Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton faced vague allegations that she engaged in "pay to play" behavior by meeting with heads of state and Nobel prize recipients who donated to the Clinton Foundation, a public health charity that fights HIV and Malaria, but despot-elect Trump is openly running an actual pay to play scheme ahead of his inauguration.
For the low price of a million dollars, you can enjoy a “candlelight dinner” with the clown dictator and the same congressional Republican leaders who accused Hillary Clinton of engaging in various schemes.
According to a packet obtained by Variety, those who give $1 million or more to the [inaugural committee] will receive four tickets to a “leadership luncheon,” an event with cabinet appointees and House and Senate leadership; 4 tickets to an “intimate dinner with Vice President-elect Mike Pence and Mrs. Karen Pence”; eight tickets to a “ladies luncheon,” with an “opportunity to meet the ladies of the first families”; eight tickets to a victory reception, billed as a “victory reception”; eight tickets to a “candlelight dinner” with appearances by the Trumps and the Pences; eight tickets to an inaugural concert and fireworks on the National Mall; eight tickets to the inaugural parade; and “premier access” tickets to a black-tie inaugural ball.
I've chosen not to spend a great deal of time considering Trump's inauguration, with this one exception, because there's no way it won't be total shitshow.
Beyond this obvious inaugural grift, Trump's numerous conflicts of interest have already manifested in the form of foreign leaders instructing their staff to stay at Trump-brand hotels to court favor with the despot-elect.