By now, it’s painfully evident that Donald Trump believes the purpose of his job as president of the United States is to enrich himself and his family as much as possible, emoluments clause be damned. On this, he has been exceedingly transparent, refusing to divest from his company, promoting Trump Organization properties every chance he gets, and giving paying customers free rein to oversee the federal agency of their choosing. So while it violates long-standing norms that dictate how a president should conduct himself in office, it actually comes as no surprise at all that he would think it appropriate to use a meeting with a foreign head of state to try and advance his buddy’s casino interests abroad, given that said buddy donated millions of dollars to his campaign and is presumably getting ready to open up his checkbook for 2020.

ProPublica reports that in February 2017, one day after dining at the White House with billionaire casino magnate and G.O.P. sugar daddy Sheldon Adelson, the president used a state visit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe —naturally held at Mar-a-Lago—to lobby for his pal to win a long-sought casino license in Japan. Adelson and his company, Las Vegas Sands, have been pushing to build a multi-billion-dollar casino and resort in the country for more than a decade, calling expansion into Japan their “holy grail.” And although he’s competing for one of the limited number of licenses that would allow him to enter a market worth a staggering $25 billion a year, having POTUS call in a favor would presumably put him at the front of the line.

The Japanese, for their part, were said to be stunned that Trump raised the issue, given that, per Brian Harding, a Japan expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a top donor’s business interests “should be nowhere near the agenda of senior officials.” According to one of the people briefed on the exchange, “it was totally brought up out of the blue,” and Abe was “a little incredulous that [Trump] would be so brazen.” But brazen or not, Trump’s wink-wink appears to have worked!

Adelson has told his shareholders to expect good news. On a recent earnings call, Adelson cited unnamed insiders as saying Sands’ efforts to win a place in the Japanese market will pay off. “The estimates by people who know, say they know, whom we believe they know, say that we’re in the No. 1 pole position,” he said.

The White House declined ProPublica’s request for comment. Sands spokesman Ron Reese said in a statement: “the gaming industry has long sought the opportunity to enter the Japan market. Gaming companies have spent significant resources there on that effort, and Las Vegas Sands is no exception.”

Trump, of course, didn’t go to bat for his buddy Shelly out of the goodness of his heart, but rather as part of a you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours arrangement. Back when Trump was running for president, Adelson spent $20 million on the real-estate developer’s campaign, and kicked in an extra $5 million for the inauguration. And that kind of generosity, particularly in the Trump administration, buys a lot:

Cabinet-level officials jump when he calls. One who displeased him was replaced. He has helped a friend’s company get a research deal with the Environmental Protection Agency. And Adelson has already received a windfall from Trump’s new tax law, which particularly favored companies like Las Vegas Sands. The company estimated the benefit of the law at $1.2 billion.

“I would put Adelson at the very top of the list of both access and influence in the Trump administration,” Public Citizen’s Craig Holman told ProPublica. “I’ve never seen anything like it before, and I’ve been studying money in politics for 40 years.”