Donald Trump’s view on billionaires seems to be ‘the more the merrier’, with his potential administration shaping up to be the wealthiest in history. To put this into perspective, the combined wealth of all his administrative picks is higher than the GDP of 169 countries.
And it wouldn’t be a billionaire lineup without Elon Musk – CEO of Tesla, owner of X, and the richest man on earth. According to Forbes ‘Real-Time Billionaires List,’ his net worth is $454 billion at the time of publication – over double that of Mark Zuckerberg’s. Recently, Musk funded Trump’s presidential campaign to the tune of over half a billion dollars and is tapped to lead Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency, which will aim to cut federal spending and decrease the size of the federal fiscal deficit through reducing regulations. Joining Musk in this endeavour is fellow billionaire and former presidential candidate, Vivek Ramaswamy, who forged his wealth working for a hedge fund before founding a pharmaceutical research company.
To give you an idea of just how many billionaires are set to be in the administration, let’s go on a billionaire whistle-stop tour! Ready? Stephen Feinberg for deputy defence secretary, Howard Lutnick for commerce secretary, Linda McMahon for education secretary, Doug Burgum for interior secretary, Jaren Isaacman for NASA chief, Warren Stephens for ambassador to the UK, Charles Kushner for ambassador to France, and Kelly Loeffler for small business administration chief. Along with Marc Andreessen, Bill Ackman, and Travis Kalanick touted to support Musk and Ramaswamy’s Department of Government Efficiency.
My main issue with this is that billionaires, despite having undeniable business savviness, do not understand what it is to live as a working-class citizen in 2025. They will not feel the impact of their economic policies as they have a resounding disconnect with the people they are serving. You’ll hear a lot from people donning MAGA hats that “Trump actually cares about the working-class American”, and “cares about the American dream”. He does not. In fact, Trump is reported to have told his friends whilst on a holiday weekend at Mar-a-lago in 2017 that “You all just got a lot richer”, after signing a tax overhaul in their favour. He did not fix the economy, as many like to claim; he actually left the biggest deficit in US history during his first term and more than tripled the national debt. This is not a “businessman who likes to get things done,” as his cronies like to paint him. This is a man who has had a multitude of business failures, losing more than a billion dollars in total, forcing him to declare bankruptcy on multiple occasions and rely on daddy’s money to get him out.
Aside from the billionaires, Trump’s administration picks are composed of individuals who are simply not nice people. Trump originally nominated Matt Gaez for attorney general; however, Gaez hastily withdrew from consideration after allegations broke that he paid for sex with underage girls. There were also conversations over whether Trump would withdraw his pick of Pete Hegseth after the former Fox News host was met with sexual assault allegations. Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence, has a known history of spreading conspiracy theories about Ukraine and had no issue ‘kiki-ing’ with a Syrian president accused of war crimes. And of course, the man himself, Donald Trump, has been accused of sexual misconduct by no less than 26 women since the 1970s.
Due to the Republican-controlled nature of the Senate, it is likely that most, if not all, of Trump’s picks will get approved. And what will follow will no doubt be more tax cuts for the elite and pandering to the billionaires of America. Maybe the American Dream truly is dead.
Another article you may enjoy: https://thebadgeronline.com/2024/09/is-brighton-too-left-leaning/
