Self-Styled Working Class Fighter Trump Readies Cabinet Shaped by Billionaires

Having won Tuesday's election after hammering home a message about high prices and garnering the support of many working-class voters, President-elect Donald Trump has begun the process of staffing top positions for his second term—drawing from Wall Street and reportedly taking the advice of billionaire backer Elon Musk.

As Axios reported on Thursday, "Musk is helping staff the top ranks of the incoming White House and will run an unregulated entity to recommend ways to cut and reorganize government"—the so-called government efficiency commission Musk proposed with the aim of "conducting a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government."

Hedge fund billionaire John Paulson is reportedly in the running to be treasury secretary, a position that would give him influence over the tax cuts and deregulation both he and Trump support. Paulson is also a proponent of tariffs, which Trump touted as the answer to everything from expensive grocery bills to high childcare costs.

Economists and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee in the November 5 election, warned voters that tariffs on imports would worsen inflation by pushing U.S. companies to offload costs onto consumers.

Other potential candidates to lead the Treasury Department include hedge fund manager Scott Bessent, a top fundraiser for Trump and unofficial adviser to the Trump campaign, and transition team co-chair Howard Lutnick, CEO of financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald.

Lutnick is also a backer of cyptocurrency firm Tether, which the Biden administration has been investigating for allegedly violating anti-money laundering rules. As journalist Jacob Silverman said on Wednesday, that probe is likely to be closed when Trump takes office.

Days before the election, Lutnick signaled in a CNN interview that Trump's team is likely to elevate former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to a high-level position related to health, telling the network that a conversation with Kennedy led him to believe the debunked view that vaccines cause autism.

Trump has also said Kennedy, an environmental lawyer who has no background in medical care or public health but has long promoted anti-vaccination conspiracy theories, will have a "big role" in the administration. Last week Kennedy told NBC News that he would push for fluoride, which reduces tooth decay, to be removed from public drinking water.

Other wealthy members of Trump's inner circle who are expected to serve in the administration include his former Small Business Administration leader, Linda McMahon, whose name as been floated as a possible secretary of commerce, and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.

Ramaswamy, a billionaire who has billed himself as a "scientist" but is more accurately described as a biotech financier, has hinted at a potential role as homeland security secretary. He staged an appearance in which he arrived at a Trump campaign event on the back of a sanitation truck—a reference to President Joe Biden's response to a racist joke at a Trump rally in which Biden appeared to call the Republican's supporters "garbage."

But Ramaswamy's attempt at showing solidarity with working-class voters stands in contrast to his opposition to a wealth tax and his view that student debt cancellation is a "scam."

Ahead of the election, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich noted that a third of Trump's campaign funding had come from billionaires, including Musk, who poured $119 million into helping him win and who saw his wealth surge after Trump's victory.

Trump has pledged to appoint "several" of his billionaire backers to his Cabinet, said Reich. "Fascism backed by Big Money is one of the most dangerous of all political alliances. We saw it in 1930s Germany, and we're seeing it again today."