Trump’s Corporate Oligarchs: Billionaires Cash In While Working People Pay the Price

Donald Trump is enriching his billionaire donors while working people pay the price. Trump and Republicans in Congress are currently pushing for massive trillion-dollar tax cuts for the ultra wealthy and corporations. How do they plan to fund those giveaways? By gutting vital programs like Medicaid, nutritional assistance, education support, and more. An overwhelming majority of the American public supports these programs and would be opposed to any cuts. That’s because every day, millions of people rely on critical programs like Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security to access health care and support their families. 

Why would elected officials ignore the priorities of hundreds of millions of people in favor of billionaires? Because the U.S. is currently functioning as an oligarchy: a government where a small group of powerful, wealthy people are calling the shots. 

Trump’s “oligarchs” are billionaires who are attempting to control political decisions in order to increase their wealth. Over ten billionaires have secured powerful positions in the Trump administration, leading agencies and making decisions that affect us all. Trump’s cabinet is currently the richest in U.S. history, with a collective net worth of $460 billion. Other billionaire donors are exerting influence over the government while leading large corporations.

The report profiles six of Trump’s most notorious corporate oligarchs with far-reaching influence in the technology, retail, media, fossil fuel, healthcare, and private detention sectors. This includes Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, who has gained unprecedented access and influence over the Trump administration. His businesses already earn billions in government contracts and appear poised to gain more under Trump. Musk’s business empire, including Starlink satellites which fuel banking, military operations, and global transportation, stands to gain tremendously under the Trump administration. 

Fortunately, grassroots organizations and impacted community members across the country are fighting back. They are working to stop Trump’s massive wealth transfer and to defend the programs communities need most. On April 5, an estimated half a million people took to the streets to fight back against Trump and his corporate oligarchs. Demonstrations happened in all 50 states across 1,200 different locations.