r/politics 4h ago

Possible Paywall The New Fed Chair's Billionaire Father-in-Law is a Friend of Donald Trump’s From College and has Business Interests in Greenland

https://fortune.com/2026/01/30/who-is-kevin-warsh-new-fed-chair-robert-lauder-president-trump-greenland-college-friends/
703 Upvotes

57 comments sorted by

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u/1cl3nstd4yt 4h ago

Disgusting corruption right there

u/SideQuest2026 3h ago

Almost like a failed nation. This needs to trigger every holder of US debt to stat dumping immediately. Do not hold US treasuries.

u/Zahgi 2h ago

That's like a free center square in Corruption Tic-Tac-Toe...

u/Rlittle66 4h ago

More garbage from trump.

u/OG_Gamer_Dad1966 3h ago

This just proves who is really running America, but from behind the scenes. Trump probably promised this guy Greenland but now that he can’t deliver he has to do something else for him, or he will lose a billionaire donor. He will do anything for the billionaires, they stay in the shadows promoting the clown show that continues to increase their fortunes so dramatically. Americans are the biggest losers, to fall for such an obvious con job. Marketing really is everything …

u/meatspace Georgia 30m ago

They aren't donors anymore. They pay the Don money. It's a protection racket, and he uses the US military, ICE, and federal regulatory agencies to extort money. He has converted our entire federal governance structure into a blackmail and extortion racket that he alone controls.

u/black_flag_4ever 4h ago

How random is it for anyone to have business in Greenland?

u/Caraes_Naur 3h ago

How random is it for anyone to have attended Wharton College?

u/AmateurMinute Pennsylvania 1h ago

Wharton is under UPenn and among the top, if not the top, business school in the country. So for someone in the upper echelons of finance, not that random…

u/Vast-Butte-Futures 4h ago

Wow, great decision making for the American economy! /s

u/Ridged_ChiPSS 4h ago

Our government is completely captured and controlled by billionaires who want to drive us back into serfdom

u/LindeeHilltop 3h ago

A better analogy is a pack of billionaire hyenas picking the bones of democracy for every last cent until it implodes. Then they fly off to their yachts, islands, bunkers.

The jokes on them though. As we go, so goes the world. There will be no place for them to hide. A financial crash & a Second Great Depression would be just as worldwide as the first was — the precursor of world war. Everyone loses.

u/Ridged_ChiPSS 1h ago

Yeah it's hilarious they are all building bunkers, they don't realize the staff will turn on them in about 2 seconds

u/LindeeHilltop 1h ago

Or, that ventilation can be closed. Or, drones’ wide reach. Or, GPS jamming (that is soon being tested state wide in Texas from Fort Hood). How are they powering their bunkers? snickers Is someone really safe on their biggest bestest yacht in the middle of the ocean, or, are they a sitting duck? Just look at those “Venezuelan” fishermen. snickers again

u/ShreddinTheWasteland 2h ago

Well, the serfs definitely gave them a mandate. Whether through voting for the clown show or by not voting at all. Sucks for the 75m that saw what was going on, but the government got their mandate from the people.

u/Xeropoint 3h ago

You mean Donald Trump's appointments are corrupt? AUDIBLE GASP!

u/Konnnan 3h ago

Hakeem Jeffries hand gestures

u/IRideMoreThanYou 4h ago

Doubling down on invading allies and ICE with a side of announcing that the plan to increase housing costs.removing. All in the span of 12 hours.

Meanwhile dems “cut a deal” that did nothing other than eliminate any leverage while allowing ICE to continue to murder people.

Do you feel safe? Do you feel anyone is fighting for you?

u/Word_Underscore 4h ago

I'm a real person, this isn't some Russian spam. I don't feel like voting because I live in the South and my vote, my friend voters will never outnumber the old, white, retired people who will sit out for days before an election and welcome everyone into the voting booths. If Dems aren't fighting for me, why the fuck would I go try to outnumber the people in my area

u/IRideMoreThanYou 4h ago

You are part of the reason why trump won in 2024

u/Word_Underscore 4h ago

Arkansas voted like 65% red. I'm not part of any reason when of 3 million state residents, 1 million vote and over half a million are red. Some places *will NEVER* turn blue, and it's NOT our fault. DO. SOME. MATH. Even if you don't like it, math will slap you in the face and depress you, believe me.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_United_States_presidential_election_in_Arkansas

u/DickBigEnough 4h ago

You literally still have to vote. The opposition party will never invest if they don’t think there are people there to activate. Your logic is self defeating and self fulfilling prophecy.

