After Donald Trump was elected in 2016, top executives from some of the largest tech companies — including the CEOs of Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Tesla, and Apple — gathered at Trump Tower for a meeting, to determine what the new administration had in store for them. According to the New York Times, the new president-elect told them “I’m here to help you folks do well” — cementing his position as one of the most pro-corporation leaders in contemporary American history.
In 2024, the tides are shifting once again, with Silicon Valley in the center — as many with wealth are now jumping on the Trump train. This includes San Francisco billionaire David Sacks, who once told Bloomberg reporters in 2020 that Trump should be “disqualified from office.” Four years later, Sacks spoke at this year’s Republican National Convention and started a fundraising campaign for Trump. According to Business Insider, other Silicon Valley billionaires — including Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz, and Chamath Palihapitiya — also donated large amounts of money in support of the future president’s campaign.
These billionaires, many of whom own venture capital firms, have a vested interest in Trump’s policies — many of which stand to make them richer. This includes the deregulation of trust, which could allow large-scale corporate collaboration at a scale far larger than under the Biden administration’s stricter antitrust stance.
Another one of Trump’s promised changes is corporate tax cuts, which would undeniably be a boon to the pockets of high-earners in the US — and could even create the possibility for overall economic growth. Despite these positives, according to MIT Sloan professor Yasheng Huang, Trump’s economy is unlikely to increase access to social services — as was already demonstrated in his first term.
“During [Trump’s] first term, he didn’t do anything for infrastructure, and also his party is very hostile toward Obamacare,” Huang said.
Tax cuts will most likely lead to compensatory tariff increases, causing higher consumer prices and worse conditions for people taking out money. For young people with little wealth to their names, having loans at reasonable rates is especially critical — and stand to be hurt the most under an administration where interest rates climb rapidly.
“High-tech entrepreneurs and venture capital investors who supported Trump are sacrificing young people who are going to high school now,” Huang said.
Even if it fills the pockets of the rich, our upcoming administration’s economics will likely have negative effects overall for the average citizen. Although its policies may create the possibility for overall economic growth, growth on a country-wide scale isn’t indicative of whether the quality of life for the average person improves. It’s time for Billionaires to recognize that their donations harm working-class lives across America.
“I hope that some of the high-tech entrepreneurs who supported Trump this year are going to recognize that they made a terrible mistake,” Huang said.
For people with billions of dollars, the Trump administration could create the potential for them to grow their wealth by billions more. But in a country where millions voted for their presidential candidate in fear of rising grocery prices, it’s clear that growing personal wealth shouldn’t be the priority.