{"id":5529,"date":"2026-08-30T08:36:35","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T08:36:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5529"},"modified":"2026-08-30T08:36:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T08:36:35","slug":"clawing-back-trumps-stolen-money-will-be-the-stuff-of-tin-pot-legend-frum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5529","title":{"rendered":"Clawing back Trump\u2019s stolen money will be the stuff of tin-pot legend: Frum"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Former Republican speechwriter David Frum says Americans are not accustomed reclaiming stolen or swindled wealth from fallen authoritarian rulers. But, thankfully, a host of scruffy kleptocratic (or former kleptocratic) nations Nigeria, Peru and the Philippines can provide lessons on how to go about it.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump reducing US to \u2018the fall of Rome\u2019 at alarming pace: opinion<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a shame that the grift and self-enrichment of the Trump family has thrown the U.S. into a class with recovering, somewhat notorious, democracies, but that\u2019s what Americans voted for in electing a convicted felon, and that\u2019s what the Republican Party then enabled by surrendering its congressional duties, Frum told the Atlantic.<\/p>\n

However, \u201cdone right, this work can deliver justice and strengthen democratic institutions for the long run,\u201d he said. \u201cBut cleaning up after a corrupt regime also comes with serious challenges and hazards.\u201d<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump has abused his office to enrich himself and his family in ways that are completely unprecedented, said Frum, \u201cnot only in the United States but also in the history of almost any peer democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only Italy\u2019s lawless former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi compares, and Berlusconi was sentenced to prison. <\/p>\n

\u201cTrump faces little danger of prison,\u201d said Frum, adding that the Republican-led U.S. Supreme Court has \u201cbestowed substantial criminal impunity on him, even assuming that he leaves office in 2029 as required by the Constitution. \u2026 But an ex-president remains subject to civil liability, and the proceeds of bribery, extortion, insider trading, and market manipulation may be exposed to civil penalties. Other countries have shown the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alberto Fujimori, who was elected president of Peru in 1990, dissolved that nation\u2019s Congress and the Supreme Court and rewrote Peru\u2019s constitution to allow his own reelection in 1995. Then came the self-enrichment. His intelligence chief ran a system of embezzlement and kickbacks that \u201camassed hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign bank accounts.\u201d Just after Fujimori\u2019s 2000 reelection to a third term, he fled the country. But Peru set up a special prosecutor\u2019s office and worked closely with countries hosting Fujimori\u2019s contested assets. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeru has since recovered about $200 million of misappropriated wealth from accounts in the Cayman Islands, Switzerland, the United States, and Luxembourg,\u201d said Frum.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump pounds his biggest \u2018yes-man\u2019 to the curb as Iran triumphs: sources<\/a><\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who pillaged billions of dollars over two decades. <\/p>\n

\u201cAfter his ouster, his democratically elected successor, Corazon Aquino, created a Presidential Commission on Good Government to recover this stolen wealth,\u201d said Frum. \u201cAs of 2022, the PCGG had returned $5 billion to the Philippines, according to reporting by the country\u2019s leading English-language newspaper.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over in Nigeria, leader Sani Abacha swiped about $4 billion, stashing the funds in foreign accounts and shell companies. Again came a new specialized unit in 2002, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, to reclaim the money from Abacha\u2019s heirs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis work received considerable help from the Swiss government, which agreed to freeze Abacha-related accounts, and from the United States, which cracked down on Abacha-owned shell companies,\u201d said Frum. \u201cNigeria got back about $1.5 billion, according to the World Bank\u2019s tally.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe message to Americans? The recovery of corrupt assets from fallen leaders is not hopeless, but it is difficult and risky,\u201d said Frum. \u201cThis work demands permanent institutions specifically tasked to investigate and prosecute, and broad international cooperation to locate, identify, seize, and return dirty money.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it has<\/em> to happen, he insisted, because \u201cif the Trump family can keep the money it has accumulated this term, the next generation of Trumps will be far richer than Donald Trump ever was.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Why impeachment will help remove Trump\u2019s worst officials: NYT columnist<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former Republican speechwriter David Frum says Americans are not accustomed reclaiming stolen or swindled wealth from fallen authoritarian rulers. 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