“Chaos and repression” are the words that can best sum up the coming Trump regime. This is the environment in which fascism thrives.

Facing that, any thinking  adult will have experienced anger, grief, even depression after the election. After passing through these feelings, we must step back and analyze the perspectives for the coming Trump presidency. Those perspectives must be very tentative because the entire situation is so unprecedented. These perspectives include the following:

1. Some of Trump’s major appointments and their significance.
2. What sections of the U.S. capitalist class support Trump and why.
3. What sections of the U.S. capitalist class oppose Trump and why.
4. Trump’s rule over the capitalist class and their parties in general.
5. Possible stresses and divisions within the Trump administration and within the Republican Party.
6. Possibilities of a movement from below against Trump.
7. Some general conclusions.

In this first part of this article, we will discuss points 1-3.

“Personnel is policy” has never been more true than in the appointments Trump has announced. The key appointments are:

• First and foremost Matt Gaetz for Attorney General.
• Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Security.
• Peter Hegseth for Secretary of Defense.
• Susie Wiles for Trump Chief of Staff.
• Stephen Miller for Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy.

The Christian nationalist tattoo on Hegseth’s arm

Let’s start with Hegseth. He has a tattoo “Deus Vult”   which is Latin for “God wills it”. This motto originates in the European Crusades and is used by white nationalist fascists in the United States today. Hegseth, who was in the National Guard at the time of Biden’s inauguration, was barred from serving as security because he was considered to be a security risk at that time. I have not seen evidence of Hegseth’s links with white nationalist fascists today, but all of his public comments would be welcomed by them. This is the appointee who will be at the top of civilian command of the military. He and his boss, Trump, will be sure to elevate officers in line with their politics. In fact, The Atlantic magazine has reported that “Trump has promised at various times to bring retired General Mike Flynn back into government.” Flynn is an open Christian nationalist  and a fascist.

Tulsi Gabbard in her Assad government sponsored visit to Syria

Tulsi Gabbard has a  history of associating with and supporting  the Assad dictatorship in Syria. In 2017, she made a visit  to Syria in which she had a private meeting with Assad. That trip was sponsored   in part by the fascist Syrian Social Nationalist Party, which is part of the Assad government. Gabbard is also close  to Putin. Both he and Assad are supported by the international far right and outright fascists, which is why Gabbard’s nomination is supported  by such far right figures as Mike Cernovich, the fascist Daily Stormer, the ex-KKK leader David Duke, and others. 

Gabbard will be a direct link to Putin and Assad. An article   in The Atlantic magazine expressed the issue: “Gabbard’s shilling for Assad is a mystery, but she’s even more dedicated to carrying Putin’s water.”

 She will share intelligence information with Putin and Assad (and probably Khameini in Iran also). The same will be true for Elon Musk, who has not gotten an official government position but does have high level security clearance and with whom Trump will share any secrets Musk wants. Not only has Musk had regular discussions with Putin over the years, He also has  a “giga factory” in Shanghai, and China accounts for 22.5% of Tesla’s total revenue. There is also Trump’s incoming Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles, who was the co-chair of the lobbying group Mercury Public Affairs. Mercury has lobbied on behalf of a series of Chinese companies.

Matt “Botox” Gaetz. He was involved in sex trafficking underage girls.

The nomination that is causing the greatest uproar is that of Matt Gaetz for Attorney General. Gaetz summarized his approach as follows: “We ought to have a full-court press against this WEAPONIZED government that has been turned against our people. And if that means abolishing every one of the three letter agencies, from the FBI to the ATF, I’m ready to get going!”

Even before taking office, the nomination of Gaetz is creating havoc inside the DOJ. The NY Times reported “At a white-shoe law firm in Washington, an administrator estimated that partners had received two dozen résumés from department lawyers since Election Day, then quickly called back to say it was closer to three dozen. A former prosecutor working at another firm said he received three calls on Wednesday afternoon from current officials hoping to get out fast.” (The same NYT article reports that Trump appointees are refusing to sign a memorandum of agreement compelling them to submit to FBI background checks.)

Gaetz’s nomination must be seen in light of Trump’s plan to impose “Schedule F”, which he tried to impose shortly before he left office in 2020. Schedule F would transfer tens of thousands of federal employees from civil servants to political appointees, which would enable Trump to fire any of them he chooses. At the top of the list would be DOJ employees – both attorneys and others – who are reluctant to carry out any repressive measures Trump orders.

Joseph Goebbels and Stephen miller. The resemblance is in more than just physical appearance.

Stephen Miller won’t be in charge of any particular government department, but his role as “chief of staff for policy” means that his fascistic, ethno-nationalist, racist policies will have a strong influence in the Trump regime in general.

Trump’s support among US capitalists
There is a wing of the US capitalist class that supports Trump. This wing is composed of a whole layer of Silicon Valley venture capitalists. Topping that list are Peter Thiel and Elon Musk. They came to prominence by smashing the communication and entertainment industry and rebuilding it in a very different format (live streaming, social media, and so on). In addition, led by the capitalist who actually helped create something – Steve Jobs of Apple – and also others like Larry Page of Google, Silicon Valley CEOs created and implemented  a systematic plan to smash any attempt of Silicon Valley workers to unionize. Having succeeded so wildly in those two tasks – restructuring the communication/entertainment industry and smashing any attempt of workers to organize – they now plan to accomplish the same in the country as a whole. There are also assorted capitalists whose politics align with Trump’s. These include the great majority of owners of NFL teams. (Ownership in a pro sports franchise is directly related to real estate development also.)

The coming Trump regime will not have absolutely smooth sailing. There will be stresses and conflicts both from within and from without the regime. In the second part of this series we will examine those stresses and conflicts and whether Trump will be able to overcome them.