Episode 55: Taxpayer Waste Under Trump: Billions Lost to Vanity, Grift, and Mismanagement

Send us Fan MailEight months into Trump’s second term, the price tag of taxpayer waste is already staggering. From a $200M White House ballroom to $21.7B lost through mass layoffs at the Department of Government Efficiency, Trump has turned public service into a personal profit center. Grift, canceled programs, dismantled oversight, and self-dealing are draining billions with little to no benefit for the American people. What does this mean for classrooms, hospitals, and communities left behind?Key Takeaways To Listen ForDefining taxpayer waste: What qualifies, what doesn’t, and why it mattersVanity projects: $200M ballroom, $30–45M parade, $23M+ in Mar-a-Lago trips, $380K ICE “recruitment cars”DOGE’s “Deferred Resignation Program” that wasted $21.7B in just six monthsTrump properties pocketing millions from the Secret Service, foreign governments, and lobbyistsPolicy-induced costs: Tariff bailouts and Guard deployments burning through billionsDismantled oversight risking $93B in annual taxpayer savings once recovered by inspectors generalHow canceled education, health, and VA programs translate into lives, services, and futures lostJoin the CommunitySubscribe to Surviving Trump on Substack to keep me churning. bellagoodepodcast.substack.comKnow someone who thinks Project 2025 won’t affect them? Share this episode. Help them see the full picture.Join me on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SurvivingTrump?Join me on X  https://x.com/bella_good3658Join me on Linked In   Https://www.linkedin.com/in/survivingtrumpSupport the showBella Goode is a pseudonym — but the voice, research, and mission are all real. A Republican turned Democrat advocate in 2016, I was raised by middle class parents in Pennsylvania.  I’m a former marketing executive, entrepreneur, and lifelong learner with an MBA from Wharton and a Master’s in Psychology from Penn. I spent decades telling stories in the business world; now I use those skills to connect the dots in American politics.I’m here because the truth matters — and because the stakes have never been higher. Surviving Trump isn’t lighthearted. It’s clarity, evidence, and a fight for the future of our democracy.Follow my blog on Substack https://survivingtrumppodcast.substack.com