- by CJ Atkins
- The Guardian
- Issue #2131
Photo: rawpixel.com (CC0)
“One of the most ‘democratic’ republics in the world is the United States of America, yet nowhere is the power of capital, the power of a handful of multimillionaires over the whole of society, so crude and so openly corrupt as in America. Once capital exists, it dominates the whole of society.”
VI Lenin, 1919
Donald Trump’s real people, the ones he fights hardest for, weren’t sitting in the bleachers at Capital One Arena during the inauguration.
Trump’s real people were the moneyed interests plopped down in the chairs right behind him during the inauguration ceremonies. Lined up in a row, in spots usually reserved for close family or former presidents, were the tech titans of the 21st century economy.
Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai – add up their estimated wealth and you get close to a trillion dollars of combined economic power sitting on the stage. They were the perfect image of capitalist politics in the US today. These billionaires invested hundreds of millions of dollars in their candidate, and they came to DC to celebrate their conquest.
Of course, no matter which of the two parties is in office in Washington, it’s always the capitalist class that is in power. The second Trump administration, however, is taking it to the next level.
No longer are the leading lights of finance, tech, and commerce content to simply buy influence in the government via lobbying dollars and campaign contributions alone. Now, they’re directly taking over the instruments of the state themselves to guarantee the conditions for their increased profits and power. In addition to the billionaire president, at least a dozen other billionaires and multimillionaires are set to take over government posts.
Soros Fund Manager Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary
Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick as Commerce Secretary
Wrestling promoter Linda McMahon as Education Secretary
Former JPMorgan Chase and Fiserv executive Frank Bisignano in charge of the Social Security Administration
“PayPal Mafia” boss David Sacks as the new AI and cryptocurrency czar
Financier Warren Stephens in the UK ambassador spot
Conair executive Leandro Rizzuto, Jr, at the Organization of American States
Real estate tycoon (and Jared’s daddy) Charles Kushner as ambassador to France
Another property mogul, Steve Witkoff, as “peace” envoy to the Middle East
Quack TV doctor Mehmet Oz as administrator for Medicare and Medicaid
Crypto trader Kelly Loeffler heading up the Small Business Administration.
The list goes on.
The new Trump cabinet is expected to be worth at least US$7 billion, dwarfing the wealth of his own record-breaking first cabinet, which came in at US$3.2 billion, and leaving the combined US$118 million net worth of Joe Biden’s cabinet looking like pocket change by comparison. And that’s just the cabinet; throw in those tapped to lead new agencies, like Musk at the crypto-named DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), and the calculations soar higher still – well north of US$450 billion.
The Trump administration is giving the capitalist class personal control over the economic powers of the state, which it will use to manipulate interest rates, tariffs, taxes, regulations (and de-regulations), and all the other tools of government, with the aim of enriching themselves at the expense of the workers.
But unlike the typical capitalist state, which intervenes in the economy to stabilise the system on behalf of the entire bourgeoisie, the Trump government has been captured by particular sectors – high tech (which has shifted sharply to the right), crypto and speculative capital, fossil fuels, large segments of finance and banking, parts of the pharma industry, and “small capital,” like mid-level US-based manufacturing and independent businesses.
Others, like defence contractors, always play both sides of the aisle and make money no matter who’s running Washington. That will continue, but in the boardrooms of the arms makers, hopes are surely running high that more wars and international tensions (especially with China) are on the horizon. Politically, the character of the new regime also symbolises the initiation of a descent toward fascism.
The most reactionary and violence-prone of capitalists are moving to occupy the seats of power, with Trump’s MAGA mass movement providing a support base that – when combined with the financial power of the monopolies and the philosophical influence of the free-market ideologues and Evangelical fanatics – provides the means for splitting the working class and weakening bourgeois democracy, limited as it may be.
The months leading up to the inauguration and the days since have been nothing short of an orgy of greed – a celebration of corruption, exploitation, and unbridled power.
Executive orders gift-wrapped for the oil and pharmaceutical companies, among others, were delivered on a silver platter by the White House occupant on day one.
Miriam Adelson and other big donors who back Israel’s war received a wink and a smile, with strong signals that, despite bragging about winning the Gaza ceasefire, the new government will support the eventual annexation of the West Bank and the opening of Gaza to settlement and sell-off.
Tax cuts for the wealthy, wage-crushing layoffs, and privatisation of everything from the Post Office to Social Security are dangled as the prizes still to come.
Marx noted that “One capitalist always kills many,” referring to the process of concentration and centralisation of capital inherent to monopolisation. The same saying could also be used to refer to the circular firing squad that we’re likely to see Trump’s regime devolve into if his first administration is any indicator.
Firings, resignations, back-stabbings, factional divisions in Congress – all that and more will destabilise his administration and present opportunities.
So, while the new administration is making a big show of its power and executing a shock-and-awe blitzkrieg-style assault on working people and democracy with a flood of executive orders, Trump’s government is not as invincible as it might seem.
He and his coterie of billionaire politicos will definitely cause some serious damage, but soon enough, it will become obvious to many who voted for him that his policies aren’t delivering a better life for them, their families, or their communities.
The resistance has to be built up – in the streets, in city councils, state legislatures, and in Congress – to frustrate Trump’s schemes and prove that the people can win again.
(Abridged)
* CJ Atkins is the managing editor at People’s World, paper of the CPUSA. He holds a PhD in political science from York University in Toronto and has a research and teaching background in political economy and the politics and ideas of the American left.
