President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., February 16, 2026. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno
Donald Trump's "unimaginable" corruption and shattering of norms has left the U.S. a "laughingstock" on the world stage, according to a new analysis from The i Paper, and the country will not be able to shake that reputation quickly once he leaves office.
Jon Sopel, a former North America editor for the BBC, published the piece via The i Paper on Tuesday, breaking down the many ways in which Trump has abused the power of the presidency for his own gain, and for the benefit of his family, starting with First Lady Melania Trump's controversial Amazon documentary.
"The striking thing about this presidency is how quickly the jaw-droppingly unimaginable just becomes normalised and almost shoulder-shrugging banal," Sopel wrote. "Let’s start not with Donald Trump, but with the first lady, Melania. Her production company just pocketed $40m dollars from Jeff Bezos and Amazon to star in the most mind-numbing 'documentary' ever. In what other presidency would it have been ok for the first lady to enrich herself to the tune of $40m when all she was doing was telling the American people what she does as the president’s wife?"
Sopel proceeded to break down numerous other examples of corrupt behavior from throughout Trump's second term: cutting tariffs on Switzerland after receiving a gold bar and a Rolex watch from Swiss businessmen; seeming to use tariff pressure on Vietnam to make the government clear obstacles for a new Trump hotel in the country; accepting a private jet as a gift from Qatar; and; demanding pledges of free legal work from major law firms. Businesses and company leaders like Bezos, Sopel argued, are treating Trump like a king in order to gain his favor.
"That is what makes this presidency so troubling. It is governing without guardrails," Sopel wrote. "The much-vaunted checks and balances of the US Constitution, in Trump’s mind, don’t exist. And whether it is cabinet colleagues, foreign leaders or corporate titans, like Jeff Bezos, there appears to be a profound fear of upsetting the guy in the Oval Office. That may be good for Trump but, if we’re to be high-minded for a minute, is it good for the office of the presidency or for democracy?"
The impact of all of this corruption, along with his "grotesque" immigration agenda and threats against election integrity, will leave the U.S. with a tarnished reputation even after Trump is gone, Sopel continued. This is despite the recent assurances that visiting Democrats made at the Munich Security Conference. Vice President J.D. Vance could either be the incumbent president by the next election, or be the GOP's next nominee for president, but Sopel suggested that he would not be "an entirely reassuring prospect" in the role.
"Sure, he would be less impulsive, and wouldn’t have a compulsive need to put his name on airports and arts centers, as someone else does," Sopel concluded. "But would America snap-back to its leadership role in the world, with its upholding of the rules-based order, support for the western alliance and spear-carrier for liberal democracy? That ship has sailed off into the sunset."