Brendan Fischer

Oh, the billionaire megadonor who keeps notching victories under Trump is the guy on the right.

It’s fair to ask: what else is Trump doing to serve his interests?

Trump might be uniquely willing to use his presidency to benefit a handful of wealthy elite megadonors, but the Fanjul family’s decades of influence indicate that the problems with money in our political system are systemic.

The other co-owner of Florida Crystals, Pepe’s brother Alfonso Fanjul, is a major Democratic donor.

He even had his name pop in the Monica Lewinsky scandal, as he pressured Clinton on sugar subsidies and taxes. fec.gov/data/receipt...

motherjones.com/politics/199...

Florida Crystals has substantially benefited from its millions in support for Trump, but it has played both sides for decades, routing millions to both Democrats and Republicans to protect federal subsidies and their bottom line.

Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” also boosted already-massive federal subsidies for sugar—a direct boon for Florida Sugar, but one that will cost both taxpayers and consumers.

Trump Administration Quietly Lifted Ban on Dominican Sugar Company Over Forced Labor

Even before the Coca-Cola announcement, Trump was helping this megadonor’s bottom line.

In March, Trump lifted a ban on imports from a Fanjul-owned sugar plantation in the Dominican Republic, which had been sanctioned based on allegations of forced labor. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/19/b...

Trump’s push for Coca-Cola to replace high-fructose corn syrup with cane sugar apparently arose from a conversation with Fanjul. Shortly after, he publicly demanded Coca-Cola ditch corn syrup for cane sugar — which Florida Crystals produces.

Pepe Fanjul himself not only maxed-out to Trump’s 2024 joint fundraising committee, but also co-chaired one of Trump's major fundraising events.

Browse Receipts - FEC.gov Explore current and historic federal campaign finance data on the new fec.gov. Look at totals and trends, and see how candidates and committees raise and spend money. When you find what you need, expo...

In 2020, Florida Crystal + subsidiaries routed at least $2.85 million to Trump’s super PAC, after giving $500K to Trump’s first inauguration. Last year, the company gave another $1M to Trump’s super PAC. www.fec.gov/data/receipt...

(That’s just the traceable money — dark money totals are unknown.)

Trump’s push for Coca-Cola to use cane sugar could be a windfall for one of his billionaire megadonors.

Jose “Pepe” Fanjul and his sugar empire, Florida Crystals, have poured millions into Trump’s campaigns — and have been racking up wins since Trump's return to office. 🧵

Right! Look at the most recent FEC report from Joe Manchin, who retired from the Senate at the same time as Sinema. Manchin used leftover campaign funds to donate to charity and cover basic stuff like taxes and winding-down expenses. projects.propublica.org/itemizer/fil...

The FEC is currently without a quorum, but there's a five-year statute of limitations.

So the laws can still be enforced whenever the quorum is restored.

The FEC has sometimes cracked down on “zombie campaigns” that illegally use leftover campaign cash.
Former Rep. Cliff Stearns, for example, was fined for using leftover campaign funds to pay for similar personal travel expenses. fec.gov/files/legal/...

But Sinema’s security guard is reportedly a close personal friend, yahoo.com/news/kyrsten... and many expenditures test the limits, like payments for concert/event tickets, to apparel retailers like Faherty and Oakley, and to a chiropractic clinic for “Security Health Services.”

Some of the wildest outlays are for Sinema’s “security detail.”

The need for personal security might arise from Sinema’s old role in the Senate, so there’s a fair argument that former lawmakers should be allowed to use leftover campaign funds for certain security expenses.

While in office, campaign expenditures for luxury travel can be justified when connected to a fundraising event. But Sinema isn’t fundraising for a campaign—because she doesn’t have one. And she no longer has official duties.

“It is hard to see how Sinema can credibly argue that luxury hotels, meal expenses, and extensive air travel are connected to her candidacy or officeholder duties, given that she is no longer a candidate or officeholder,” I told
@NOTUSreports.

A few thoughts: 🧵

Each move, in isolation, might be defensible. But taken together, they reveal a pattern: empower MAGA-aligned groups and donors, and disempower everyone else. This is not principled policymaking, but instead part of an effort to tilt the playing field. (end)

— The Trump administration is refusing to defend a campaign finance law that limits how much parties can spend in coordination with candidates—after GOP committees sued to overturn it, and despite objections from Democratic committees. 6/

— Trump is drawing from conspiracy theories about foreign money in elections to sideline the left’s fundraising platform, ActBlue, while simultaneously rolling-back enforcement of laws regulating foreign interference in politics; 5/

— Leonard Leo’s network is pushing state-level bills purportedly aimed at banning foreign money in ballot initiatives, but that in reality are crafted to block one progressive donor who backs ballot measures supporting abortion rights and political reform; 4/

This change directly benefits right-wing groups like ADF and Charlie Kirk’s TPUSA, which have long pushed churches to play a bigger role in politics. And it may offer megadonors a way to get a charitable tax deduction for certain dark money political spending.

But meanwhile: 3/

Earlier this week, Trump’s team settled a case brought by close allies of the Alliance Defending Freedom—the same group behind the campaign to overturn Roe v. Wade.

The settlement weakens the longstanding ban on using tax-deductible resources to influence elections. 2/

I.R.S. Says Churches Can Endorse Candidates From the Pulpit

The Trump admin’s move to let churches engage in partisan politics is part of a broader strategy to loosen the rules when it benefits MAGA allies, and tighten them when it hurts the opposition. 🧵 1/ www.nytimes.com/2025/07/07/u...

Bottom line: Trump's latest effort to profit off the presidency creates deep conflicts of interest—and new vulnerabilities to foreign influence. (end)

Alternatively, China could offer Trump’s companies targeted deals to win concessions from the administration, even if granting those concessions may not advance American interests. 4/

Also: Trump’s T1 phones will almost certainly rely on rare earths, many of which come from China. msn.com/en-us/news/w...

That gives China added leverage over Trump personally—restricting rare earth exports not only hurts the U.S. economy, but also hurts Trump’s finances. 3/

As president, Trump now has a financial incentive to create trade barriers for foreign-made phones, which raises costs for competitors.

He is in a position to use U.S. trade policy to boost his business, potentially at the expense of American interests. 2/

If the Trump family is serious about building these phones in the US, then President Trump now has a personal financial stake in tariff and trade negotiations.

It also means that China has a potentially new source of leverage over the president.

Both raise major conflict of interests. 1/

No longer would a foreign oligarch have to route funds through dark money intermediaries to advance their interests in DC.

For $5 million, they could buy access to the U.S. system of legalized corruption, and start buying influence with massive contributions to super PACs.