Dreams of an Imperial Presidency
Today marks day 100 of the Trump authoritarian project. On day one, flanked by many of the world’s wealthiest people, Mr. Trump took the oath of office in the Capitol rotunda with manifest dreams of an imperial presidency.
Every day since then, the Trump administration has focused squarely on implementing a governing vision which prioritizes the corporate interests of the wealthy individuals who stood beside him in the rotunda. Consumer protections and corporate accountability have been tossed to the wayside while the Trump favor machine takes center stage.
Worryingly, the corruption is only the tip of the iceberg, especially when placed alongside the administration’s active trampling on everyday people’s freedoms and rights—and the devastating impact this vision will have on our food, air, health, travel, and pocketbooks.
One word neatly summarizes our current predicament: oligarchy. Merriam-Webster definition 1: government by the few; Merriam-Webster definition 2: a government in which a small group exercises control especially for corrupt and selfish purposes.
Indeed, our current lurch into oligarchic terrain is no coincidence. It’s the natural consequence of a society that deems the attainment of billionaire status as the apogee of American achievement. A society that views wealth as synonymous with wisdom, where the media regularly fetes the entrepreneurial genius of our billionaire class.
It follows that those who crave such wealth and status, who see profit maximization as their north star, recognize the federal government’s ability to play either a facilitative or obstructive role. The loci of corporate power in our society—Wall Street, Big Tech, Big Pharma, Big Oil, etc—have long identified the capture of the federal government’s bureaucracy and processes as critical to advancing their interests, usually at the public’s expense.
That’s why no administration has ever been free of the corrupting influence of corporations. But in Trump, business titans have found a presidency fully bought into the idea that the executive branch is a tool for corporate empowerment.
This past century of days, we have witnessed an administration wholly committed to executing this warped idea of governing. So let’s unpack a couple of ways that Donald Trump & Associates have promoted the corporate takeover of government.
DOGE vs. The Public
DOGE is the clearest illustration of this corporate takeover. It is unmistakably the logical end of the Washington Consensus, which extols the efficiency of private industry. (In due time, we will contend with the slate of neoliberal figures who viewed DOGE as an instrument to enact their management consultant vision for government.)
The brainchild of the world’s wealthiest man, the purported cost-cutting initiative was set up as a reward to Elon Musk for supporting Trump’s presidential campaign with over $260 million and a deluge of algorithmically supercharged conservative talking points on his social platform, “X.” Playing a quasi prime ministerial role, the unelected Musk has brought the supposed efficiencies of private-sector management to bear on the federal bureaucracy, despite the ends of the federal government being distinctly different from corporations’ pursuit of profit.
Here’s a quick survey of the damage our chief oligarch has caused so far:
- Hollowed out the federal government’s workforce through mass firings, buyout offers and more; over 250,000 experienced workers will leave their jobs as a result
- Infiltrated multiple agencies and departments to illegally access privileged government data and alter government operations
- Eliminated consumer protections by targeting staff at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau who have diligently protected the public from corporate wrongdoers
- Endangered air travel with cuts and public harassment of staff at the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board
- Laid off Internal Revenue Service staff, undermining the agency’s ability to properly audit billionaires and corporations and surely costing the government far more lost revenue than DOGE will ever save
- Hammered away at critical benefits and services for veterans, including healthcare, education, and housing support
- Weakened the Social Security Administration and consequently limited beneficiaries’ access to crucial government programs and services
- Attacked weather and climate science, threatening crop yields, stable fish populations and our safety in the event of extreme weather like heat waves, hurricanes, blizzards, tsunamis, tornadoes, and floods
- Fired scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency, National Science Foundation, National Institutes Health, and shutting down the “spigot for medical research”
- Jeopardized the safety of the food system with plans to cut staff and end programs responsible for inspections
For more on what DOGE has wrought, check out our DOGEWATCH, which is designed to make it easy for activists and press alike to track the indications and consequences of Musk and Trump’s corruption.
Tag Teaming with Crypto
The crypto industry is another obvious beneficiary of the corporate takeover of our government. The industry’s thirst for clout in Washington has been recently quenched by the Trump administration’s eagerness to handsomely repay its corporate benefactors. Just like Musk, crypto bet on Trump’s penchant for corruption.
Taken together, the industry donated over $13 million to Trump’s inaugural fund. And in the short time since his inauguration, the Trump team has taken the role of industry cheerleader, terminating offices responsible for crypto crimes enforcement. Considering the significant role crypto plays in the facilitation of ransomware, fentanyl trafficking and terrorism, it’s a maddening approach.
Here is a quick snapshot of the administration’s pro-crypto actions thus far:
- Nominating industry booster Paul Atkins as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission
- Announcing the creation of a crypto strategic reserve, which would likely amount to a public funded inflation of cryptocurrency asset prices
- Dissolving the crypto unit in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement
- Dismissing legitimate cases of securities law violations by multiple crypto companies, including Ripple, Robinhood, Coinbase, Consensys and Kraken
- Disbanding the Department of Justice unit responsible for investigating crypto crimes as well as the national cryptocurrency enforcement team
- Launching the Trump memecoin, a nakedly unethical move that simultaneously boosts his wealth while providing a new pathway for individuals to buy influence
100 days down, 1,361 to go
Judging by the standard set in the first hundred days, the remaining 1,361 days of Trump 2.0 will be replete with examples of oligarchic rule in Washington. We will certainly be monitoring all those examples of corporate corruption and their material impact on everyday people. In the meantime, it will be absolutely essential for those who view government as the collective action mechanism to protect people’s livelihood, safety and wellbeing to push back against the idea of government as bloated and wasteful. The truth is that we need to expand our governing infrastructure and empower the nonpartisan civil service to ensure the federal government is always able to meet the moment. Now, more than ever, is the best time to warm the American people to this message.
Follow the Revolving Door Project’s work on whatever platform works for you! You can find us on that website formerly known as Twitter, Bluesky, Instagram, and Facebook.
Want more? Check out some of the pieces that we have published or contributed research or thoughts to in the last week:
Billionaires and the Trump Admin: Omeed Malik
The Henchmen Strategy: What Trump Is Doing To Make The Law His Own
Week 14: The All-American Meme Coin Oligarchy Wants To Extract Oil and Gas At National Monuments
Jeff Hauser on DOGE, Karen Thompson on ‘Fetal Personhood’
Elizabeth Warren presses Bessent for answers after his remarks at private Wall Street event
Treasury chief Bessent’s briefing to private bank event draws scrutiny
PHOTO: This official White House image is in the public domain.