# Trump Inc and the art of American State Capture > The US president and his family are using the machinery of government to enrich themselves on an industrial scale, mirroring South Africa's Zuma-era corruption. - Title: Trump Inc and the art of American State Capture | Shortify - Summary: The US president and his family are using the machinery of government to enrich themselves on an industrial scale, mirroring South Africa's Zuma-era… - Keywords: donald trump, state capture, corruption, trump family, kimberly guilfoyle, eric deters, us politics, accountability, midterm elections, news, politics, Trump - Source: Daily Maverick — https://dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2026-10-21-trump-inc-american-kleptocracy-and-the-art-of-us-state-capture - Author: Natale Labia - Published: 2026-10-21T19:50:59+00:00 - Read time: 2 min - Topics: donald trump, state capture, corruption, trump family, kimberly guilfoyle, eric deters, us politics, accountability, midterm elections, news, politics ## State capture comes to America South Africa's experience under Jacob Zuma shows what happens when private interests commandeer government machinery for personal enrichment. Something similar is now happening in the United States. ## Guilfoyle pleads for cash At three forty-one pm on July third, twenty twenty-five, Kimberly Guilfoyle messaged Eric Deters asking him to wire one hundred thousand dollars to settle her American Express bill. > It won't show up anywhere if you wire money to American Express. ## Access for cash According to the Wall Street Journal, Guilfoyle's messages to Deters, a pizza chain entrepreneur and Trump donor, suggested she was offering access to senior administration officials in return for financial favours. > I will be your Trump ride or die, forever and ever. ## Trump's Nvidia trades The president has reportedly traded Nvidia stock with uncanny timing ahead of his own announcements on whether the chipmaker may sell its most expensive chips in China. ## The Trump brand machine The Trump Organization, run by Eric and Don Junior, licenses the family name to products including sneakers at two hundred ninety-nine dollars, watches from four hundred ninety-nine to one hundred thousand dollars, and guitars at… ## Merchandise nets millions Shoes, perfumes, watches and books have reportedly netted the president more than ten million dollars. The presidency has effectively doubled up as a marketing department for the Trump brand. ## Fortunes grow sixfold In December, Forbes reported that Don Junior's fortune had grown sixfold in a single year to three hundred million dollars. ## Crypto billions Crypto and online betting are where the family has honed their kleptocracy. Given the nature of the assets, nobody can say with certainty how much they have made, but estimates run to several billion dollars. ## Scale and power differ Capturing the richest, most powerful nation in history is far different from capturing a mid-sized emerging market.The opportunities for looting in a country with such a powerful state apparatus, especially its military-industrial complex, are limitless. ## Courts and conventions matter South Africa's Constitutional Court ended the Zuma era.Trump has stacked the Supreme Court with pliant conservatives who have shown little appetite to stand up to him. ## Zuma's legacy of corruption Jacob Zuma spent a handful of days in prison for contempt, not corruption.The culture of corruption which set in under him has continued since he left, leaving South Africa in a perilous, desperate mess. ## Midterms are the fork in the road If Democrats retake the House and perhaps the Senate, prosecutions must follow.If the Trumps escape without consequence, the precedent is set and nothing will stop the next lot from doing the same. > If the next government cannot put Trump and his cabal in prison, then America will have been captured for good. ## Key takeaway Donald Trump and his family are conducting systematic state capture in the US, using the presidency for personal enrichment in ways unprecedented in American history.