The Trump administration, which came to power with populist slogans and promises of supporting the working class, gradually distanced itself from these commitments and adopted policies favoring the wealthy and major capitalists. His tax policies and cabinet composition indicate a shift from supporting lower-income classes to favoring economic elites.
During the 2016 elections, Donald Trump attracted a broad base of white, middle-class, and working-class American voters with populist promises and pledges to support workers and farmers. Slogans such as “Make America Great Again” and “I will be the president of forgotten people” appealed to many who felt marginalized by the U.S. economic and political system. However, Trump’s second administration has clearly demonstrated that he has deviated from his initial promises and has become a politician serving the interests of capitalists and billionaires. This shift in policy and cabinet composition has moved away from supporting workers and farmers toward benefiting the wealthy, large corporations, and a conservative economic system.
During his campaign, Trump promised to create more job opportunities for workers and force American companies to bring production back to the U.S. He defended policies such as imposing heavy tariffs on imported goods and withdrawing from international trade agreements. However, economic realities reveal that these promises have not only failed to benefit workers but, in some cases, have increased economic pressure on low-income groups, with the primary beneficiaries of his economic policies being the rich and affluent class. According to a report by the Economic Policy Institute, Trump’s 2017 tax policies benefited the wealthiest 1% of society the most, while their advantages for the middle and poor classes were minimal.
One of the clearest signs of Trump’s shift in direction is the composition of his second-term cabinet. While he claimed in both election campaigns that he would represent people harmed by previous administrations’ ties to American capitalists, his cabinet has become more filled with billionaires, Wall Street investors, and corporate executives than any other administration in U.S. history.
According to a Forbes report, the average wealth of Trump’s second-term cabinet members is higher than that of any previous U.S. administration. Howard Lutnick, Secretary of Commerce and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald LP, has an estimated fortune of $2.2 to $4 billion. Linda McMahon, Secretary of Education and a key founder of the World Wrestling Federation, has a net worth of about $3 billion. Scott Bessent, Secretary of the Treasury and an experienced Wall Street investor, was part of George Soros’ team in the 1990s that profited over a billion dollars from the collapse of the British pound. He also served as Soros’ chief investment officer from 2011 to 2015. Elon Musk, founder and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, with a fortune exceeding $240 billion, is one of Trump’s biggest supporters. Alongside other figures such as Steve Wright, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Doug Burgum, these individuals form the current U.S. administration’s $400 billion cabinet.
This cabinet bears an undeniable resemblance to feudal rulers of the Middle Ages. Policies such as tax cuts for mega-corporations, reducing bureaucracy to accelerate income generation for industrial magnates and Wall Street tycoons, pressuring Ukraine to sign agreements granting U.S. companies mining rights for precious metals, and the American seizure and control of the Gaza Strip for construction projects managed by U.S. holdings (possibly the Trump Organization) all stem from a singular ideological foundation—more wealth and profit for super-billionaires living in New York and Chicago penthouses.
According to Euronews, the fortunes of the world’s ten richest individuals, most of whom are U.S. tech billionaires, increased to unprecedented levels following Trump’s election victory. Bloomberg estimated that on Wednesday, November 6, these top ten billionaires collectively gained nearly $64 billion (about £49.5 billion), marking the largest single-day increase since 2012.
However, this trend in Trump’s governance manifesto is not exclusive to his second term. A closer examination of his first term reveals that policies and decisions consistently aimed to support the elite aristocracy of America. One of his most significant actions was passing the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), which reduced corporate tax rates from 35% to 21%. According to the Tax Policy Center, this tax cut significantly boosted corporate earnings, while the benefits for workers remained marginal.
Furthermore, Trump’s deregulation policies allowed large corporations to pursue higher profits with fewer legal constraints. Reducing environmental regulations for oil and mining companies to facilitate more extraction, loosening financial restrictions imposed on banks and Wall Street firms following the 2008 crisis to increase their operational freedom, and changes to the healthcare system that led to reduced insurance support for workers and the lower classes are all examples of his administration’s decisions. These policies resulted in greater freedom for the wealthy while increasing economic strain on the middle and lower-income groups.
These choices starkly contrast with Trump’s populist rhetoric. Throughout his campaigns, he frequently spoke about the economic struggles of the people and promised to eliminate corrupt elites and billionaires from power. Yet, he has assembled an administration filled with ultra-wealthy individuals, many of whom are directly part of the economic elite. David Kass, executive director of the “Fair Taxes for Americans” association, described Trump’s cabinet as “a government of billionaires for billionaires.” He stated that tax cuts for the wealthy come at the cost of reduced public services for lower-income classes.
Although Trump has successfully attracted the support of the working and middle classes by emphasizing faith, family, and patriotism, these slogans should be examined within the broader ideological framework behind his campaign. That framework is capitalism and the pursuit of profit at any cost, which underpins the Western system.
In the 1970s, Ralph Miliband, in his book “The State in Capitalist Society,” emphasized that most government elites come from the privileged and owning classes. Therefore, the government’s orientation toward supporting capitalism results from the overlapping social backgrounds of government officials on the one hand and bankers, industry leaders, and corporate executives on the other. In other words, both groups represent the capitalist class.
In short, the role of the government in a capitalist system is to serve the long-term interests of capitalism—even if some segments of the capitalist class resist certain policies.
