Trump's promises to the ultra-rich: "A whole other level"
The US presidential election They have the most to gain from the presidential election
Niclas Vent
Updated 20.22 | Published 20.09
Quick version
Donald Trump has received significant funding from billionaires ahead of
the presidential election, with $281 million compared to Kamala
Harris's $66.2 million. Many of the ultra-rich hope for financial and
political favors in return.
Many billionaires see Trump as an instrument to further their business
agenda with promises of deregulation and tax cuts. Elon Musk could
especially benefit from Trump as president, with potential plans for a
new government agency role.
Despite Trump's success with billionaires, some wealthy businessmen are
supporting Kamala Harris, with hopes for justice and stability. There is
no evidence that Harris relationally repays his donors in the same way
that Trump does.
Elon Musk is one of several super-rich businessmen who have chosen to support Trump. Photo: AP
The billionaires have a favorite in the presidential election.
And they expect something in return if he wins.
- They see Trump as their instrument, says Sean Wilentz, historian at Princeton University.
Harris' campaign is taking in more money overall, but if the ultra-rich get to vote with their wallets, the election has a clear winner:
Donald Trump.
According to a review by Forbes, Trump had received four times as much campaign money as Harris from the very richest Americans - $281 million.
There are many who have a lot to gain from a Trump victory.
And they want him to pay back.
- It is on a completely different level. They care less about a photo opportunity and attending a state dinner at the White House. They basically want to get their questions into the White House. They want someone to take their calls, hotel tycoon and former EU ambassador Gordon Sondland told The New Yorker.
Many billionaires have little sympathy for Trump as a person, but recognize that his policies would benefit them.
Sondland herself was fired by Trump after testifying against the president in 2019, but will still vote for Trump again.
Former EU ambassador Gordon Sondland testified against Trump but still intends to vote for him in the presidential election. Photo: AP
Promised a lot
- It is a binary choice. And I want Trump's policies, he says.
Trump has promised a lot that billionaires are interested in: Deregulation, unlimited drilling for oil and gas, and tax breaks for both corporations and individuals.
Trump's style is often described as transactional – when he gives something, he expects something in return.
When he met with oil and gas industry representatives at Mar-a-Lago in april, he said they should raise $1 billion for his campaign because he would end Biden's environmental regulations and allow unlimited oil drilling.
According to Trump, it would be a "deal".
But the coin has two sides. The major contributors are also likely to expect reciprocity for their support.
- Their part of the deal is very different from just having access to the President of the United States. They see Trump as their instrument. This is an investment in taking power, says Sean Wilentz, historian at Princeton University, to The New Yorker.
Billionaire Nelson Pelz. Photo: AP
FACTS
This is how the billionaires benefit from Trump: Two examples
1) Billionaire Nelson Peltz met with Trump one-on-one in the Oval Office in 2017. Peltz described how Amazon, and its owner Jeff Bezos, were responsible for the US Postal Service's financial woes. He claimed, falsely, that Amazon was getting much better prices on its shipments than other companies.
At first, Trump's staff could not understand what interest Peltz had in the matter. Their research indicated that it appeared to stem from his ownership in the grocery company Procter & Gamble. At the time, Amazon was in the process of buying rival grocery chain Whole Foods, which could pose a threat to the Peltz-owned company, The New Yorker said.
“Why does the Postal Service, which loses billions every year, charge Amazon and others so little to deliver their packages, making Amazon richer and the Postal Service dumber and poorer? Should charge a LOT MORE!” Trump wrote on Twitter on December 29, 2017.
2) In March of this year, Trump made a complete U-turn on the Tiktok issue, after for several years behind proposals to forcibly sell the American part of the Chinese giant's business.
A few days before he changed his mind, he had met Jeff Yass, a conservative donor and major shareholder in Tiktok's parent company Bytedance.
Yass had donated 25 million dollars to the "Club for Growth PAC", which supports Trump's campaign.
In addition, he had visibly played a role in enriching Trump personally, writes The New Yorker. Before the social network Truth Social went public, the company had merged with Digital World Acquisition Corp, a company in which Yass's firm was a major shareholder.
