Elon Musk on Donald Trump's campaign trail.Image: trapezoid
The makeup of the Trump administration shows the growing influence of Silicon Valley billionaires.
In September 1944, 35,000 Allied paratroopers attempted to capture a strategically important bridge near Arnhem, Netherlands. Although the Germans had been more or less defeated, the operation failed due to the arrogance of the Allied generals. Richard Attenborough captured this failure in an epic film and made the phrase “a bridge too far” a household phrase.
Nominating Matt Gaetz as attorney general in the euphoria of victory is a “bridge too far” for Donald Trump. There was so much resistance in the Senate that Gaetz had to concede defeat a few days later. But this setback should not obscure the fact that the re-elected president, like the Allies in the fall of 1944, is marching in triumph. Techno-libertarians from Silicon Valley especially benefit from this.
With all the votes finally being counted, it's clear that Trump's victory was not as overwhelming as initially claimed. He received less than half of the total votes cast, and Republicans hold a slim majority in Congress.
The Confidant: Vivek Ramaswamy.Image: trapezoid
Still, Trump believes he has a mandate for a conservative revolution. That’s why he elevated Elon Musk to shadow president and tasked him with cleaning up the U.S. government, the “deep state,” along with biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. For this purpose, a special department called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was established.
Not only did Musk and Ramaswamy happily agree, they outlined their plans in the Wall Street Journal : “On November 5, voters decisively elected Donald Trump and gave him A mandate for sweeping change, they deserve exactly that,” the pair said in joint guest comments.
Musk/Ramaswamy’s goals are not modest. They want to reduce the burden on the state budget by hundreds of billions of dollars as quickly as possible. That's why they want to fire hundreds of thousands of government employees, eliminate hundreds of government offices and repeal thousands of laws. As far as the Constitution was concerned, they felt they were on secure footing. That's why they confidently declare:
“With a decisive voter mandate and a 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court, DOGE has a historic opportunity to structurally shrink government. We are ready for a strong pushback from Washington. We expect to win. Now is the time to take decisive action It’s time. Our ultimate goal is to be able to lift DOGE by July 4, 2026, the expiration date we have set for the project.”
Elon Musk is the most visible in the Trump environment, but he is by no means the only tech billionaire. In addition to now-famous financier Peter Thiel and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, others also have high hopes. These include Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, hedge fund manager Bill Ackman and former Uber boss Travis Kalanick. They combine not only great wealth but also a liberal worldview.
Technoliberals are already basking in their victory. For example, Anderson recently said on a podcast that Trump's success feels like “a shoe dropped off my neck.” Every day I can breathe more freely and wake up happier than the day before. “
Jonathan Taplin laid out the ideas of techno-libertarians in his 2023 book The End of Reality. The Financial Times quoted him as saying:
“I believe the tech oligarchs have taken control. After all, they built computer clouds and artificial intelligence infrastructure for the country, underwater cables for digital commerce and communications, drones for the military, and satellite technology now Becoming critical. Defense and, more recently (thanks to cryptocurrencies), the international financial system, which may be at the root of the next financial crisis.”
Technoliberals have also revived the idea of “charter cities.” This refers to cities in developing countries that are funded by billionaires but inhabited only by those who have given up their civil rights and surrendered to technocrats. Honduras already has such a chartered city. It's called Prospera and is funded by Andreessen, Thiel and Sam Altman. The city's goals are described as: “We are building the future of human government: privately managed, profit-driven.”
What else can stop techno-libertarians? Here are some glimmers of hope:
- They can also experience “a bridge too far” moment. As mentioned, Trump won the election by a narrow margin. The resulting mandate for liberal revolution is a very strident argument that is likely to fail due to popular resistance.
- The government is not a private company. Therefore, trying to restore it the Twitter way is impossible. (Beyond that, Musk didn't clean up Twitter, but probably broke it.) Just two examples: There are approximately 19,000 border guards in the United States. It’s hardly in Trump’s interest to chop the ax there. Anyone who wants to fire half of the approximately 1,800 air traffic controllers is questioning the safety of air traffic, and anyone who wants to make deep cuts to Medicaid and Medicare is violating a key promise Trump made during the campaign .
- Economic and trade policies could trigger a further spike in inflation, undermining the Trump administration's legitimacy.
- Trump’s new cabinet is a mixed bag, and fierce turf wars are foreseeable.
- The likelihood of a breakdown in the bromance between Trump and Musk is high. A fight between two megalomaniacs could also shatter liberal dreams.
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