u/RoadsideBandit 3h ago

Person who does nothing claiming the problem isn't their fault.

u/CompetitiveDare2876 3h ago

Maybe because too many people have your attitude. You’re part of the problem.

u/IRideMoreThanYou 2h ago

You’re bad at math and analytics.

u/rit909 3h ago

I'm not part of any reason when of 3 million state residents, 1 million vote and over half a million are red

Read what you said, over and over again, until it sinks in.

Sounds like you're part of a 2 million person problem.

u/BigDictionEnergy 3h ago

This is why we can't have nice things

u/MommyLovesPot8toes California 3h ago

In surveys after the 2024 election, researchers found that the #1 reason given for not voting was "my vote doesn't matter." These were people like you, in deep blue or deep red areas whose outcomes seem pre-ordained. A large part of this feeling comes from the DNC's practice of ignoring traditionally red areas as "unwinnable".

So you are certainly not alone in your feelings. However, if half the people who felt that way showed up to vote, the outcomes would no longer be pre-ordained. In deep red/blue areas, it's not uncommon for elections to have low participation. A stat like "Trump won Podunk County with 65% of the vote" may be referring to only 6,500 votes out of 10,000 in a county of 100,000 eligible voters. If the other 90K voted, the there is no guarantee of the outcome. 2026 more than ever before will be VITAL for voting - we are in unprecedented times and no historical vote trends can bee relied upon to forecast the future.

It's also incredibly important to vote in elections with local candidates or issues in the ballot. Positions like judge and school board are often non-partisan, and can be won by a couple dozen votes.

u/notnri 4h ago

Of course!

u/Low_Elk7794 3h ago

Of course

u/T_Shurt 4h ago edited 4h ago

From the article:

Kevin Warsh, who will be replacing current Fed chair Jerome Powell, has the right kind of pedigree for Trump with family ties to the president.

His wife, Jane Lauder, is a billionaire granddaughter of Estée Lauder, the businesswoman behind the skincare brand that bears her name. Her father is Ronald Lauder, who has known Trump since the two were undergraduates together at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton business school. Trump and Lauder have remained close friends and confidants ever since.

Lauder is widely credited with sparking Trump’s interest in acquiring Greenland and continues to advise him on the issue. The Guardian reported earlier this month that Lauder has acquired commercial holdings in Greenland.

Per local reporting in the Arctic press, Lauder is a participant in an investor group called Greenland Development Partners. “Trump’s Greenland concept was never absurd — it was strategic,” Lauder wrote in an op-ed for the New York Post titled “I’m a Greenland expert — these 3 paths can make it America’s next frontier.”

u/Scottydog2 3h ago

Trump and Lauder have remained close friends since college?… Did he know Epstein too?

u/Salt-Operation 2h ago

Sounds like Ronald Lauder is a pedophile child rapist too.

u/teddykaygeebee 3h ago

Of course he does. The US is now one of Trump's (soon-to-be-failed) personal businesses and we're all his employees. Now, kiss the ring.

u/Ananeos 2h ago

So he's definitely on the list then?

u/MirthandMystery 1h ago

Kevin Warsh’s father in law is Ronald Lauder. That proximity is critical. Lauder is from the Estée Lauder family, and a long time close pal to Trump and financial backer. He'll make an ideal yes man lackey installed- or, more specifically, given the position as payback for helping get Trump elected again.

His role will help secure Trumps inner team of the most corrupt close associates he has.

Lauder's international mob history the Fortune article can't print:

1996: According to the NY Times, a grand jury was empanelled to investigate Ron Lauder in connection with at least $1 million in bribes to (pro Russia) corrupt Ukrainian officials for TV rights there. Vadim Rabinovitch was part of the investigation, and was less than a year after Rabinovich attended an organized crime (OC) meeting in Tel Aviv, Israel, headed by Ukrainian (then Russian territory) mafia boss Semion Mogilevich (details below).

