Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Francesca Rudkin: Washington D.C. has always been about power, but now it’s just as much about money

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Francesca Rudkin: Washington D.C. has always been about power, but now it’s just as much about money · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Well, it's a big daily the United States today and
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: in Panama, Greenland, Canada, Mexico, in the many countries that
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: we're going to feel the weight of President Trump's return.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Today is a day of ceremony, tradition, and balls, but
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  Speaker 1: most importantly, a day of action, as Trump begins to
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: fire off the first of many executive artists promised on
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: the campaign trail. What I find most interesting about this
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: presidential transition is how transactional it has been. The New
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  Speaker 1: York Times reports there at least a dozen billionaires among
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: Trump's cabinet picks or in line for senior roles in
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  Speaker 1: his administration. Another publication worked out that the combined net
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  Speaker 1: worth of the wealthiest members of his administration could surpass
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  Speaker 1: four hundred and sixty billion. Many are his rich donors,
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  Speaker 1: such as Elon Musk, and we all know spent a
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  Speaker 1: large sum getting Trump elected. Some of the roles these
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  Speaker 1: billionaires are taking on will see them become responsible for
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: sectors they've been involved with off the back of this
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  Speaker 1: President Biden warned in his farewell address of an oligarchy
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  Speaker 1: taking shape in America and with the top one percent
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  Speaker 1: of Americans owning around thirty five percent of the wealth
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  Speaker 1: and capital in the country, and the bottom fifty owning
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  Speaker 1: about one point five percent. You could say conditions are
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  Speaker 1: certainly ripe. What's notable, though, is the unabashed transparency about
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  Speaker 1: it all. Washington, DC has always been about power, but
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  Speaker 1: now it's just as much about money. If you have
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  Speaker 1: enough of it, you can get a seat at the table.
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  Speaker 1: Such large donors have always expected a quiet word, you know,
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  Speaker 1: a game of goal. A visit to marri Lago in Washington,
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  Speaker 1: DC is filled with corporate lobbyists who petition the government
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  Speaker 1: and public to sway them on certain issues. In the past,
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  Speaker 1: they're preferred to do it with some discretion, not now.
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  Speaker 1: The other thing that is so startling is that President
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: Trump campaigned on doing what's right for working class America,
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  Speaker 1: just one of the many demographics Democrats have lost touch
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  Speaker 1: with in exchange for their vote. They now have some
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  Speaker 1: of the richest men influencing this presidency and protecting their
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  Speaker 1: self interest. I hate to say it, as some of
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: the consequences of this presidency, such as tariffs and geopolitical decisions,
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: may impact New Zealand, but it is going to be
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  Speaker 1: fascinating to stand back and watch how this plays out,
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: who will remain in President Trump's good graces, who will
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  Speaker 1: see out the term, Who, like so many of the
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: big tech executives, will curry favor doing whatever it takes
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  Speaker 1: to keep their businesses alive and kicking. It's going to
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  Speaker 1: be very interesting four years, and yeah, that's probably an understatement.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge. Listen live
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: to news talks that be from five am weekdays, or
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.