For years, conservatives during Biden’s presidency asked: “Who’s really running the country?”
The irony is that the same forces conservatives claimed were pulling Biden’s strings—corporate interests, think tanks, and wealthy donors—are equally, if not more, influential in shaping Trump’s agenda. What was true then is true now, but it’s a truth many conservatives refuse to confront: corporate power dominates both parties, including the administration of Trump.
Trump’s executive orders are a case in point. Nearly two-thirds of his orders so far align with the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, a far-right conservative policy blueprint designed to drastically reshape the federal government. These orders—targeting environmental protections, international agreements, and federal oversight—are not the product of Trump’s personal genius or independent vision. They are the culmination of years of planning by conservative think tanks, backed by the financial and ideological muscle of corporate interests.
It’s worth noting, however, that Biden, despite his ties to corporate donors, managed to pass legislation that broke with the donor class in small but meaningful ways. From efforts to reduce prescription drug prices to investments in clean energy and infrastructure, Biden’s presidency delivered tangible, if modest, economic gains for working families. Trump, on the other hand, has so far proven to be 100% subservient to corporate power, offering Americans nothing in these early days that will substantially alleviate their economic pain or reduce the cost of living.
Instead of addressing the material struggles of his base or America broadly, Trump has chosen to feed MAGA’s egos with culture war red meat—like his proposal to rename the Gulf of Mexico or his rollback of the 1965 civil rights order that banned discrimination in the workplace.
Corporate influence on Trump’s presidency mirrors that of previous administrations, no matter how much his base insists he is an outsider.
The fossil fuel industry, for example, poured $445 million into the last election cycle, backing Trump and his allies to secure policies that roll back regulations and protect profits. Harold Hamm and executives from ExxonMobil and Chevron have long been embedded in the policy-making apparatus of Trump’s administration.
Elon Musk, meanwhile, contributed nearly $200 million to Trump’s campaign through his America PAC, while using his social media platform, X, to amplify pro-Trump messaging and control the narrative.
Conservatives have always denounced Biden as a puppet of shadowy elites, accusing him of capitulating to corporate donors or "the globalists" (who are actually just capitalists). Yet, those same critics have turned a blind eye to the corporate domination of Trump’s past and present administration, preferring instead to see him as a maverick hero. The reality is far less romantic: Trump’s policies, like Biden’s, serve the interests of the financial elites who have entrenched themselves in the halls of power for decades- but this Republican administration is corporate capture on steroids.
The conservative narrative of Trump as an anti-establishment figure who fights for the “forgotten man” collapses under scrutiny. His policy directives aren't shaped by the will of the people but by the priorities of those with the deepest pockets. Remember Trump supported the ban on TikTok for years until TikTok donated money to him.
The hard truth is that the question of “who’s really running the country” will have the same answer regardless of which party is in power until America unites to do something about it.
For all their rhetoric about draining the swamp, conservatives are so far unwilling to admit that their champion is just as much a servant to corporate power as the opponents they vilify.
The progressive wing of the country tried to challenge this bipartisan stranglehold on the country through the presidential campaigns of Bernie Sanders, but we were twice defeated by the corporate wing of the Democratic Party, aided by the corporate media, from FOX to MSNBC, who used their vast influence to demonize Sanders and convince voters that Biden was the safe bet.
In truth, he was the safe choice - safe for the oligarchs, because then, no matter who won, corporate privilege would be protected. While the corporate media pretended to hate or love Trump, FOX, MSNBC, CNN and Democratic elites all preferred Trump's belligerent protection of the status quo over a populist movement that would actually challenge it. Their owners and conflicts of interest prevented them from being able to have any other opinion.
Today, the establishment rules stronger than ever before, protected by the veneer of Trump's conservative cultural revolution.
While we hope that Trump's base will someday join us, or at the very least, fight to oppose him and the establishment forces of both parties, we can't wait for a true populist revolution to come from the Republican Party. The progressive movement, united with independents, is America's best hope of overthrowing the oligarchs.
Politics