Countries have gotten results after enriching the Trumps. Could Canada do the same?

Venezuelan oppositeness enter calophyllum longifolium Corina Machado was the in style(p) strange leader to enter the Oval Office with a golden gift on Thursday.

U.S. President Donald Trump was happy to take her Nobel Peace Prize, and even though it's not clear she'll receive anything in return, Machado had reason to believe that presents are more persuasive than arguments when dealing with Trump. Her tribute was just one example this week of the trend to lard the White House with foreign emoluments.

The government of Pakistan signed a deal on Wednesday with crypto company SC Financial Technologies to explore using a stablecoin called USD1.

SC's CEO is Zachary Witkoff, son of Trump's Mideast and Russia envoy, New York realtor Steve Witkoff. The stablecoin was created by World Liberty Financial, a crypto firm co-founded by Witkoff, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Barron Trump.

It echoes a similar tactic followed by the United Arab Emirates.

In April 2025, a U.A.E. State-owned fund used $2 billion US of World Liberty cryptocurrency to invest in Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange. Within weeks, the U.S. Reversed its ban on sale of advanced AI-suitable chips to the U.A.E., making it possible for U.A.E. To launch the world's largest non-U.S. AI project.

Later in the year, Canadian Binance founder Changpeng Zhao received a presidential pardon for financial crimes, following a meeting with Zach Witkoff in Abu Dhabi.

Foreign governments and corporations have found many ways to give money directly to the Trumps and a handful of New York families connected to Trump since his real estate days: the Witkoffs, the Kushners and the Lutnicks.

And crypto presents a clear, hard to trace method for enriching the Trump and Witkoff families.

"Trump is by far the most visibly corrupt president the U.S. Has known," said Kim Lane Scheppele, a sociology and international affairs professor at Princeton University.

Forbes found that Trump had earned $3 billion US in the first eight months of his term by "leveraging the presidency for profit."

The crude methods foreign governments used during his first term, such as block-booking rooms at Trump hotels, have given way to far more lucrative arrangements around crypto and licensing.

"I'm sure that we don't know the extent of foreign government access and influence with this White House since much of it occurs outside the glare of the spotlight," said Scheppele.

Trump, who went to great lengths to keep U.S. Officials away from his meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin, has also empowered representatives such as Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner to conduct negotiations in secret.

"Trump's various personal emissaries in foreign affairs travel without experienced diplomats, official translators or government note-takers. So we don't know what deals they are cooking up.  But given what we can see publicly, one can guess that what is happening in the shadows is worse," Scheppele said.

Perhaps the most famous gift received by Trump from a foreign government is the luxury Boeing 747 jetliner from the Emirate of Qatar.

Responding to criticism that he was buying favour, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said the gift was "a normal thing that happens between allies."

"I don't know why people consider it as bribery or Qatar trying to buy influence with this administration," he said.

No country has received more favours from the Trump administration than Qatar. In October, Trump signed an executive order promising to defend Qatar in the event of foreign attack — a promise he has suggested he would not honour for NATO allies. He even allowed Qatar to station warplanes in the U.S.

The plane, valued at between $250 million US and $550 million US, far exceeds the $525 US cap on gifts that the president is allowed to accept personally. But Trump seems to have found a way around that by having the gifts go to his presidential library, said Kedric Payne, general counsel and senior director of ethics at the Campaign Legal Center in Washington, D.C.

"There is a way that donations can be made to the president's library and then that library is able to keep them, but never have we seen a situation where such a gift is something like a plane. You may think of it as maybe an artifact or some small gift from a foreign government that is basically going to be part of a museum, but not something that can be functionally used by the president in his personal capacity and for his own personal gain."

Payne said such activities are materially different than traditional pay-to-play politics that involves donations to campaigns, not individuals.

"The type of corruption in this administration is different because the funds that are going to benefit the president go to him personally and to his business interests personally," Payne said.

The emoluments clause in the U.S. Constitution that's supposed to prevent this is turning out to be a dead letter, said Scheppele.

"Of course, emoluments are nominally banned by the U.S. Constitution but it is hard for anyone to get standing to sue to enforce the constitutional provision," she said.

"Trump of course continues to make deals in his private companies to build hotels and golf courses around the world," added Scheppele.

Gulf countries have signed lucrative golf-related deals with Trump the business at the same time as negotiating sensitive political and military matters with Trump the president. This week the Trump organization announced $10 billion US of golf-centred development projects in partnership with DarGlobal, a company with close ties to the government of Saudi Arabia.

It's not only autocracies that have decided to get in on the action.

Switzerland received a rude shock in August when it was hit with a 39 per cent U.S. Tariff, significantly higher than that faced by its EU neighbors (Switzerland is not an EU member).

In November, Economy Minister Guy Parmelin and a group of Swiss businessmen presented the Trump administration with a package that combined promises of billions of dollars of Swiss future investment in the U.S., a Rolex desk clock and a one-kilogram gold brick.

The brick combined two of Trump's favourite things: gold and flattery (it was marked with the numbers 45 and 47).

Venezuelan Nobel winner says she offered Trump her medal

Shortly afterward, the Swiss government reported with immense relief that its 39 per cent was dropping to only 15 per cent. In return, the Swiss agreed to reduce tariffs on certain U.S. Seafood and agricultural products, and to allow the duty-free importation of fixed amounts of U.S. Meat including bison.

Was it the brick that won the concession, or the vague promises of future investments? The fact that the Swiss made a point of bringing the gold suggests they felt it could make a difference.

It's also hard to imagine a one-kilogram gold brick being offered to, or accepted by, any other U.S. President. But in the Trump era, such things have become normal.

Canada's approach has been to behave as if the administration was motivated by a concern for national, rather than personal, interests, and to try to convince it that partnership is good for workers on both sides of the border.

"So far, there aren't many visible examples of countries using traditional diplomacy to win Trump over," said Princeton's Scheppele. She said it appeared that Trump had developed a good rapport with Prime Minister Mark Carney, but then turned on Canada again shortly after.

So could Canada simply bribe its way out of its difficulties?

Since 1998, the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act has made it illegal for Canadians to pay bribes overseas. But there is an exemption when such payments are "permitted or required under the laws of the foreign state."

U.S. Law defines bribery so narrowly that none of the payments to the Trumps and related families have ever led to prosecution.

"You have to have this evidence that beyond a shadow of a doubt someone has agreed almost with a contract to give money for an official action," said Payne.

Indeed, U.S. Border Czar Tom Homan has avoided any legal consequences despite being reportedly recorded accepting a bag with $50,000 US cash from federal agents in a corruption sting.

"The message is the same throughout the Trump administration since Week 1," said Payne. "Ethics is not something that is going to be enforced."

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