Sunday, February 8, 2026

Trump's corrupt state capitalism, but I repeat myself, is anti-American, anti-competitive, and advances long-standing Democrat objectives, which is one reason big business is keeping its big yap shut

When the Democrats can't get what they want, a Republican chump comes along who does it for them.

The power of existing businesses will only get stronger thanks to Trump, so mum's the word.

 

The Trump administration’s portfolio of equity stakes in U.S. companies has reached a scale that is unprecedented outside economic crisis or wartime.... 

“It is a invisible barrier to startups and new market entrants,” said Scott Lincicome, an international trade lawyer affiliated with Cato Institute. “Why would you ever want to enter a market that you know your chief competitor is backed by the U.S. government?”...

The Trump administration’s approach is a major ideological departure for the Republican Party, which has traditionally championed free market capitalism and excoriated government intervention. The Democrats have typically been the party of industrial policy and intervention in markets.

Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, for example, introduced an amendment to Biden’s CHIPS Act that would have allowed the government to take stakes in companies that accept federal funding for semiconductor manufacturing. The measure ultimately died in the Senate....

Top executives have voiced virtually no public criticism of the Trump administration taking stakes.... 

Before the U.S. took its stake in Intel, Trump said CEO Lip-Bu Tan was “highly conflicted” and called for his resignation over his ties to Chinese companies. The comments sparked a brief sell-off of Intel shares.... 

               

Trump bought 433.3 million shares of Intel in August 2025 at $20.47, about $3 off its recent lows around $17.66, risking taxpayer money, not his own.

America's bailouts of banks and then businesses in past crises have paved the way for Trump's full-blown state capitalist interventions in the private sector, buying company stocks with the people's money, making loans, and taking direct control

Trump is turning America into China, but all America cares about today is the Super Bowl.

 


 

 

The Trump administration has made unprecedented equity investments and obtained other stakes in at least 10 companies over the past year. ... 

In the past, the U.S. has taken temporary stakes in companies in the context of bailouts, said Peter Harrell, who served as the senior director for international economics under President Joe Biden.

“With these companies, it’s a very different thesis,” Harrell said. “The government is kind of acting as a strategic investor to put capital into these companies so that these companies can achieve both a commercial return but also, at least in theory, some kind [of] national purpose.” ...