Donald Trump's American Oligarchy

When he bounded onstage at the Trump vulgarfest in Madison Square Garden on Sunday night, Elon Musk declared himself to be not just MAGA, but "dark, gothic MAGA."

Believe him.

The sorry spectacle of leading industrialists, newspaper owners, tech executives, Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and others seeking to ensure their good standing with Trump reflects a blend of cowardice and cupidity. Mark Zuckerberg, whom Trump labeled a "true enemy of the people" as recently as March, and called "Zuckerschmuck," demonstrated that there are no hard feelings where money and power are concerned. He let it be known that he was moved by Trump's survival of an assassination attempt, claiming that it stirred his patriotic heart to see a "badass" pump his fist.

Jeff Bezos, whose businesses span the globe and make him about as bulletproof as a figure can be in the face of a would-be autocrat, decided that his interest in government contracts for Blue Origin outweighs his dedication to American democracy.

This is what a second Trump term would bring: fat cats getting theirs. Trump is the most corrupt figure ever to disgrace the White House and has made no secret of his intention to reward friends and punish enemies if he regains power. The would-be oligarchs recognize the new game and are preparing to operate in a world where government impartiality and above-board decision making are relegated to the dustbin of history. The Supreme Court has greased the already slippery skids of Trumpian favor-granting by bestowing unreviewable immunity on presidents for official acts and presumed immunity for all but purely private acts. Put those things together and you have a perfect recipe for massive official corruption.

Consider tariffs. Trump claims to believe that they are the magic elixir for every ill (including subsidizing the costs of child care and obviating the necessity for income taxes) and denies that they will raise prices for American consumers. That's all ludicrous, of course. What he doesn't say is that they are also an engraved invitation to favor-seeking from large companies and other interests. Trump asserts that he has vast discretion to impose tariffs unilaterally, without the consent of Congress, and for once, he's correct. Under the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, the Trade Act of 1974 and other laws, the president can impose sweeping tariffs in the name of national security. This was the rationale Trump relied upon in 2018 to slap tariffs on steel coming from that major national security threat called Canada.

And tariffs are only one of the scores of paths for official corruption. There are government licenses, approval of mergers and acquisitions, leases for oil and gas development, and much more. Trump has already made his family and himself a huge pile through access to power and stands ready to open the floodgates in January.

Earlier this year, Musk said he would not contribute to or support anyone for president. A few months later, he was leaping into the air at Trump rallies. It's a safe bet that he has seen an opportunity. Trump may think he has co-opted Musk, but it's far more likely that Trump is the one being used.

Musk is younger, smarter and far richer than Trump. He controls a business empire that dwarfs not just Trump's holdings, but those of every other capitalist. Starlink now owns nearly two-thirds of all commercial satellites in orbit around Earth and provides Musk the power to grant or withhold internet access to crisis areas of the globe on a whim. The U.S. government begged him not to withdraw access from Ukraine, which uses Starlink as its chief provider of battlefield communication, and for now, Musk has agreed, but as a Pentagon official told the Week, "We are living off his good graces. That sucks."

Boeing can't compete with him. Nor can NASA, which was recently obliged to go hat in hand to Musk to launch a rescue operation for two stranded astronauts on the International Space Station.

Then there's Tesla, which controls 57% of the EV market (and has a huge manufacturing presence in China). And Musk owns X (Twitter), whose global influence persists despite Musk's decision to open it to fascists, antisemites and assorted disinformation peddlers.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Musk has been in frequent contact with Vladimir Putin since 2022. The Journal further reports that Putin has asked Musk to deactivate Starlink over Taiwan as a favor to China, one of Putin's chief allies in the war on Ukraine.

Whom does Musk support -- the United States, Russia, China or whoever is best for business at the moment? It's a measure of how dangerous this moment is that we need to ask. Even if Kamala Harris wins the election, the unprecedented global power of private oligarchs like Musk will be difficult to rein in. If Trump wins, we're entering uncharted territory where private actors with vast wealth and power join with a corrupt president to pursue their own ends and not those of the people of the United States. Welcome to oligarchy, American style.

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Mona Charen is policy editor of The Bulwark and host of the "Beg to Differ" podcast. Her new book, "Hard Right: The GOP's Drift Toward Extremism," is available now.