In Alpena, Michigan, on Monday, October 26, 2026, Sen. Bernie Sanders called the Trump administration “the most corrupt administration in the modern history of this country.”
He pointed to the $400 million plane from Qatar, Trump’s first foreign trip to Saudi Arabia — where, Sanders said, the Trump family has business interests — and said the Trump family is now “two billion dollars richer than they were before he came to office.” The figures are Sanders’ claims, made in his speech.
Source: Bernie Sanders.
Context
The Alpena rally was part of Sanders’ Fighting Oligarchy tour, which has spent the final stretch of the midterm campaign arguing that billionaires and corporate donors hold too much power over American politics. The corruption charge is the tour’s central theme. Sanders made these claims as part of his campaign case against the administration: the accepted gift of a $400 million aircraft from Qatar, the Trump family’s business interests abroad, and wealth he says the family has gained since Trump returned to office. Alpena, in northern Michigan, was one of the last stops of a tour that has deliberately held rallies in Republican-leaning areas, making the economic argument directly to working-class voters of both parties, days before the November 3 vote decides control of Congress.
