Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair
“If it wasn’t for these [donated] food boxes and help from the community, my parents would not be able to eat,” Jaclyn told the organization ReImagine Appalachia, which has been collecting stories of the hardship the Trump administration is causing in the Appalachian region. She added, “They don’t qualify for anything but $17 in food stamps/snap.” The Trump administration cut funding to the food donation program on which her elderly disabled parents rely.
The billionaire President Donald Trump could use his immense power to help people living in poverty like Jaclyn’s parents – or he could use his power to help billionaires like Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, make money. On March 11, Trump decided to very publicly help Musk make money, turning the White House driveway into a showroom for Musk’s Tesla car company. Trump said he would purchase a Tesla at the press event. In normal times, this event would be considered a major government ethics violation. Trump’s billionaire Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, has encouraged people to buy Tesla stock — another government ethics violation. This is only one of several ways the administration is helping Musk make money, and not the only sign that the Trump administration is operating as a government by billionaires, for billionaires.
As of December last year, there were thirteen billionaires chosen to be involved in the running of the Trump administration. Since then, one billionaire has left and at least one other billionaire has been added. There could easily be another billionaire or two that has been missed in the count. This is the wealthiest administration in US history, dwarfing all others in net worth. It is also notable that major American billionaires who are not in the administration — Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook, Meta) and Sundar Pichai (Google, Alphabet) — as well as global billionaires, were in attendance at President Trump’s inauguration.
Another sign that this administration is a government by billionaires, for billionaires is its tax policy. Trump is pushing to extend his 2017 tax law, which was heavily skewed in favor of the richest Americans. If the law is extended, the richest 0.1 percent of taxpayers would receive an average benefit worth over $300,000. Billionaires would pay less in taxes.
The Trump administration is also accommodating billionaires who cheat on their taxes. By cutting staffing for the IRS, the administration is making it more likely thatrich tax cheats don’t have to pay their taxes. For several years, the IRS has beenunderfunded. The Biden administration worked to increase funding for the IRS in the face of Republican opposition. Just one year into this increase, the agency was able to collect $520 million unpaid taxes from the wealthiest Americans. With more specialists focused on the wealthiest individuals and corporations, the IRS could collect billions more in unpaid tax revenue. A Navy veteran who was recently fired from the IRS stated, “By firing us, you’re going to cut down on how much revenue the country brings in.” He observed, “This was not about saving money.” The Republican attacks on the IRS cost the government money, but they allow more of the rich to avoid paying taxes.
The Trump administration is also blocking and ending the regulation and oversight of large corporations. This means that corporations can pay less attention to the health, safety, and well-being of the public as they pursue increased profits. For example, the Trump administration has dropped a lawsuit against a petrochemical giant over a plant located in Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley.” The Biden administration brought the suit to curb the plant’s emission of a pollutant that is likely a carcinogen. Measurements of the pollutant near the plant have been frequently found to be many times the allowed threshold. Rather than let the courts decide the issue, the Trump administration dropped the suit and has indicated that it isnot interested in “environmental justice,” which it labels “DEI.” This is no doubt comforting news for corporate polluters.
When one looks past the populist theater show of the Trump administration, one can see that the administration’s priority is to help make rich people richer.
This first appeared on CEPR.
