Are Billionaire Tech Bros Really Forever Trumpers?
Two harsh realities for Mr Trump’s political support from his own mega-billionaires: none of these corporations is necessarily linked to maintain their major operations in the US, and virtually all their seeming pro-Trump support goes way beyond lower taxes. Tariff imports? If the “technology” creations can be held in a secure drop box, that the serious value-creation (R&D) is moving to academic research-friendly venues overseas as Trump decimates and attacks the greatest value-creators in world history, our exceptional, state-of-the-art universities and their non-US graduates, how exactly does he tariff those values? As he drains federal agencies of money for medical and scientific research, a slack being picked in Canada, Europe and, most of all, China?
MAGA Americans are gloating at this Tech Bros alliance, looking at big companies as if they were political machines, nations, so to speak. They’re not. But in a world of mergers and acquisitions, always subject to government scrutiny and approval, where the federal government actively attacks companies that defy Trump’s wishes, where exemptions from tariffs and many federal regulations are and can be granted by Trump alone, follow the money.
Tech Bros (and many other) CEOs have only one stakeholder they must service under US law: the shareholders. If that CEO fiduciary duty is betrayed by a CEO, who is not also the primary shareholder, they face shareholder derivative lawsuits if their political activities hurt stock prices. If Musk didn’t have the technical acumen to advance Tesla to dominate EV sales (slipping these days) and the political connections to enable Starlink and SpaceX to win billions of dollars of federal funding, he’d otherwise be gone. And if a Democrat had Trump’s power, Tech Bros would be all over that President. For those who sneer at corruption in Latin America, Asia and the Middle East, they probably haven’t seen those presidents touting consumer goods so openly. Their bribes and skimming are at least more subtle. But make no mistake, the United States has never been so corrupt. We live in a nation where old world patronage is now the rule.
Too many Americans misread the American economic reality. Under 2% of Americans work directly in agriculture, 8% of our economy is engaged in manufacturing consumer durables and the rest is attributable to government workers, finance and technology. Want to reshore more American manufacturing? The world is dominated by robotic automation. Robots replace workers easily. China has manufactured nine times the number of robots than have we. And as efficient and productive as American farmers have been for a very long time – thanks to farming technology and research – they are still clearly expendable.
A recent example stabs US farmers in the heart. Sharing the stage with Elon Musk at a conservative CPAC event in February, Argentine Pres Javier Milei, waiving a government-cutting chainsaw, was the new darling of the MAGA right. Unfortunately, Milei‘s rightwing efforts have led Argentina into the ground, undermining his currency and economy big time. But as a Trump-lover, on September 21st, Milei received a gift from his hero: a $20 billion Trump bailout, which really pissed off American farmers, particularly our very efficient and productive soybean farmers. Ever since Trump layered serious tariffs on China, that country has shifted its agriculture imports to “more reliable” countries like Brazil and Argentina. China is making long-term output deals with other countries, showing it is hardly reliant on US farm exports.
Based on data from the US Department of Agriculture, in the last five years, China had accounted for around 52% of US soybean exports. But so far this year, China has not purchased any soybeans from the U.S. for the 2025-26 marketing year. On the other hand, Argentina has replaced those US soybean orders: “Chinese buyers booked at least 10 cargoes of Argentine soybeans after Buenos Aires scrapped grain export taxes, three traders said on Tuesday [9/21], dealing another setback to U.S. farmers already shut out of their top market and hit by low prices.” Agriculture.com, September 23rd.
“The frustration is overwhelming,” American Soybean Association President Caleb Ragland posted to X, “U.S. soybean prices are falling, harvest is underway, and farmers read headlines not about securing a trade agreement with China, but that the U.S. is extending $20 billion in economic support to Argentina.” American farm bankruptcies are soaring (up 55% over last year according to CBS News), particularly since Trump’s inane and economically ignorant tariff policies.
According the CNN (October 4th), “Surging costs and foreign retaliation from tariffs have hurt the US agriculture industry — as have immigration-related labor shortages and plummeting commodity prices. Farm production expenses are estimated to reach $467.4 billion in 2025, according to the Agriculture Department, up $12 billion from last year.” Trump’s earlier $28 billion farmer bailout inn 2018/19, also due to his failed trade policies, has prompted Trump to suggest “at least $10 billion” bailout for soybean farmers this time around… again for his failed policies.
The world has turned against the United States, as Donald Trump’s arrogance, his willingness to insult the world even before the United Nations General Assembly, incents the world to find workarounds to shunt their dependence on the United States. For those who must deal with the US federal government, while a very few are MAGA believers, the majority must swallow hard and pretend. Think Apple CEO, Tim Cook, and major Microsoft shareholder Bill Gates really embrace Donald Trump? Seriously? The day the Congress is willing to confront Trump, whose approval level (Gallup poll) is now under 30%, that might signal another bailout: the Tech Bros.
I’m Peter Dekom, and I am getting sick and tired of Trump’s de facto “China First” policy reality.
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