• President Donald Trump’s family businesses reported $2.2 billion in revenue last year, largely from cryptocurrency, according to his recent financial disclosures.
  • Half of 12 Pennsylvania swing voters in two NPR-observed focus groups said they were “troubled” by Trump’s income; the other half dismissed it as standard behavior for politicians and wealthy businessmen.
  • Rich Thau, who moderated the focus groups, described participants’ rationales as reflecting “extremely cynical voters whose expectations for politicians are remarkably low.”
  • Some participants expressed concern about abuse of power and undue influence; others said they expected Trump to continue running his business empire while in office.

Focus groups reveal mixed views about political corruption

The focus groups, conducted Tuesday and observed by NPR, included 12 Pennsylvania voters — a mix of Republicans and independents identified by first name and last initial only. The sessions were moderated by Rich Thau, president of the messaging firm Engagious, which partners with market researcher Sago and NPR to conduct monthly focus groups with swing voters across the country. Thau said focus groups are not polling and carry no statistical significance, but they offer insight into how key voters who helped reelect Trump view the choice they made.

“When it comes to ethics, moral and financial, I think that just about every politician is corrupt,” said Todd A., a 62-year-old independent voter. “So, the fact that he’s a known huckster — I mean, we’ve known that for years about him.”

Thau said the level of rationalization among participants who dismissed Trump’s income increase was striking. “The excuses that they gave, which is, you know, ‘This is the kind of thing that rich people do. They use money to make more money. All politicians do this kind of thing. They’re all corrupt,’” he said. “That’s the voice of extremely cynical voters whose expectations for politicians are remarkably low.”

Betsy D., a 48-year-old Republican, said she viewed Trump’s behavior as “typical” for a businessman and a politician. “I am not saying it’s OK,” she said. “I’m just not troubled by it because I just think it’s typical for politicians to increase their wealth while in office.”

Ken J., a 44-year-old Republican, said he was not concerned because Trump’s earnings did not appear to be illegal. “He’s a businessman. He openly admitted it. This isn’t a shock to me or anybody else,” Ken said. “He’s admitted in the past that he’s going to continue running his empire while he’s in his president’s seat. I was fully aware of that. And if we’re talking insider trading, we’re talking kickbacks, we’re talking something like that, it might be a little bit different.”

But other participants said the disclosure raised serious concerns. Bhavana G., a 54-year-old independent voter, said the news brought “abuse of power” to mind. She rejected the argument that Trump’s status as a businessman provided cover. “It is not the businessman Donald Trump who’s interacting,” she said. “It is the president, Donald Trump, who’s using his powers in manipulative ways to draw something that is of his personal interest. And that to me is morally wrong and that itself should be a problem — and is a problem to me.”

Margaret M., a 58-year-old independent voter, said she worried that Trump’s business associates would gain undue influence over administration policy. “I would just be worried that whoever he’s doing business with would then have his ear a little bit more or be wanting to have some ‘favors’ or some leniency that might not be totally on the up and up,” she said.

The mixed reaction suggests that Democratic efforts to make Trump’s wealth a campaign issue may face headwinds from voters who view corruption as a systemic feature of politics rather than a distinguishing characteristic of the president. A recent survey found that a vast majority of voters are concerned about corruption writ-large in American government, according to NPR, but focus group participants were divided on how Trump’s behavior factored into that broader concern.