January 20, 2025. The start of a “new Golden Age of America,” attended by billionaires with a collective net worth of over 1.35 trillion alongside hardline MAGA Republicans Marjorie Taylor Greene and Hulk Hogan. This is a polar contrast to Donald Trump’s first inauguration, wherein a promise was made to end “American Carnage” and the most notable guests included family members and former presidents (back then, Big Tech used to vote Democrat). This illustrates a new, troubling direction for America: one where, unlike the last Trump presidency, is focused on restructuring and rebuilding, as opposed to repairing. All under the watchful eyes of Elon Musk, a Senior Trump Advisor (who also commands Trump) and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), on track to be the world’s first trillionaire.
How Did We Get Here?
This growing embrace of the plutocracy signals trouble ahead for America’s future, one where the working people suffer due to lack of basic government aid and an unchecked executive branch. Ever since the overturning of Citizens United v. FEC (a Supreme Court ruling that allowed corporations to spend unchecked amounts of money on independent campaign broadcasting), money, not people, buys power.
Furthermore, the plutocrats don’t just want the power with the end game to repair the country; their ultimate desire is the ability to reconstruct it. Musk, Zuckerberg, Bezos: all three have had a conflicted history with Donald Trump. Bezos blamed Trump for the dissolution of a multi-billion dollar contract with the Pentagon, and Trump threatened to imprison Zuckerberg for banning him from social media platforms such as Instagram. Now, both have donated millions to Trump’s Administration, removed fact checkers, and smile triumphantly beside Donald Trump, surveying the inaugural proceedings. Meanwhile, Musk was also critical of Trump in 2016, though he began to be a vocal supporter of Trump due to his far-right views and business interests. Furthermore, Trump himself is a billionaire with a net worth of around 6.11 billion. Effectively, Trump is now beholden to these plutocrats, rewarding them with opportunities and favors for their much-valued contributions. The result? The people, not the billionaires, suffer from extravagant tax breaks, massive amounts of misinformation and disinformation, and vital cuts in government programming.
Reaction from Hardline MAGA
Steve Bannon, former Trump campaign strategist and hardline MAGA influencer on his show “The War Room,” was quite vitriolic in expressing his contempt for Musk, calling him “parasitic” and “evil” and accusing him of “play-acting as God” to impose his “freak experiments” on America with pure disregard for the country’s values and traditions. Bannon then went on to criticize Musk’s sweeping restructuring of the bureaucracy (calling it “blunt force trauma” to the state) and the conflict of interest he has with his multi-billion dollar Pentagon contracts. Of course, Musk doesn’t care for the ethical implications of his presence in the White House, as long as it gives him even more power and influence than before (which correlates with the drowning out of the needs, power, and voice of the public). Likewise, far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer called Musk a “stage 5 clinger” and raised concerns about Big Tech’s increasing influence on the U.S. government, shortly before having her X account suspended in a counter from Elon.
In addition to the ideological differences between hardline MAGA and the plutocrats, there are political differences as well, as seen by the debate over H1-B visas. H-1B visas are given out to “skilled” foreign workers who work for cheaper than domestic workers. Musk was a vocal supporter of the program, citing how his companies SpaceX and Tesla were built primarily due to the skills and usage of these workers. Trump also favors expanding the visa program, which differs from his 2016 criticism of foreign immigrants “replacing” American jobs. However, this new form of policy was extremely unpopular with the right, who are anti-immigration and would prefer giving these jobs to Americans. This all goes to show how Trump, instead of keeping in line with his party’s political agenda and views, would much rather kneel down to the demands of Musk and America’s new plutocrats.
Reaction From Congressional MAGA Republicans
Congressional Republicans, conversely, do support Musk’s proximity to Trump and his efforts to restructure the bureaucracy. For example, Marjorie Taylor Greene, congressional representative from Georgia and head of the DOGE subcommittee, supports investigation into “billions of dollars” of federal waste going to “dead people” and “criminal rings” (to be clear, this is an unsubstantiated assertion). Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House, also praised Musk’s ability to make sweeping cuts to the bureaucracy unable to be enacted by Congress. It is unknown whether these Republicans truly embrace Musk’s presence in the White House or whether they speak in fear of retaliation by Musk and his billions in future primaries (again, they should consider keeping their constituents happy). There are a couple of Republicans in the minority who have raised concerns about the specifics of the funding cuts and the lack of “compassion” during federal lay-offs (though it is important to note that much of this criticism came after disastrous town hall events).
Increasing Resolution
The presence of this current plutocracy in America is surprising, considering the demographic constituting the Trump coalition: primarily rural voters, White, Black, and Hispanic voters, and voters without a college degree hoping for an improved economy and inspired by Trump’s populism approach. Furthermore, a majority of these voters lack trust in the government due to fears of 2020 election fraud and perceived suffering and inflation during the Biden presidency. And, Hispanic and Black voters have faced systematic disenfranchisement from the American government, which has decreased their overall levels of political engagement. However, Musk’s DOGE cuts and looming fears of tariffs have caused increases in inflation and the DOW to decline more than 900 points. While Musk and Zuckerberg are insulated from this with their billions, middle-class, hard-working Americans will bear the brunt of this economic hardship. While Trump has successfully built a cult of personality around himself, the same cannot be said for Musk, as a poll indicated more than half of Americans have an unfavorable view towards the installed Senior Adviser (and yet he is still allowed to make decisions which bring much misery and suffering to the people).
While the hardliners are opposed to Musk, and congressional Republicans are in support of him, an increasing number of Trump voters are beginning to praise Elon’s “acumen” and “authenticity,” as sales of his gothic “Dark Maga” merchandise total around 1.5 million. Furthermore, many of the speakers at CPAC called Musk a “hero of free speech” and supported the DOGE effort. Musk’s popularity has also soared internationally, seen by his support for far-right parties across 6 different continents.
A Troubling Future
The main priority of the elite is to increase their overall influence and control. This comes at the expense of you (the reader) and the greater American public. It’s important to place more restrictions and laws on campaign spending, and the power of the bureaucracy and outsiders influencing the actions of the executive.
Featured Image Source: Forbes
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