John,
This isn’t just Trump’s second presidency. It’s Elon Musk’s first.
The world’s richest man spent at least $277 million dollars backing Donald Trump and other Republican candidates — and he expects to get a good return on his investment.
Early indications are, he will. In the month after Trump was elected, Musk’s personal fortune jumped by over $180 billion dollars
— yes, with a B.
He stands to benefit even more during Trump’s presidency. Just two of Musk’s companies, Tesla and SpaceX, have accounted for nearly $20 billion dollars in government contracts over the past 16 years. Musk’s Starlink satellites have become crucial to the nation’s security, with nearly two-thirds of all active satellites now orbiting the Earth controlled by Musk.
With his own puppet president in the White House, Musk can pull the strings to expand his influence and his wealth even more.
Check out this week’s video to explore who is really pulling the strings of this puppet presidency, beholden to the billionaires. Then share it with your friends so we will all know what we are up against.
Musk isn’t just getting a front row seat to Trump’s presidency — or his own personal office space in the White House (yes, it’s true). As Trump’s appointed head of the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency,” Musk has suggested cutting $2 trillion dollars in spending – which could require cutting Social Security, Medicare, and other programs people rely on. While Musk’s DOGE doesn’t have any direct authority, his grip on Trump has been so strong that Trump allies have called him “co-president.”
Musk has already shown he can use X to weaponize his followers to shape the government according to his whims. He will also likely have a chance to escape accountability for exploiting his workers and breaking laws aimed at protecting the public. He is using DOGE to attack agencies designed to protect us, like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Since the Citizens United ruling on this day in 2010, billionaire political spending has increased more than 300-fold. Elon Musk’s unprecedented spending, and his control over a key communication platform, takes this corruption to a whole new level.
A billionaire shadow president like Musk is the inevitable and tragic consequence of the disastrous Citizens United decision that opened the floodgates for Big Money to dominate our democracy.
By pulling the strings of his puppet, Trump, Musk can line his pockets with taxpayer dollars and gut the federal agencies investigating him. He can both enrich himself and escape any consequences for hurting people along the way.
Thank you for sharing this week’s video with your friends and allies!
As we plan to fight this administration over the next four years, we need to know where the power really lies.
Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action
