I voted for Donald Trump three times. And the past week, I voted Republican again in the November 2026 midterms.
There. I’ve established my credentials. Now perhaps the MAGA loyalty police can put down their pitchforks long enough to hear something that might make them uncomfortable.
Something doesn’t smell right.
I voted Republican despite opposing another American war. I didn’t vote for another Middle Eastern adventure, another trillion-dollar geopolitical science experiment, or another generation of American soldiers sent overseas to solve problems that politicians couldn’t solve with their mouths.
And I certainly didn’t vote to make the president’s extended family billionaires on steroids.
Yet here we are.
Financial reporting has documented enormous increases in Trump’s wealth since his return to the White House. Some estimates put the increase in the billions. Much of it involves cryptocurrency, licensing arrangements, and investments whose values fluctuate wildly.
Now, increased net worth isn’t the same as cash profit. And operating a successful business isn’t illegal simply because your father-in-law occupies the Oval Office.
But good grief, people. At what point do we start asking questions?
Consider Jared Kushner.
Shortly after leaving his White House advisory position, Kushner established Affinity Partners. Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund subsequently committed $2 BILLION to his investment firm.
Not two million. Two billion.
Apparently, leaving government service can be considerably more lucrative than the military retirement plan.
A Senate Finance Committee investigation found that Kushner’s firm was collecting approximately $25 million annually in management fees from the Saudi investment. The fund’s own investment advisers reportedly raised serious reservations before the deal was approved.
Kushner maintains this was legitimate business. Maybe it was.
But when a former presidential adviser with close Saudi relationships suddenly manages billions in Saudi money, the American taxpayer deserves something more substantial than a shrug and a campaign bumper sticker.
Here’s where my fellow Republicans need a little spiritual and intellectual housekeeping.
Remember Hunter Biden?
Remember the outrage over foreign money, influence peddling, suspicious business relationships, and the possibility that political access had become a family business?
I remember.
And I agreed that those allegations deserved investigation.
So explain why our standards should suddenly change because the family name is Trump instead of Biden.
If it stinks when Democrats do it, it doesn’t magically smell like roses when Republicans cash the checks.
That’s not conservative principle. That’s political idolatry.
To be clear, these financial transactions do not, by themselves, prove bribery, criminal conduct, or an illegal exchange of government favors. Accusations require evidence. Innocence cannot be discarded merely because a transaction looks suspicious.
But legality and ethical conduct aren’t identical twins.
As a retired Army officer, I remember being held to standards involving even the appearance of impropriety. Apparently, Washington has developed a different interpretation of ethics, one involving considerably more zeros.
And Christians should remember Exodus 23:3, which warns against showing favoritism in a dispute. Justice isn’t supposed to change uniforms depending on which political tribe is standing before the judge.
I supported Trump because I believed America needed a course correction. I still support policies I believe benefit this country. But I don’t support another war, and I won’t pretend financial conflicts disappear because somebody wears a red tie.
The Constitution deserves loyalty. Politicians deserve scrutiny.
Investigate the transactions. Disclose the relationships. Follow the money. Apply identical standards to both political parties.
If everything is legitimate, wonderful. Prove it.
If something improper occurred, accountability shouldn’t stop at the entrance to Mar-a-Lago.
I voted for Trump three times and voted red again in 2026. But I voted for America, not a royal family.
And I didn’t spend my adult life defending the Constitution just to watch Washington turn public service into a privately operated ATM.
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