting difference. On his final night he granted 73 pardons and 70 commutations, NBC News reported. He commuted Roger Stone’s sentence days before Stone was due to report to prison, then pardoned him (AP), and by Dec. 23, 2020 had pardoned four people convicted in the Mueller investigation, including Michael Flynn (AP). He also pardoned Charles Kushner, Jared Kushner’s father (NBC News), Steve Bannon before trial in a fraud case (AP) and fundraiser Elliott Broidy after a guilty plea in a foreign-lobbying case (NBC News).

The second term opened with clemency for the Capitol riot: Trump pardoned, commuted or vowed to dismiss the cases of all of the 1,500-plus people charged, AP reported. Since then, a Reuters investigation found that 96% of second-term clemencies went to people who did not meet longstanding DOJ guidelines, and lobbyists disclosed more than $2.1 million in 2025 fees from clemency seekers, NOTUS reported (tracker entry). Grants include Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, whose company had ties to the family’s World Liberty Financial (tracker entry), and Trevor Milton, who with his wife had given more than $1.8 million to a Trump re-election fund (tracker entry); the White House has defended both grants. House Judiciary Democrats claim that first-term grants usually left fines and restitution in place, while second-term grants erase them (staff report); that is the members’ claim.

Second-term entries on the tracker: The paid pardon-lobbying market around Trump's clemency process, Pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao amid World Liberty ties, Nikola founder Trevor Milton pardoned after $1.8M in pro-Trump donations, Paul Walczak pardoned weeks after his mother's $1M-a-plate dinner, Herrera Velutini pardon, MAGA Inc. donations and Alina Habba's $50M job.

How did Trump's Justice Department handle matters involving him in each term?

In the first term, the Justice Department investigated the president. Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report laid out 10 possible instances of obstruction, ABC News reported (an earlier ABC explainer counted 11), and stated that “while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him” (report, Vol. II). DOJ officials declined to prosecute. When DOJ overrode prosecutors’ sentencing recommendation for Roger Stone, all four prosecutors quit the case, NBC News reported. The Government Accountability Office ruled that the White House broke the law by withholding military aid to Ukraine, NPR reported; the budget office called it a lawful programmatic delay. The House impeached Trump and the Senate acquitted him, 52-48 and 53-47 (NPR).

In the second term, the department has been the defendant in Trump’s own claims and settled them. It resolved his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS by creating a $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” and an addendum barred IRS audits of Trump and his family; Judge Williams ruled the suit was brought to provide “judicial legitimacy” for the settlement, Trump appealed, and DOJ later told senators the fund order was rescinded (tracker entry). Trump’s separate claims for about $230 million against DOJ were dropped in that settlement (tracker entry). The department dropped the corruption case against New York Mayor Eric Adams; Judge Dale Ho wrote that “everything here smacks of a bargain” (tracker entry). Trump has also said he would consider pre-emptive pardons for his officials (tracker entry).

Second-term entries on the tracker: DOJ settles Trump's own $10B IRS suit with a $1.776B fund and audit bar, DOJ drops the Eric Adams corruption case; judge says it "smacks of a bargain", Trump's $230 million claims against his own Justice Department, Trump says he would consider pre-emptive pardons for his officials.

What happened to corruption investigations of Trump officials?

In the first term, inquiries into officials produced inspector-general findings but no prosecutions of Cabinet members. The Interior inspector general referred Ryan Zinke’s statements about a tribal casino decision to the Justice Department, which declined to prosecute in summer 2021, CNN reported; DOJ also declined a separate referral over a development project in his hometown (AP). Zinke’s side called the reports political. DOJ declined the Transportation inspector general’s referral involving Elaine Chao’s use of staff for family matters, saying there was “not predication to open a criminal investigation,” CNN reported; her spokesperson said the report exonerated her. Several EPA inspector-general probes of Scott Pruitt ended as inconclusive because he resigned before being interviewed, CNN reported. Some cases did reach court: Giuliani associate Lev Parnas was convicted in a campaign-finance case (AP), while a foreign-lobbying probe of Rudy Giuliani ended without charges (CNN).

