Daniel Drache, Professor Emeritus, Department of Politics, York University, Canada, Marc D. Froese, Professor of Political Science and Founding Director, International Studies Program, Burman University
Meta’s announcement that it will abandon fact-checking in the United States — in what appears to be an appeasement to fact-averse Donald Trump — is just the latest illustration of the importance of billionaires in the president-elect’s second term.
Some of the world’s wealthiest business leaders have lined up to support Trump, while his cabinet choices also reflect his penchant for the wealthy.
To an unprecedented degree, Trump has stacked his cabinet with conspicuous loyalists. The fact that most are rich white men isn’t out of step with previous Republican administrations. Titans of finance and captains of industry have always had a seat at the table during Republican presidencies.
But what’s troublesome is that when this cabinet takes the oath of office, they will have pledged their loyalty to a leader first — not the best interests of American citizens.
Article 2 of the U.S. Constitution requires that cabinet members are appointed by the president and approved by the Senate.
Trump has made controversial appointments of people compromised by extremist politics and sexual assault allegations. But it’s expected that the Senate, led by new Majority Leader John Thune, will fall into line and push through most of the appointments.
Read more: A Trump cabinet full of alleged sexual predators? Here's why it makes perfect sense
Dismantling guardrails
It is tempting to view Christian nationalist Pete Hegseth, conspiracy theorist Tulsi Gabbard, and Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, as sycophants and dilettantes, the most recent performers in the Trump circus. But that would be a mistake.
These appointments clearly signal Trump’s plans to complete the dismantling of institutional guardrails at home while also reasserting American supremacy in international affairs, using military force if necessary. Musk, for example, is already active and vocal, and has recently inserted himself in Canadian domestic politics.
As a cabinet for a new gilded age, this collection of plutocrats and populists will be essential to carrying out Trump’s agenda. For authoritarians of all stripes, governing through a tight group of insiders is not in itself extraordinary — particularly for Trump, who governs at the edge of legality and for whom a compliant cabinet is essential.
Read more: How Trump's plan to surround himself with inexperienced loyalists could backfire
In his first term, Trump mistakenly believed he could run the American government like his real estate empire, with a few core employees. But this time, Trump apparently realizes the importance of building out the team, and he has been deeply involved in all appointments across the top levels of his administration.
Eye-popping wealth will gather in the cabinet room of the West Wing. Trump’s cabinet has a combined net worth of about US$340 billion dollars. In comparison, Biden’s cabinet was worth only $118 million.
Martin Wolf, a columnist at the Financial Times, has called this new phenomenon “pluto-populism” in his new book. It is an unholy alliance of the cabinet super-rich who want less regulation and low taxes and the activist blue-collar base who want scapegoats to blame for their growing economic precarity.
19 billionaires
Some of Trump’s picks reflect the tradition of handing big portfolios to business heavyweights, and appointing donors to high-profile diplomatic posts in Europe.
He’s tapped 13 billionaires, a record that speaks not only to his own personal ethos that wealth creates legitimacy, but also to an oligarchic disposition to brandish money as a weapon in the diplomatic arena.
We have few details on the inside working of Trump’s decision-making process. But it’s highly likely all cabinet appointments are personally loyal to Trump himself.
We know this because even the world’s richest man has been pointedly obsequious. Musk poured $250 million into Trump’s re-election bid. In return, Trump has tasked him with overhauling the federal government. This post was bestowed on his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, during his first government overhaul.
In the most sensitive portfolios, Trump has clearly prioritized loyalty over expertise. His choice of Hegseth for defence secretary stands out in this regard. Hegseth, a former Fox News host, faces allegations about his drinking habits and has been accused of sexual assault.
Hegseth moved his family to Tennessee in 2023 to join a church and school organized by Douglas Wilson, a far-right Christian nationalist who preaches about the inevitable end of the separation between church and state.
Hegseth is clearly compromised on many levels. He would be unfit for office in any other administration. Undoubtedly, Trump expects extraordinary gratitude for the undeserved elevation.
Presiding over American decline
The American political elite is now turning to discredited ideas to maintain dominance: tariffs, illegal mass deportations, religious supremacy and military adventurism in Latin America.
Trump has brought together a cabinet that believes American supremacy will be manifested through the political vision of the leader. They were chosen because they agree on the new core tenet of the Republican creed, that liberal internationalism is dead and Trump will finally dispose of the corpse.
Maganomics, which essentially calls for America to ditch every liberal commitment to win a rivalry with China, is the new orthodoxy. Adherents include not only the World Trade Organization, but possibly the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund as well. Scott Bessent, Trump’s Wall Street-approved nominee for treasury secretary, recently said: “We’re in the midst of a great realignment … I’d like to be part of it.”
Trump’s cabinet picks have expertise in geopolitical investment, oil, rockets and financial services technology. But there is no one competent in the management of global governance, including international law and human rights. These formerly essential aspects of American leadership are now barely present.
From isolationism to interventionism
And yet Americans still plan to play an outsized role in the world. The temperamental MAGA movement has swung from isolationism to interventionism, including Trump’s threats to annex Canada by “economic force.”
Trump and his cabinet of America Firsters may end up being as consequential as Theodore Roosevelt, who enlarged American influence in Latin America and dug the Panama Canal.
When cabinet meets some time in the next few weeks, every seat will likely be occupied by longtime MAGA loyalists and those who have publicly undergone a conversion experience. These are the yes-men and sharp-eyed investors who agree on one thing: a cruel and charismatic leader is what America needs most right now.
It feels like a generation ago, but it was only in 2016 that journalists asked if Trump’s first-term cabinet picks would temper his worst impulses. Could they be counted on to be the “adults in the room?”
Such questions seem naive today.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
