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Source: Forbes
Last week, Donald Trump delivered a winning speech, thanking those who helped him achieve his amazing political counterattack.Suddenly, the cry from the crowd interrupted his speech.
“Elon! Elon! Elon!”
“Oh, yes. We have a new star. A new star was born: He is Elon,” Trump said excitedly, and then gave the world’s richest man a four-minute fancy compliment, promisedThis “super genius” will be given a powerful force to influence U.S. policy and federal spending.
Trump, who is preparing to re-enter the White House, is setting out to build a new league, and Elon Musk is the most famous (and richest) of his new allies.Trump, 78, has always valued his close alliance with wealthy and celebrities, but this time, he will organize a new generation of loyal fans, including podcast host Joe Rogan and MMACelebrity Dana White et al.
This 2.0 version supporter team won Trump’s favor by showing loyalty, donating to campaigns, public support, and of course flattery.Some of them are expected to become cabinet members, while others may serve as unofficial advisers, communicating with Trump over phone calls, golf events, podcasts and social media.
Besides Musk, Trump’s new allies include hedge fund tycoons John Paulson and Scott Bessent, both of whom are Treasury Secretary or other important economic positions.The competitors also vowed to help Musk cut spending.“Bestert had worked for Trump’s nemesis, George Soros, for many years, and he said in an interview with Forbes the day before the election: “I’m willing to be involved, both in front of the stage and behind the scenes.”
Two other people who are likely to serve in the cabinet or serve as senior advisers are Vivek Ramaswamy and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., political newbies represented by these two, representing them.Want to completely reform federal institutions.Kennedy plans to promote the removal of fluoride from drinking water and “clean up corruption” at institutions such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).Ramaswami participated in the election briefly, and during the process he had imagined to close the entire Ministry of Education.
Among the rising tech stars in the Trump universe are Marc Andreessen and Jeff Yass.Silicon Valley venture capitalist Anderson has always been a Democrat, who has been on his side because of Trump’s tech policy and was invited to Mar-a-Lago on the night of the election; TikTok shareholder Yas seemed to convince Trump earlier this yearPu no longer threatened to ban the social media platform, and Trump later joined the platform.
It is very likely that Trump will continue to learn from some of the people he has been consulting, first of all his family.While daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner have said they won’t be serving as presidential adviser again, Kushner told Forbes last week that he still has the possibility of itAdvise Trump in an informal way.Lara, the wife of Trump’s son Eric, is co-chair of the Republican National Committee and has been in leadership roles during the campaign, and she was standing by Trump’s side when he delivered his victory speech.
Also not to be forgotten are a group of billionaires who have supported him in the past, including Wall Street legend Carl Icahn, who also lives in Florida, and Trump’s business partner in Las Vegas.Phil Ruffin, and former Marvel chairman Ike Perlmutter.Perlmatt, a member of Mar-a-Lago, donated $10.1 million to a super political action committee that supports Trump in this round.Trump informally solicited opinions from these people on various issues during his first term, and they all tried to gain financial benefits through friendship with the president.
You will see a lot of competing for favors and pleasing in the coming weeks.Who will win a coveted cabinet appointment or other position?A highly-watched power struggle drama is about to be staged.If the last situation can be used as a reference, even those who have entered the core circle should cheer up and act carefully.Ask Goldman Sachs veteran Anthony Scaramucci to know.He entered the White House on July 21, 2017 and served as the communications director, but the get out of class was dismissed after only 10 days.
Trump’s new think tank
01 Elon Musk
Image source: Nathan Laine/Bloomberg
He was a supporter of Barack Obama and has now transformed into the backbone of MAGA.Musk, 53, is Tesla’s CEO and founder of SpaceX, who initially supported Ron DeSantis in the Republican primary and later fully supported Trump.He donated $119 million to a pro-Trump political action committee, organized mobilization voting in swing states and built endless momentum on Trump’s campaign on his own social media company X.