In the second term, the capacity to bring such cases has changed. FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche closed the inquiry involving Tom Homan, saying prosecutors found “no credible evidence of any criminal wrongdoing” (tracker entry). The Public Integrity Section had 36 full-time attorneys when Trump took office and two by September 2025, NOTUS reported (tracker entry), and the FBI folded its Washington public-corruption squad (tracker entry). NBC News found federal cases against Elon Musk’s companies dropped or stalled during his DOGE tenure (tracker entry). The DHS inspector general’s contracting probe involving Noem and Lewandowski, reported by CNN and ABC News, has published no findings (tracker entry).

Second-term entries on the tracker: Tom Homan and the $50,000 recorded in an FBI undercover operation, DOJ Public Integrity Section cut from 36 lawyers to two, FBI folds its Washington public-corruption squad, CR-15, Federal cases against Musk's companies dropped or stalled during DOGE, Corey Lewandowski, contractor pay requests, and the DHS inspector general probe.

What did courts decide about Trump's first-term scandals, and what have they said in the second term?

Several first-term-era matters ended in court. A New York jury found two Trump Organization companies guilty on all 17 counts in a tax-fraud case, CBS News reported, and the court ordered them to pay $1.61 million, NPR reported; we found no appellate ruling. A judge ordered Trump to pay $2 million to settle claims that he misused his charitable foundation, AP reported. Trump businesses and the 2017 inaugural committee paid $750,000 to settle a D.C. lawsuit while denying wrongdoing (AP). In the New York civil fraud case, covering conduct from 2011 to 2021, an appeals court upheld Trump’s liability but threw out the penalty, CNN reported; the attorney general has appealed. The emoluments lawsuits ended without a ruling on whether Trump violated the Constitution: the Supreme Court declared two moot after he left office, AP reported.

In the second term, rulings so far concern government actions rather than Trump’s businesses. Judge Dale Ho dismissed the Eric Adams case with prejudice, writing that “everything here smacks of a bargain” (tracker entry). Judge Williams ruled that Trump’s IRS suit was brought to provide “judicial legitimacy” for a settlement; Trump appealed (tracker entry). Judge Ana Reyes said the inspector-general firings likely violated the law but did not reinstate the officials (tracker entry). Courts have also ruled for the administration: a federal judge upheld DHS’s Salus Worldwide Solutions contract and found no evidence of bad faith (tracker entry). A suit calling Florida’s land transfer for Trump’s library a domestic emolument has no ruling (tracker entry).

Second-term entries on the tracker: DOJ drops the Eric Adams corruption case; judge says it "smacks of a bargain", DOJ settles Trump's own $10B IRS suit with a $1.776B fund and audit bar, Mass firing of inspectors general; judge says law likely violated, Salus and Daedalus: deportation contracts to firms run by a Noem PAC donor, Emoluments challenges: House resolutions and a Miami library-land suit.

Is there a first-term parallel to Elon Musk and DOGE?

Our research into the first term found no counterpart to Elon Musk’s role in 2025, when he advised the government and led the Department of Government Efficiency while his companies held or sought federal contracts.

SpaceX won a $5.9 billion Space Force contract on April 4, 2025, while Musk was advising the government, and House Oversight Democrats called the conflicts “illegal” in a statement; that is their claim. The White House said Musk had committed to recusing himself from conflicts (tracker entry). NBC News found that the Justice Department dropped a case against SpaceX and that the Labor Department cancelled a planned review of Tesla, and Senate investigations subcommittee Democrats estimated Musk’s companies faced at least $2.37 billion in potential liability as of January 2025; the SEC’s case over his Twitter stake was not dropped (tracker entry). Musk’s xAI received a Pentagon AI contract capped at $200 million, the same cap given to three other companies (tracker entry). The Government Accountability Office found that DOGE’s claimed $110 billion in savings included estimates that were incorrect or lacked support (tracker entry).

Second-term entries on the tracker: SpaceX's defense awards while Musk ran DOGE, and after, Federal cases against Musk's companies dropped or stalled during DOGE, GAO finds parts of DOGE's $110 billion savings claim incorrect or unsupported, Musk's xAI: a $200M Pentagon AI contract and Grok for federal agencies.