The Capitalist Interests Behind Donald Trump
Trumpism is often cast as a personalist project representing no coherent capitalist interest. But it is also the product of splits within the ruling class and a new power bloc uniting the tech-military complex, crypto-capital, and extractivists.
Many mainstream accounts of Donald Trump’s rise focus on his electoral appeal in the Rust Belt — but his misses a key aspect of his success: his support among important sections of capital. (Win McNamee / Getty Images)
The rise, fall, and second coming of Donald Trump represent one of the most puzzling and heavily scrutinized political developments of the last decade. Yet much commentary has barely scratched the surface.
The main focus is on Trump’s reactionary rhetoric and personalist politics. The more farsighted analysts identify broader processes like deindustrialization or the corporate capture of the Democratic Party as root causes of his popular appeal among the US working class. But they stop there.
The prevailing reading of Trumpism sees it as “a revolt from below” of disenfranchised social groups left behind by (neo)liberal globalization. There is more than a grain of truth to this (even though Trump’s share of working-class voters is often overstated). But is this the full picture?
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