Axios Discovers Bribery, Calls it 'Pampering'
Axios breathlessly details how the Swiss won tariff cuts by presenting Trump with a custom Rolex, a 1-kilogram gold bar worth $130,000, and 'loads of flattery.' Apple CEO Tim Cook set the precedent with a 24-karat gold-based disc to avoid tariffs, Qatar gifted a $400 million 747 jet for Trump's library, and other corporations donated $300 million for a 'gilded' White House ballroom. This
'pampering' worked: Swiss tariffs dropped from 39% to 15%. Critics might wonder if showering a presidential library with opulent gifts to influence policy is just good business, or if it exposes a legal loophole for what would otherwise be considered bribery. Unlike the Swiss, other lobbying efforts, like AIPAC's $30 million+ in congressional donations and expenditures in 2022, legally influence
policy—no gold bars required, just campaign cash and PAC spending. The 'word's out' indeed, whether it's Rolexes or PAC money, some forms of influence are more 'pampering' than others.