Trump Likely to Stiff Workers Who Elected Him
Working-class voters put Donald Trump over the top, thinking he would look out for their interests. How does the administration he's putting together look for them?
Not great.
Roman emperors maintained control over the populace by giving them "bread and circuses" -- free bread and lavish entertainment to distract them. Trump appears to be following that strategy except that "the bread," that is, economic benefits, seems destined for the billionaire elite. The masses, however, get a three-ring spectacle.
Note that Trump chose a respected financier, Scott Bessent, to run the Treasury. The markets, nervous that Trump would explode deficits and do scary things with tariffs, were somewhat calmed by the pick. Stock prices rose at Bessent's naming. Trump wasn't about to mess with investors.
The broader American public, on the other hand, is getting quite a show. Trump himself seems much amused by his nomination of crackpot Robert F. Kennedy to run Health and Human Services. "Bobby" is a vaccine "skeptic" whose skepticism has little basis in science. He told Samoans that measles vaccines shipped to their country were of lower quality than those sent elsewhere. A few months later, 83 people, most of them children, died from measles.
Trump told "Bobby" to "go wild" with health care. What a card!
Back at the bread buffet, Trump has tasked Elon Musk to cut $2 trillion out of the federal budget. Musk became the world's richest man thanks, in part, to the American taxpayer. Over the decade, Musk has collected over $15 billion in federal contracts for SpaceX alone.
And so out of whose hide do you think a funding-ectomy would be taken? A good guess would be "not Elon's."
Project 2025, a right-wing document written for a second Trump term, calls for weakening the Affordable Care Act. It wants to let insurers discriminate against preexisting conditions. It would deregulate Medicare Advantage, coverage provided by private companies, and make it a default option. The intention is to discourage participation in traditional Medicare, which many beneficiaries prefer because it doesn't limit them to doctors in a network and require referrals to see specialists.
When the shocking details of Project 2025 became well-known, Trump swore up and down the campaign trail that "I had nothing to do with it." Also, "I have no idea who is behind it." He's now hiring a number of the architects behind it.
Trump and Musk seem especially keen to gut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, created to shield ordinary folks from abusive lending practices. Some of the most respected names in finance have made fortunes trapping unsophisticated borrowers in contracts swimming with snakes.
The bureau has proposed limiting late fees on credit cards, which would save consumers $10 billion a year. And it would remove medical debt from consumer credit reports, resulting in higher credit scores for those buying a home or car. Wall Street wants the CFPB off its back.
How might Trump hide the reality that the economic winners in his second term will be the tech and finance bros who bankrolled him and the losers will be you-know-who? Provide the losers with ever more gaudy circuses. He's already twirling culture war baubles, witness his hollering about plans to go after Ivy League colleges engaged in DEI. Whatever you think about diversity, equity and inclusion programs, chances are good that Harvard's admission policies don't really affect you.
Trump's naming of outrageously inappropriate department heads may be part of the distraction process. He has the media fulminating about the unqualified collection of misfits proposed to run our intelligence, defense and medical establishments.
Advice to average Americans: Be vigilant. When you're at the circus, it's wise to watch your wallet.
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Follow Froma Harrop on Twitter @FromaHarrop. She can be reached at fharrop@gmail.com. To find out more about Froma Harrop and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators webpage at www.creators.com.
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