OPINION: Big tech forms an oligarchy at the top
Photo via: Saul Loeb/Pool/Reuters
Alaina Sayre, a Freshman studying Journalism, argues that the billionaires creating the Cabinet of President Donald Trump are indicative of the agenda he has for his second term.
“Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.” These words from former President Joe Biden sent a chill down the spines of the American citizens willing to listen.
President Donald Trump’s cabinet represents the top 0.0001% of America’s wealth, with a collective net worth of roughly $460 billion. Even if you removed Trump’s right-hand man, Elon Musk, whose net worth falls at roughly $430 billion, the collective net worth would still far exceed any previous cabinet.
It is abundantly clear that President Trump does not actually care about the working class, even if he built his entire campaign on it. His baseless, vague promises to lower grocery prices were thrown out the window as soon as he entered office. In fact, he signed an executive order reversing Biden’s efforts to lower prescription drug costs.
Even outside of his cabinet, his close and personal relationships with other multibillionaires are extremely telling of his true priorities. Therefore, here is the star-studded cast of President Trump’s big tech oligarchy.
Elon Musk:
Although Trump chose JD Vance as his Vice President, it seems Musk is serving as his real right-hand man. Musk has even given himself the title of “first buddy” to the President. However, the history behind their relationship is much longer than most people know.
He originally sat on the presidential advisory board during Trump’s first term, but abruptly left after the two had a disagreement. Musk posted on his X (known as Twitter at the time) account, “Am departing presidential councils. Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world.”
Five years later, Trump mended their relationship by referring to him as one of the world’s “great geniuses,” and then referred to him as “another bullshit artist” just six months later. However, things seemed permanently repaired after Musk restored Trump’s X page as soon as he acquired the site.
In 2023, the Tesla CEO started publicly siding with Trump on issues like immigration and border control. It took until June of this year, after Trump’s attempted assassination that Musk decided to donate $45 million monthly to America PAC, a super-Trump group.
Additionally, in December, the team worked and succeeded in suspending a bipartisan funding bill until appropriate amendments were made.
Although their relationship has been rocky, it appears Musk is fully hypnotized by Trump, and there is no reason to believe he is going away anytime soon.
Mark Zuckerberg:
In Trump’s newest book, Saving America, he accuses Zuckerberg of plotting against him in the 2020 election. In the book, Trump states, “We are watching him closely, and if he does anything illegal this time he will spend the rest of his life in prison — as will others who cheat in the 2024 Presidential Election.”
Although Trump’s opinion of the Meta CEO seems bleak in this book, that didn’t stop them from dining together the night before Thanksgiving in Mar-a-Lago. Additionally, Zuckerberg donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund in December.
After Trump’s inauguration, Facebook and Instagram users complained that the app automatically forced users to follow the @POTUS, @VP and @FLOTUS accounts. Meta denies these claims, but many users claim they have had to unfollow the accounts multiple times.
Additionally, Meta has changed many of their policies in a way that appears to be aimed at appeasing Trump. First, Meta rolled back their third-party fact-checking program in an effort to “restore free expression.” Then, Meta informed employees that they will end internal programs that were designed to increase the company's hiring of diverse candidates. This occurred shortly before Trump signed the executive order to eliminate DEI programs.
Zuckerberg has shown his loyalty to Trump in ways that are already harming users and employees of Meta-based companies, and unfortunately, he has shown no signs of slowing down.
Jeff Bezos:
Trump and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos have also had a long and tumultuous relationship. Bezos used to be the target of some of Trump’s rampant Twitter rants. Trump often critiqued the way Amazon was run and the damage it did to retailers. One tweet says, “Amazon is doing great damage to tax-paying retailers. Towns, cities and states throughout the U.S. are being hurt - many jobs being lost!”
Bezos bought the Washington Post in 2014, and, for the first time ever, did not endorse a candidate for the 2024 election.
After the assassination attempt on Trump, Bezos broke a nearly 9-month hiatus on X to commend Trump’s “tremendous grace and courage.”
Following Trump’s presidential victory, he revealed that Zuckerberg, Musk and Bezos had all made plans to go to Mar-a-Lago to discuss plans for his term. Additionally, Amazon made a $1 million donation to Trump’s inaugural fund immediately following Meta’s donation.
Shou Zi Chew
The ban of TikTok took the US by storm—for about 12 hours. Just before the ban, users got a notice that the services would soon be unavailable, and TikTok would work with President Trump to get it up and running again. Prior to his inauguration, Trump assured the CEO of TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, that there would be no consequences to tech firms that got a head start on restarting their services. Just like that, TikTok was up and running.
Since then, Chew took his seat as Trump’s latest big tech ally. He credits Trump for reviving the app, ignoring the fact that he was the first to propose a TikTok ban. In a 2020 executive order, Trump said, “I, Donald J. Trump, President of the United States of America, find that additional steps must be taken to deal with the national emergency,” Trump continued, “At this time, action must be taken to address the threat posed by one mobile application in particular, TikTok.”
Trump changed his mind about TikTok after the 2024 election, because he credits the app with some of his success. “I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok because I won youth by 34 points,” Trump said, even though that is not true.
Regardless, Chew praised the president for stopping the ban of TikTok and attended his inauguration the following day.
Trump’s band of billionaires will continue prioritizing their bank accounts over the working class of America. Trump won this election by advocating for the working class, but it is abundantly clear he has no intention to actually help them.
Please note that these views and opinions do not reflect those of The New Political.