This is interesting - the chart comes from https://www.opensecrets.org/fara
Foreign Lobby Watch - Just about any country you can think of has interests in the United States, ranging from policy concerns to tourism and trade promotion. Many governments, companies and other entities pay foreign agents to influence U.S. policy and opinion in pursuit of those interests.
Foreign Lobby Watch uses the semi-annual reports foreign agents are required to file with the Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) to calculate the countries with the highest spending, learn more about different registrants acting on behalf of foreign interests, and more!
Notable:
Liberia - $353,199,848
Marshall Islands - $284,773,327
Bahamas - $239,466,140
How did these pipsqueaks get into the top ten? How much of this was money laundering? Who provided the loot? USAID?
Liberia spent roughly 44 million annually on lobbying but GNI(formerly GNP) in 2023 was only $3.92 billion?
Marshall Islands spent roughly $35 million annually... with a GNI of only $332 million in 2024.
Bahamas GNI of $13.31 billion in 2023 spends more than half of what China spends lobbying?
Pretty fishy.