Once on the stock market, Truth Social's value increased explosively and Trump's shares are now worth more than three billion dollars.
The person who personally has the most to gain from a Trump victory is probably the ex-president's most high-profile supporter: Elon Musk, the world's richest man.
Both he and Trump have toyed with the idea of making Musk the head of a new agency — the Agency for Government Efficiency – with the goal of cutting $2 trillion from the state's $6.8 trillion budget.
Donald Trump and Elon Musk during a campaign rally. Photo: AP
- This is not a real job, says journalist Susan Glasser, who wrote about Trump's relationship with the billionaires in The New Yorker.
- Trump jokes about appointing him as secretary of cost-cutting, but the proposal they seem to see in front of him is to let him continue as a private businessman, working on the outside, but still having responsibility for a broad, sweeping portfolio for Trump and the White House.
If that happens, enormous conflicts of interest arise.
Several of Musk's companies are deeply involved with the US state already, and have much to gain from a Trump victory.
Tesla is investing heavily in self-driving cars and Musk wants to
produce millions of them, but the law currently prohibits him from
putting more than 2,500 cars without pedals and steering wheels in to traffic every year.
Musk's social platform X could benefit from Trump's return to the
platform, while Musk could use the presidency to target advertisers who
have left X.
Getting the US government to tender with Musk's AI company, xAI, over competitors like OpenAI could be worth billions.
Musk's company SpaceX is dependent on contracts from Nasa and the Pentagon. Photo: AP
Trump is much more dependent than Harris for his campaign on a few ultra-rich people.
According to Bloomberg, Trump has taken in $281 million from 20 billionaires, while Harris has only received a quarter as much from the very richest: $66.2 million from 24 billionaires. This despite the fact that Harris takes in more money overall.
Support for Harris
However, there are many wealthy businessmen who do not want to make "deals" with Donald Trump, but believe they can earn more from Kamala Harris' leadership.
90 business people, including a dozen billionaires, recently endorsed Harris, with the hope that she will "continue fair and predictable policies that support the rule of law, stability and a healthy business climate."
There is no indication that Kamala Harris has the same relationship as Trump to individual contributors, according to Susan Glasser.
- It would be a huge scandal if Harris did something similar to what I wrote about has happened between Trump and his donors, she says.
However, there is no shortage of people who have a lot to gain personally from a Harris victory, even if in her case it is about opportunities for political appointments and positions of power.
Liz Cheney with Kamala Harris during the election campaign.Photo: AP
One of them is Liz Cheney, the former member of the House of Representatives, who was expelled by Republicans in Wyoming after, among other things, voting for the second impeachment against Donald Trump.
In September, Harris took in $378 million, compared to Donald Trump's $160 million.
She entered October with $348 million in the election account, compared to Trump's $283 million.
FACTS
They benefit from Trump or Harris being elected
Trump
Elon Musk
Musk has given $100 million, and plenty of his own time, to Donald Trump's campaign. There is big money in the pot for his company.
- We are talking about billions of dollars every year, says Richard Pierce, law professor at George Washington University to ABC.
- The president has enormous power over government contracts.
John Paulson
The billionaire investor is tipped to become finance minister in Donald Trump's government. In that case,he promises to get through new tax cuts, scrap subsidies for renewable energy and to work with Elon Musk to reduce government spending.
CEO of financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, and one of the leaders of the group preparing for Trump's takeover. Among other things, he has said that anyone who will be given an office by Trump must pass a loyalty test.
Harris
Liz Cheney
Repbulikan, former congressman and Trump critic who is tipped to get a ministerial post in the Harris government.
Adam Kinzinger
Repbulikan, former congressman and Trump critic who is tipped to get a ministerial post in the Harris government.
Pete Buttigieg
Biden's transportation secretary is a good speaker who has often had to deliver the administration's message on television. Tipped to have a heavier role in the Harris government, perhaps as foreign minister.
Susan Collins
Republican senator from Maine, who could get a cabinet post from Kamala Harris - if only because her important senatorial seat would then have to be replaced with a candidate appointed by the Democratic governor.
Inga kommentarer:
Skicka en kommentar