[Edaily Reporter Bang Sung Hoon ] U.S. President Donald Trump is facing criticism for creating an “American-style oligarchy” by successively appointing his close associates and business tycoons to key positions. Critics point out that while the share of total wealth held by the top 400 wealthiest Americans has increased by 146% over the past 30 years, the share held by the bottom half has decreased by 25%, suggesting that a tiny minority of the wealthy has now seized political power as well.

◇The wealthy who used to lobby are now inside the government… and securing contracts has become easier
According to Bloomberg News on the 9th (local time), President Trump announced that day he would appoint Will Sharp, his former personal attorney and current White House Chief of Staff for Records, as White House General Counsel effective the 1st of next month. Such appointments are not unusual in Trump’s second term. This is because it has become a recurring pattern for individuals with personal ties to the president to assume positions of public authority. Business tycoons, too, have gone beyond simply lobbying from the outside and have secured positions within the government.

The Financial Times (FT) reported today that the combined net worth of Trump’s cabinet members totals $7.5 billion (approximately 10.5825 trillion won), making it the wealthiest administration in U.S. history. When President Trump himself is included, the total rises to approximately $14 billion (about 19.754 trillion won). Commerce Secretary Howard Rutnick ($7.3 billion, about 10.3003 trillion won) and Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkopf ($2.4 billion, about 3.3864 trillion won) are both billionaires. U.S. Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA) told the FT, “Now the big players are directly entering the government,” pointing out that U.S. political power has been “captured by excessive wealth.”

The combined wealth of figures in President Trump’s inner circle exceeds the national budgets of many countries. Tesla CEO Elon Musk tops the list with $791 billion (approximately 1,116.101 trillion won), followed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos ($284 billion, approximately 400.724 trillion won).

Silicon Valley titans stand out in particular. They serve as government advisors, build connections in Congress, and voice their opinions on pressing issues ranging from artificial intelligence (AI) to industrial policy. This has been followed by deregulation and policies favorable to their companies. Venture capitalist David Saks, who served as head of AI and cryptocurrency policy from January of last year through March of this year, pushed for the easing of export restrictions on AI semiconductors to China. Palantir, led by Alex Karp ($15.7 billion, approximately 22.1527 trillion won), saw its revenue from federal government contracts surge by 65% in the year following President Trump’s return to office, reaching nearly $2.2 billion (approximately 3.1042 trillion won).

◇Campaign funding up 84-fold in 14 years… Buying votes with money
The floodgates were opened by a 2010 Supreme Court ruling. By recognizing corporate election-related spending as free speech, the floodgates of political funding were opened. While U.S. millionaires spent $31 million (approximately 43.741 billion won) in the 2010 election, the top 100 billionaire families contributed $2.6 billion (approximately 3.6686 trillion won) during the 2024 presidential election cycle.

A significant portion of that came from a very small number of individuals. More than one-third of the approximately $1.5 billion (about 2.1165 trillion won) spent on President Trump’s election campaign came from just three people: Musk, Miriam Adelson, and Timothy Mellon.

Jeffrey Winters, a political science professor at Northwestern University, analyzed that as the wealth gap has widened, campaign spending by the ultra-wealthy has also increased. He argued that this trend, spanning 30 years, has ultimately led to the concentration of political power.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan research organization, analyzed that in the tax cut and spending bill passed last year, the tax cuts received by the top 1% were three times those received by the bottom 60%, while budgets for food assistance, education, and health insurance for low-income individuals were cut.

◇The Wealthy Who Give Nothing Back to Society… Democrats Also Rely on Big Donors
The FT likened this landscape to the “Gilded Age” of the late 19th century, when tycoons who made fortunes in railroads and oil seized wealth and power. This implies that while the exterior is gilded, the interior is tainted by corruption. However, Professor Quinn Slobodian of Boston University criticized that, unlike Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller—who were hailed as philanthropists for founding universities and libraries—today’s tech billionaires are indifferent to any “social contract” that would compensate for the disruption they have caused in people’s lives.

The White House dismisses the term “oligarchy.” Spokesperson Davis Ingle countered that President Trump has “confronted deep-rooted vested interests head-on” during his second term. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, also said during a White House meeting last year that “a president this pro-business and innovation-friendly is a refreshing change.”

The Democratic Party is not immune either. LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, George Soros ($7.5 billion, approximately 10.5825 trillion won), and Lauren Powell Jobs ($15.2 billion, approximately 21.4472 trillion won) are among the party’s major donors. There is also a backlash. In last year’s New York mayoral election, Bill Ackman and others poured in huge sums, but the progressive-leaning Zoran Mamdani was elected. Representative Kana noted that the Gilded Age gave rise to an era of antitrust and tax reform, adding, “The United States has an amazing ability to correct itself.”