QOTD: an anonymous elite
What has changed is simple: people are scared of crossing Trump this time. In researching this piece, I interviewed dozens of figures, including lawmakers, private sector executives, retired senior military figures and intelligence chiefs, current and former Trump officials, Washington lawyers and foreign government officials. Such is the fear of jail, bankruptcy or professional reprisal, that most of these people insisted on anonymity. This was in spite of the fact that many of the same people also wanted to emphasise that Trump would only be restrained by powerful voices opposing him publicly. At times, it has felt like trying to report on politics in Turkey or Hungary.
I think that says it all about elites, don’t you agree?
That is from an article by Edward Luce in the Financial Times that’s gotten wide circulation. It’s basically an overview of where we are at this point in the second Trump term with interviews and analysis from people within Trump world and outside of it. Let’s just say that it’s not good.
I thought this was especially good. As you can tell by that excerpt above, the elites come in for a major drubbing in this piece and for good reason. They have turned out to be the lowest of cowards in most cases, refusing to speak out for fear of … well, everything. However:
In contrast to chief executives, America’s billionaires are not shy about speaking their mind. But their pronouncements are mostly in praise of the president. Days after Trump first took office in 2017, Google co-founder Sergey Brin joined a protest against his immigration policies, which threatened America’s “fundamental values”. This January, Brin was a guest at Trump’s inauguration, among several of the world’s richest men, including Elon Musk, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, LVMH’s Bernard Arnault and Reliance Industries’ Mukesh Ambani. Apple’s Tim Cook was also there. Their support has paid off.
The second term has also worked out nicely for the Trump family business. Though Trump once dismissed bitcoin as a “scam”, he had a road-to-Damascus conversion during the campaign. Days before his inauguration, he launched a memecoin called $TRUMP. The first lady, Melania, launched her own. Trump and his family’s participation in the crypto boom has netted more than $1bn in pre-tax profits over the past year, according to a Financial Times investigation.
Trump’s love affair with crypto is also at the heart of his foreign policy. Governments that want to seduce Trump have the perfect vehicle, World Liberty Financial, a token and stablecoin company set up by Trump’s sons Don Jr and Eric, and the sons of Trump’s chief foreign policy envoy, Stephen Witkoff. Earlier this year, the Abu Dhabi fund MGX bought $2bn of a WLF stablecoin, dubbed USD1, to invest in Binance. Pakistan’s military-backed government has gained an advantage over rival India after offering crypto investments to Trump’s family.
Trump sees no distinction between public and private. States governed by ruling families thus find it easiest to do business with him. This leaves America’s democratic allies stuck in a perpetual antechamber. “Even if we wanted to invest in Trump’s crypto schemes, we would legally be unable to do so,” said the foreign minister of a significant Nato ally.
A Baltic foreign minister admitted to visiting the US seven times this year. Ordinarily, there might have been two trips across the Atlantic, they said. Such concern is most acute at the Russian border on the fringes of the west’s fraying empire. “Would Trump honour Nato’s Article V pledge?” asked the Baltic foreign minister, referring to the commitment that an attack on one member is treated as an attack on all. “We don’t know.” Qatar, meanwhile, has donated a $400mn luxury jet to Trump. A Trump-branded luxury hotel and golf course is being built outside Doha. Earlier this month, Trump signed a Nato-style mutual defence treaty with the Gulf state.
What that shows is just how difficult it is for democrats (small d) to fight him, whether at home or abroad. We operate under a set of laws and rules that preclude thr sort of outright corruption that the autocrats embrace. Think about this one:
A little-known drone company backed by Donald Trump Jr has won its largest contract from the Pentagon, as the US government expands its procurement of the drones.
Florida-based Unusual Machines, in which Trump Jr has held a $4mn stake, said the US army had contracted it to manufacture 3,500 drone motors, alongside various other drone parts.
The company added the army indicated it planned to order an additional 20,000 components from Unusual Machines next year.
Allan Evans, the company’s chief executive, said he believed it was the largest order for Unusual Machines parts from the US government to date, but declined to disclose the value of the contract.
Chief Warrant Officer 4 John Brown of the 101st Airborne Division said of the acquisition: “The ability to train like we fight, using drones that are reliable . . . gives our soldiers the confidence they need for real-world scenarios.”
Shares in Unusual Machines jumped as much as 13 per cent on Friday.
Kicker:
Unusual Machines brought Trump Jr on as an adviser in November 2024. The Financial Times earlier this year found shares in the company almost tripled in price in the weeks leading up to its disclosure of the move.
Hunter Biden was persecuted for being on a board a decade ago that had zero business with the United States government and wasn’t allowed to sell his paintings because it represented the appearance of conflict of interest.
The corruption story goes part and parcel with the authoritarian story. And it isn’t getting the attention it deserves.