Why are T-Mobile executives staying at Trump’s hotel? We have an idea.

It’s an open not-so-secret in Washington: Want to curry favor with Donald Trump? Book a room at his hotel.

T-Mobile executives, including outspoken CEO John Legere, stayed the day after announcing a $26 billion telecom mega-merger that needs approval by the Trump administration.

The Washington Post reported that top T-Mobile executives not only stayed for three days at Trump’s Washington hotel after the merger announcement, but some have returned to the hotel up to 10 times, totaling at least 38 hotel nights booked. It’s hard to believe every other hotel in Washington was full.

As former DOJ Antitrust Division Chief Counsel Gene Kimmelman put it, “I can’t believe this is a coincidence. In mergers, companies look for any potential advantage they can find.”

T-Mobile joins a long line of corporations, foreign diplomats and special interest groups participating in a “pay-to-play” scheme to influence the greedy, self-centered (and not to mention hateful, racist and misogynist) occupant of the White House. Trump is using his position to enrich himself and his family, and T-Mobile is happy to play along as long as it can increase its bottom line.

And this isn’t the first time T-Mobile has dipped its toe into Trump’s swamp. Last year, we learned that T-Mobile hired Trump’s former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski to help grease the regulatory wheels at the DOJ to move along merger negotiations. T-Mobile even refused to fire Lewandowski after he publicly mocked an immigrant 10-year-old with Down syndrome who was forcibly ripped from her mother at the border.

T-Mobile may be putting profits above values, but that doesn’t mean you have to. Here at CREDO, we would never attempt to curry favor with the Trump administration. In fact, we’re actively fighting him and his policies – through our activism and donations to progressive organizations that our members make possible just by using their phones every day.

To learn more about how you can help make progressive change with the simple choice of your mobile phone company, please visit CREDO Mobile.