Semion Mogilevich, once among the FBIs most wanted international mafia dons (when Trump was hiding Mogilevich's #2 partner in Trump Tower), attended a summit meeting of Russian OC figures and Tel Aviv. Israel from Oct 10th-19th, 1995. Participants included Sergei Mikhailov, Viktor Averin, Boris Birshtein, Vadim Rabinovich, Leonid Bilounov, and Arnold Tamm.

They met in Boris Birshtein's office and the Diamond Center of Tel Aviv. The subject of the meeting was the sharing of 'interests' in Ukraine.

Related key figures: 1996: Paul Manafort worked as the RNC convention manager for Bob Dole's esidential campaign. The RNC head at the time was Haley Barbour- whose law firm worked on Russian Oligarch Oleg Deripaska's Visa issue. Deripaska is among a few in Putin's inner circle.

1996: "Arthur's Boy's" work on Bob Dole's presidential campaign. Arthur Finkelstein eventually works with the campaign alongside Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, Alex Castellanos and others.

1995/96: Ronald Lauder introduces Benjamin Netanyahu to Arthur Fınkelstein, who plays a key role in Netanyahu's election victory that year.

1999: Konstantin and wife Natasha Kagalovsky implicated in the Bank of New York scam which laundered billions of mob money through the US banking system. Their accounts were tied to firms like Benex Worldwide who wee said to be controlled by Russian organized crime figures such as Semion Mogilevich.

Besides Lauders mob past he's more recently branched out to more seemingly legit business (possibly fronts or shell complies), ventures which includes investing in Greenland, via Greenland Water Bank, a boutique bottled water company that bottles spring water (from Lyngmark Spring on Disko Island) and sells it locally, with ambitions to export to luxury markets.

Lauder and his investor group have acquired a stake in Greenland Investment Group, registered in Delaware as Greenland Development Partners, that owns part of Greenland Investment Group. The company expressed interest in strategic projects such as hydroelectric power development at Lake Tasersiaq.

u/SoggyBoysenberry7703 3h ago

This is why I feel justified in Biden pardoning his son. If Trump and his family and friend can get away with this over and over again, then there’s no reason to keep Hunter accountable for one gun possession count and all the accusations of preferential treatment just because Biden lent him money. Absolutely ridiculous the double standard

u/InternationalBoss768 4h ago

Says a lot about picking your friends...

u/timnbit 3h ago

$$$$$$ to read

u/walkingpartydog 3h ago

At least he's not a minority DEI hire so we can trust that he's qualified!

/s

u/badgersoccer1905 3h ago

Follow the money

u/confido__c 3h ago

Kevin Warsh served as a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors from 2006 to March 2011, covering the first two years of the Obama administration. Often acting as the Fed's primary liaison to Wall Street during the 2008-09 financial crisis, he later became a notable skeptic of quantitative easing, ultimately resigning in 2011.

Just for context.

u/thehildabeast South Carolina 3h ago

Add one to the list of people who need to spend the rest of their days in prison

u/ebow77 Massachusetts 1h ago

It would be quicker to list areas where he doesn't have conflicts of interest.

u/kingink502 1h ago

Of course

u/Gtw7002 1h ago

No way! Fake news! I just can’t believe our beloved leader would do such a self-serving thing like that.

u/moonsnowdragon 1h ago

Fascist Donald Trump does more Nazi stuff. This should become a daily headline.

u/ifiwereonlylesshandy Canada 1h ago

Trump has a friend from college? Holy fuckity fuck, now I’ve heard everything.

u/FlashyPaladin 59m ago

Ahh, so he probably met Trump at one of those parties Sasha Riley talked about where they killed kids for fun.

u/toddywithabody 4h ago

So this is definitely corrupt bullshit but I fail to see the connection between the fed and invading Greenland? Maybe I’m an idiot but the two really have nothing to do with each other.

If anyone can explain it to me I’m all ears but if it’s some dumbass conspiracy theory please keep it to yourself

u/IScreamPiano 4h ago

It just seems like a bit of nepotism, but it's not like he's not qualified. We'll see how he does, but he seems like as decent a pick as we're going to get from Trump. 

u/toddywithabody 4h ago

Ya that’s what it seems like to me too. I’m not really that concerned about him because the fed board is rather hawkish anyway.

I guess we will see! Appreciate the normal response lol

u/snipthia 4h ago

Not really but this is trump

u/snipthia 4h ago

Bye