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Trump Accountability Watch: Trump and Musk “Couldn’t Care Less” About Sending the Costs of Everyday Goods Skyrocketing

 

This week, President Donald Trump and Elon Musk delivered their latest gut punch to everyday Americans by sending daily costs on everything from groceries to housing, and cars to electronics soaring. While Trump himself has admitted tariffs would cause “some pain,” he’s also been clear he “couldn’t care less” about driving up costs for families. 

Making matters worse, Trump’s chaotic tariffs are likely to be “incredibly destructive” to American industry, and already are worsening consumer confidence, and sending the stock market into chaos. And while paying hundreds more dollars on costs per year might not mean much to Trump, Musk, and their billionaire friends, it should be no surprise that Americans are souring on Trump’s handling of the economy. 

As Americans get saddled with Trump’s higher cost plan, Trump, Musk, and top Administration officials are using the federal government to line their own pockets. A new Accountable.US report released this week revealed that several top Trump officials who disclosed investments as large as $4 million in Trump Media & Technology Group have failed to divest from Trump’s company following their confirmation. Trump’s own stake in TMTG is worth approximately $2.2 billion, and the President has refused to sell off his shares in the company, even as the company enters into the shady crypto market. It’s just the latest abuse of power in an Administration that continues to profit off the presidency, at Americans’ expense.

Meanwhile, this week Senate Republicans finally unveiled their budget resolution, which, like the House Republican version, will require devastating cuts to Medicaid that 6 in 10 seniors in nursing homes depend on for long-term care — all to pay for another wasteful tax break for the President’s billionaire and corporate donors. That is why Accountable.US is joining a growing number of partners in cosponsoring the April 5 Hands Off! National Day of Action to stand up to the reckless power grab by Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and their billionaire donors that puts everyone else at risk, including seniors, working people, and the most vulnerable.

Read more on the chaos, corruption, and conflicts of interest in Trump’s cabinet this week: 
  • New report reveals top Trump officials’ conflicts of interest with failure to divest millions from Trump Media: A new Accountable.US watchdog analysis first reported by Mother Jones, revealed that several Trump administration nominees and appointees – including Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Education Secretary Linda McMahon – who disclosed investments as large as $4 million in Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), have failed to divest upon their confirmation. Other Administration officials have refused to make a commitment to divest, including: Intelligence Board nominee Devin Nunes who owns nearly 233,000 shares in TMTG stock worth approximately $4.4 million and over 975,000 unvested stock worth about $18.6 million at the time of Accountable.US’ analysis; and Intelligence Board nominee Scott Glabe who holds more than 297,000 restricted stock units in TMTG which will vest over the course of the next two years. The officials’ shady investments raise concerns that their financial entanglements could incentivize them to put their loyalty to Trump over what’s in the best interest of the country.
  • Trump announces latest unqualified Cabinet nominee hand-picked from right-wing media: Trump recently announced Fox News personality Sara Carter as his ‘Drug Czar’ — despite bringing zero relevant experience in drug policy, public health, or law enforcement. She’s the latest unqualified nominee in an ever-growing club of Trump administration officials with ties to right-wing media platforms including Fox, Rumble, and Truth Social. In fact, an Accountable.US report released this week found that 33 of Trump’s nominations have been hand-selected from platforms notorious for proliferating disinformation and misinformation, conspiracy theories, and extremism – undermining the credibility of the information the Administration releases.
  • Republican-controlled Senate confirms conflicted and unqualified nominees set to oversee Americans’ Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security: Senate Republicans confirmed two of Trump’s unprepared and conflicted nominees in Dr. Mehmet Oz and Frank Bisignano. Respectively, the two will oversee Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security – programs which Trump, Musk, and their allies have put on the chopping block. Bisignano is yet another Wall Street insider appointed to Trump’s billionaire cabinet, who has described himself as “fundamentally a DOGE person.” Meanwhile, Dr. Oz stands to potentially benefit financially from lucrative ties to health companies he has grifted for and has been lambasted numerous times by the medical establishment for promoting unsubstantiated medical advice to his audiences. 

 

ACCOUNTABLE.US IN THE NEWS:

The Hill: Elon Musk tries to rehab DOGE after backlash, mistakes: “Elon Musk is pushing to improve the image of his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), suggesting the Tesla CEO is aware of the boogeyman persona he has created for himself and his cost-cutting push since joining President Trump’s team. ‘No amount of spin can change what Americans are feeling first-hand from the devastating impact that Elon Musk’s DOGE is having on everything from Social Security to national parks. The damage is done and Americans know that Musk, Trump, and their cronies’ DOGE efforts are designed to enrich themselves at the cost of everyday Americans,’ said Tony Carrk, executive director of Accountable.US, a nonpartisan government watchdog. He added, ‘It’s a message we will continue to reinforce as DOGE grows even more extreme.’” 

Mother Jones: Trump Officials Are Keeping Ties to His Social Media Company: “For Donald Trump, TruthSocial, his unsuccessful and money-losing Twitter competitor, has mainly been a place to retreat to when banned from the former, and a megaphone to trumpet his many opinions on his enemies, golf, and the music of Paul Anka. But the company that owns TruthSocial, Trump Media & Technology Group, has also been a way for the president to draw his political allies closer, through payments, board seats, and generous stock rewards. While the publicly traded TMTG is unlikely to ever become a real success outside the Trump universe, it provides a window into his transactional second presidency and its unprecedented mingling of his corporate and political fiefdoms. […] ‘The unprecedented situation of President Trump rewarding investors and executives in his media company with administration jobs sends a clear message to the wealthy, corporate lobbyists and foreign interests that the road to influence in the United States runs through Trump Media,’ Accountable U.S. executive director Tony Carrk told Mother Jones. ‘No one should be surprised that President Trump’s first weeks in office have been about removing barriers to corruption and dismantling oversight, not about lowering costs for working families. Trump cares more about lining his own pockets and his wealthy friends’ than putting money back into yours.’”

Public Domain: This Utah Congresswoman Is Waging War On ‘Government Waste.’ She Oversaw A Nonprofit Accused Of Misusing Taxpayer Funds.: “Few members of Congress have embraced the Department of Government Efficiency’s purported war on government waste more enthusiastically than Rep. Celeste Maloy (R-Utah). A member of the newly formed Congressional DOGE Caucus, she is on a mission to rein in what she calls ‘out of control government spending’ and says it’s time for federal agencies to ‘do less with less.’ She described 2025 ‘a unique opportunity to roll back crushing regulations and make our government smaller and more accountable to the American people.’ But years before her political ascent, Maloy helped direct a rightwing nonprofit that hoovered up hundreds of thousands of state taxpayer dollars to sue the federal government over land use policies without following through, according to records reviewed by Public Domain. […] Accountable.US, a progressive watchdog group, alerted Public Domain to Maloy’s ties to what it described as ‘a grift that cost Utah taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.’ ‘Now she’s attacking the Antiquities Act again, working to undermine protections for our most special public lands and allow a select few to profit,’ Tony Carrk, executive director of Accountable.US, wrote in an email to Public Domain, referring to a bill Maloy introduced earlier this year to strip presidents of their authority to designate national monuments under the Antiquities Act of 1906 and instead hand that power to Congress.”

 

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