Coming from a non-US centric point of view: I generally believed in the idea that the government does everything it does for the good of an entity. Sometimes that entity is the people (legality of cannabis), sometimes it is one person (presidential pardons) and sometimes its a company (bailouts). We can argue how 'good' any of these actions actually are, but thats beside the point. I always knew there were backdoor deals and some companies or some people got special privileges (corruption). But that was always behind closed doors. Rarely did it leak to the public stage and when it did, news coverage and accountability followed (usually).
However you may feel about government, it generally works on the principles of law. The ideal was; If you followed the law, you had the same opportunity as anyone else doing it.
I still can't comprehend how Trump completely flipped this around. There is no semblance of just democracy and unjust corruption anymore. Giving the president actual gold in exchange for an exemption of law while openly broadcasting it. The ideal is broken and shattered on live TV. Justice is now blind because Trump is pissing on her face and she cant look at his limp dick anymore.