Dennis Minott | US unravels: billioneering, folicy, slaveries, and diplunacy

The first month of Donald Trump’s second presidency has not been a honeymoon but a bangarang. The veneer of calculated chaos that characterised his first term has been stripped away, revealing a raw, unadulterated agenda driven by unchecked power and a thirst for retribution.

The promises of a more ‘presidential’ Trump have evaporated, replaced by a reality far more ominous: a führeremboldened, unburdened by restraint, and intent on reshaping America — and the world — in his own image. With Elon Musk and Kash Patel deeply embedded in the machinery of power, the lines between corporate greed, political manoeuvring, and outright authoritarianism are blurring at an alarming rate, signalling a descent into a new dark age.

FINAL STAGE OF CORPORATE CAPTURE

Trump’s relationship with the billionaire class has always been symbiotic, but his second term marks a definitive stage of state capture. Elon Musk’s presence within the administration is not merely advisory. It represents a hostile takeover of key government functions. Tasked with streamlining operations and cutting costs, Musk’s true agenda is far more insidious: the dismantling of regulatory frameworks, the privatisation of public services, and the consolidation of power within the hands of a select few.

Musk’s influence extends beyond mere efficiency drives. His enthusiasm for defunding critical programmes, such as the US Agency for International Development, speaks to a broader agenda of dismantling global aid and consolidating American power through economic coercion. The appointment of loyalists like Russ Vought and John Ratcliffe to key positions further cements this corporate stranglehold, ensuring that every decision, every policy, is filtered through the lens of profit and political expediency. The pretence of serving the public good has been discarded, replaced by a brazen pursuit of self-enrichment and the systematic dismantling of any checks on corporate power.

The implications are devastating. Regulatory rollbacks will unleash environmental destruction, judicial appointments will favour corporate interests over individual rights, and policies will be tailored to benefit the ultra-rich at the expense of the working class. Trump’s economic vision is not about creating jobs or fostering prosperity. It is about solidifying a dynasty of wealth protection, ensuring that billioneering becomes a permanent fixture in American governance.

WEAPONISING CHAOS

If the first term was marked by erratic decision-making, the second is defined by the weaponisation of chaos. Trump’s actions are not merely impulsive. They are calculated to destabilise, to sow confusion, and to maintain a constant state of crisis. The executive orders flooding out of the White House are not designed to solve problems but to inflame divisions, to provoke outrage, and to distract from the underlying agenda of consolidating power.

The dismantling of diversity and inclusion programmes is not about promoting equality. It is about reinforcing existing power structures and silencing dissenting voices. The relaxation of environmental regulations is not about stimulating the economy. It is about prioritising short-term profits over long-term sustainability, sacrificing the health of the planet for the sake of corporate greed. The embrace of Project 2025’s extreme policy framework is not about governing. It’s about imposing a radical ideological agenda on a nation that did not ask for it.

This is not mere incompetence. It’s a deliberate strategy to maintain control through chaos, to keep both allies and adversaries guessing, and to ensure that no one — perhaps not even Trump himself — knows what comes next. The instability is the point - a tool to undermine institutions, erode trust, and pave the way for an authoritarian takeover.

CHAINS OF MODERN EXPLOITATION

Trumpism, at its core, thrives on systems of dependency that trap individuals and nations in cycles of exploitation - such as our business process outsourcing and all-inclusive “hotelling”. The erosion of labour protections, the suppression of wages, and the proliferation of precarious work are not accidental. They are deliberate policies designed to create a permanent underclass of desperate approximations to day-labourers dependent on the whims of their ‘efficient’ employers of human cogs.

The attacks on immigrants, the demonisation of minorities, and the suppression of dissent are not isolated incidents. They are part of a bizarre broader strategy to divide and conquer, to pit groups against each other, and to distract from the real source of their economic woes: the unchecked power of corporations and the wealthy elite. The myth of trickle-down prosperity has been exposed as a cruel joke, a means of justifying the enrichment of the few at the expense of the many.

Internationally, Trump’s “America First” doctrine translates to a modern mercantilism where weaker economies are strong-armed into unfair agreements, deepening their reliance on American capital while forfeiting their own sovereignty. This is not about promoting American interests. It is about creating a global system of economic servitude, where nations are forced to bend to the will of the United States or face economic ruin.

DEMISE OF GLOBAL LEADERSHIP

Trump’s approach to diplomacy is not merely erratic. It is destructive. His disdain for international alliances, his embrace of autocrats, and his willingness to undermine global institutions are not signs of strength. They are signs of weakness, of a nation retreating from its responsibilities and abandoning its role as a global leader.

The pausing of the TikTok ban, despite national security concerns, is not a pragmatic decision. It is a demonstration of Trump’s transactional approach to foreign policy, where personal relationships and financial considerations outweigh national interests. The limiting of federal funding for abortions, both domestically and internationally, is not a principled Christian man’s stand. It is a pandering to his base, a sacrificing of women’s, rights on the altar of political expediency.

Trump’s foreign policy is not guided by strategy but by personal narcissistic whims and vendettas. Allies are treated as business partners, adversaries are flattered or threatened, and the world is reduced to a stage production of his personal ‘reality show’. This is not diplomacy. It is diplunacy, a dangerous drama that undermines international stability and threatens global peace.

The first month of Trump’s second term has been a stark warning. The world is not merely at a crossroads. It is teetering on the edge of an abyss. The unchecked power of corporate interests, the weaponisation of chaos, the perpetuation of economic servitude, and the demise of global leadership are not isolated trends. They are interconnected forces driving humanity towards a darker future. The question is no longer whether Trump can be stopped but whether the damage he has already inflicted can be repaired. The hour is late, and the future of the world hangs in the balance in the face of this Führerprinzip.

Dennis Minott, PhD, is the CEO of A-QuEST-FAIR. He is a multilingual green resources specialist, a research physicist, and a modest mathematician who worked in the oil and energy sector. Send feedback to a_quest57@yahoo.com or columns@gleanerjm.com.