The great tragedy of the Trump administration mess is what it reveals about our species.
That includes, among other things, the clear knowledge some of the richest and most powerful people on the planet will stay silent when human rights and democracy are attacked, but will speak up once their personal wealth and interests are threatened.
Such is the case with Trump’s 90-day pause on tariffs for almost all countries – barring China, which he curiously blames for causing the mess of global economic uncertainty in recent days. The Trump capitulation comes after significant pressure from his supporters.
Once the Trump chaos of tariffs started hitting the markets, particularly the NASDAQ, thereby wiping vast amounts of wealth from some of the wealthiest people on Earth, some such influencers finally had something to say about the ambitions of the Trump administration.
Business leaders who attended Trump’s inauguration, donated to his campaign, and continued to ignore Trump’s problematic executive orders and cost-saving mechanisms which immediately started costing lives internationally, now have good personal reasons to have some words for Trump.
The world’s richest 500 people lost a collective US$887 billion following the tariffs announcement less than a week ago, in the largest two-day loss in the history of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Musk is believed to have lost US$31 billion, Jeff Bezos $24 billion and Mark Zuckerberg $28 billion. Australia’s richest person and strident Trump supporter, Gina Rinehart, has also not been spared, losing around $280 million in the market downturn.
The billionaires and tech bros have been making some limited public comments on the tariffs, but are believed to have had much more to say when they headed to Mar-a-Lago recently to “talk common sense” to Trump on the issue, according to journalist Kara Swisher, quoting several sources.
As economist and former US Secretary of the Treasury Larry Summers put it: “The ultimate irony is that economic incompetence is going to protect the United States from authoritarian overreach.”
You can look beyond the uber-rich to see plenty of examples of individuals quickly changing their tune on Trump, especially in the current federal election campaign where it’s not about losing wealth, but instead about losing potential voters.
Prime Mininster Anthony Albanese and Labor have pulled ahead of Opposition leader Peter Dutton and the Coalition regarding chances of forming government post May 3, according to polling and analysis of social sentiment (both of which have limitations and much can change between now and then).
Not long ago, polling favoured a Dutton prime ministership, possibly via a minority government.
But that was before Trump started doing very Trumpian things that Dutton and others in his party were keen to align with, such as purging the public sector and banning public servants from working from home.
And it was certainly before the sheer stupidity of Trump’s economic agenda took centre stage, as he held props highlighting the different tariffs the United States would be placing on other countries in a bid to get them to “stop picking on us”. Australia, an ally that has followed the US into multiple wars, wasn’t spared the punishment, with one man given the task of justifying such tariffs in front of a US senate enquiry, delivering a baffling argument in favour of the tariffs that even he didn’t seem to believe.
Dutton capitulated on his work-from-home plan this week, declaring that “we made a mistake”. While he still plans to cut 41,000 people from the public service, he’s softened the tone on such rhetoric and now says it will occur through natural attrition rather than via forced redundancies.
In February, Senator Michaelia Cash was busy declaring Dutton would deliver “the exact same attitude” as Trump for getting things done. But Cash has gone quiet on positive comparisons between her party leader and Trump over the past week.
Meanwhile, a Liberal National Party candidate in Queensland is this week finding that 2020 comments he made, including that “feminists” had been responsible for Trump losing the presidential race in 2020. Neal also posted a photo of himself on April 6 this year wearing a MAGA-theme hat with the slogan, “Make Albo Go Away”.
We’re witnessing the parade of Trump sycophants realising their desires to stand with Trump may have consequences that not only impact the wealth they have now, but also their future aspirations and career options.
It’s hard to know which group is worse: those who believed Trump’s agenda could deliver a better future for Americans despite knowing the harm it would cause. Or those who never believed the Trump agenda could work, but went along for the ride to gain power and influence without any thought for their personal legacy.
Yes, individuals can evolve, and opinions can change. But rebuilding credibility with supporters requires answering to voters, consumers, investors and those who give their trust and attention, who can have very long memories.
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