Trump once publicly praised Musk as a “genius” and promised to give Musk great power to regulate the federal budget.(Musk is the richest man on earth, and he says he hopes to cut $2 trillion in federal spending every year).The relationship between the two became extremely close. A family photo of Trump appeared online on the day after the election, and Musk even appeared on it.
02 Howard Lutnick
Image source: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg
Lutnik is the CEO and controlling shareholder of financial company Cantor Fitzgerald, which has an annual revenue of $9 billion.Lutnik, 63, has a deep friendship with Trump and is the co-chair of Trump’s transition team.He donated $5 million to Trump’s MAGA Political Action Committee and accompanied Trump to the campaign, and introduced Elon Musk at a Madison Square Garden rally in October.Lutnik was first famous after the “9/11” incident.At that time, 658 employees of Cantor Fitzgerald were killed in a terrorist attack at the World Trade Center in New York, including Lutnik’s younger brother.On that day, Lutnik was sending his son who went to kindergarten on his first day.He then promised to rebuild the company and take care of the families of the dead, raising $180 million for them in the first five years.
As co-chair of Trump’s transition team, Lutnik vowed to select people who were “loyal to” the boss to form the second Trump administration.
03 John Paulson
Image source: Rob Kim/Getty Images
Hedge fund tycoon Paulson was born in Queens like Trump.He made $3.8 billion in wealth by shorting subprime mortgages in 2007 and sold the Doral Resort in Miami to Trump in 2012.The 68-year-old billionaire, who donated only $800,000 to Trump’s campaign this cycle, has become an influential Trump economic adviser and has also been a popular candidate for Treasury Secretary..
Paulson said he hopes to continue Trump’s tax cuts in 2017 and work with Musk to cut federal spending, including eliminating renewable energy subsidies in the Inflation Cut Act signed by Biden.
04 Linda McMahon
Image source: Andrew Harre/Bloomberg
The 76-year-old business woman is another co-chair of Trump’s transition team.She served as director of the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term and donated $15.8 million to Trump’s campaign this year.She is the co-founder of the think tank America First Policy Institute, and may use this role to play a greater role in Trump’s second term.The think tank is also an alternative to Project 2025, and has prepared nearly 300 draft executive orders for Trump to consider and sign.
McMahon previously helped her billionaire husband Vince McMahon run the wrestling sports promotion giant World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).Founded by Vince, the company was once one of the largest funders of the dissolved Trump Foundation.(Vins is reportedly under federal investigation for alleged sex trafficking, and he denies the allegation.)
05 Dana White
Image source: Michael Simon/Getty Images
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president of the MMA chose to support Trump in all three presidential campaigns.The relationship between the two can be traced back to before Trump entered politics, when Trump was a fan of the White Tournament and also held a mixed martial arts (MMA) competition in his own industry.Trump is still an unpopular figure after the Capitol Hill riots on January 6, 2021, but White warmly welcomed Trump at a UFC event in June of the same year, which is also hisAn earlier public appearance after leaving office.
In the early morning of November 6, Trump invited White to speak on stage during his victory speech.White spoke passionately: “No one deserves this victory more than him.” Some MAGA supporters called for White to serve as Trump’s new press secretary, but White said he “has no political ambitions.”
06 Scott Bessent
Image source: Vincent Alban/Bloomberg
The polite hedge fund executive, who worked for liberal philanthropist George Soros, made an early support for Trump in the Republican primary earlier this year and went to Trump’s Political Action Committee and Republican committees earlier this year.Donated $3 million, earning himself a place in the MAGA camp.
As a key economic adviser, he has become a possible candidate for a certain cabinet position.Becente advocates cutting federal spending and reforming the Federal Reserve to weaken the power of its chairman.”We will usher in a major international economic restructuring,” he said in an interview with Forbes the day before the election. He also confirmed that he was interested in serving in the Trump administration: “I am willing to participate, both inIt’s still behind the scenes.”
