The Trump administration is planning to become a shareholder in yet another company, continuing a trend that finds the Republican president embracing a socialist economic model, nationalizing otherwise independent businesses despite his party’s longstanding opposition to federal interference with “free enterprise.”
The White House recently announced plans to take a 10% stake in Canadian mining company Trilogy Metals. Forbes reported that the deal — and the surge in stock price that followed — produced a windfall for billionaire Trump donor John Paulson, who has a considerable stake in the company. The deal is a prime example of the kind of crony capitalism that such government investment can invite.
As stock news website Benzinga noted, the Trilogy Metals announcement brings the total number of companies in which the Trump administration has taken stake to five: Intel, mining company MP Materials, mining company Lithium Americas, and a “golden share” of U.S. Steel that grants the government veto power over many of the company’s decisions.
Under Barack Obama’s administration, the mere act of offering loans or other incentives to certain businesses frequently garnered outcry and anti-socialist condemnations from conservatives who said they were angry about the government unfairly choosing “winners and losers.” Now, one could argue Trump’s taking a page out of Fidel Castro’s book as his administration seeks to grow its portfolio of businesses under partial government influence. And indeed, many people —including some members of the president’s own party — have noted that the ownership stake his administration has taken is a “paradigm shift towards socialism,” in the words of conservative commentator Erick Erickson.
Americans would do well to keep this blatant socialism in mind the next time they hear conservatives trying to scare voters with stories of socialists intent on destroying the U.S. with things like government-funded grocery stores or free bus rides for local residents.