07 Vivek Ramaswamy
Image source: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
The 39-year-old biotech billionaire ran as a pro-Trump alternative in the Republican primary but quickly withdrew and became an extremely active Trump spokesperson during the election.The Indian-American entrepreneur, author of the best-selling Woke, Inc., acquired an aggressive stake in media company Buzzfeed earlier this year.He advocated the closure of federal government agencies, including the FBI and the Department of Education.The millennial entrepreneur is reportedly being considered for a cabinet position.
“We will recruit him in, and he will participate in some very important actions,” Trump said at a rally in Pennsylvania.
08 Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Image source: Jason Mendez/Getty Images
In August, descendants of Kennedy’s political family suspended their campaign as independent candidates in favor of Trump.The former Democrat and environmental lawyer attracted a large number of followers by questioning the vaccine; he advocated closing parts of the FDA and removing fluoride from drinking water.He said Trump will put him in charge of oversight of public health agencies, including the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services.“He will bring America back to health,” Trump said in his victory speech.”Let go and do it well, Bobby.”
09 Marc Andreessen
Image source: Taylor Hill/Getty Images
The Silicon Valley venture capitalist, with a net worth of about $1.9 billion, publicly supported Trump in July and donated $2.5 million to support Trump’s campaign.Anderson has always been a Democrat, but he talked with investment partner Ben Horowitz on a podcast to explain his political turn.Horowitz also initially supported Trump, but changed his stance in early October and donated money to Harris.
Anderson said his turn to Trump was due to the Biden administration’s hostility towards the tech industry — including their hostility to cryptocurrencies and mergers and acquisitions, which is a key part of Anderson Horowitz’s portfolio,Mergers and acquisitions are also an important pillar of the venture capital industry.On election night, the Internet industry entrepreneur was probably the guest of honor at the Mar-Lago Dinner.
10 Timothy Mellon
During Trump’s 2024 campaign, the heir to Bank of Mellon Wealth contributed the largest single donation, donating $150 million to Trump’s MAGA Super Political Action Committee, even more than Musk.He also donated $25 million to Jr. before he withdrew from the election.Mellon’s policy goals are unclear, but during his business career as a railway company boss, he had fought fiercely with trade unions and donated to conservative organizations such as the Heritage Foundation.
The 81-year-old rich man lives on a farm in Wyoming and has not made public appearances for many years.Despite the huge donation, he insists that he is not as rich as he seems.Earlier this year, the grandson of the banking tycoon Andrew Mellon (US Treasury Secretary in the 1920s) wrote in an email to Forbes: “I’m not a billionaire!”
11 Joe Rogan
Image source: Jeff Bottari/Getty Images
Logan was a talk show actor and UFC commentator and is now a podcast host.He held three-hour interviews with Trump 10 days before the election and publicly supported Trump on the eve of the election.In Trump’s victory speech, Dana White, who is also Trump’s “pink leader”, expressed his gratitude to the “strongest Joe Rogan”.Logan’s podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience” has more than 18 million subscribers and has 5.6 billion views on YouTube.Trump boasted to the audience when he announced his support from Logan: “He is definitely the best in that field.”
12 Jeffrey Yass
Image source: SIG
Yas, co-founder of market-maker Susquehanna, has long been a Republican donor and one of the world’s 30 richest people, with an estimated net worth of $50 billion, including TikTok’s parent company ByteDance worth 215.$100 million in equity.Yas is a libertarian who supported candidates such as Tim Scott and Vivek Ramaswami during the Republican primary.He reportedly met with Trump earlier this year and directed advisers to lobby for TikTok to the Trump team, which Trump had tried to ban the app during his last term.Earlier this year, Trump publicly opposed Congress’s ban on TikTok and joined TikTok in June, and currently has 14 million fans.
13 Doug Burgum
Image source: Steven Ferdman/Getty Images
The North Dakota governor, who was born as a businessman, had a brief run for president and was also included in Trump’s list of vice presidential candidates.Now he may become a candidate for energy secretary in the Trump administration.One reason Trump is very interested in Bogum is that he came from business and started a software company from scratch, later sold it to Microsoft, and only entered politics after being an executive for many years.Forbes estimates that Bogum’s personal wealth exceeds $100 million.
