Behind the Curtain: Trump's ever-expansive power
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President-elect Trump — whose power was immense after his comeback win, enhanced by the coming full Republican control of Congress — has expanded that power substantially in the nine weeks since his victory.
Why it matters: It's rare, if not unprecedented, for a newly elected leader to have so many world leaders and CEOs shift their policies or posture so blatantly during the transition to curry favor with a new president.
Trump will start his presidency with a very loyal GOP Senate and House, a vastly empowered MAGA-friendly media and information ecosystem, businesses scrambling to make amends or further improve cozy relationships, and money flowing fast into his family's business endeavors.
- His Democratic opposition is weak and largely powerless — although Republicans' tiny margin in the House will be a constant threat.
In two short months …
- Major tech CEOs traveled to meet Trump in person and cut $1 million checks to his inauguration.
- Meta shifted top personnel and its social media policing policies to match Trump's interests.
- With the news media more fractured and less trusted than ever, outlets that once covered Trump with skepticism — and even disdain — have made surprise overtures to the president-elect.
- Democrats' post-2016 "resistance" movement is in complete disarray: Some lawmakers instead want to work with the Trump administration on bipartisan goals, with border security and his new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) emerging as two early examples.
- Trump-aligned nationalist movements are disrupting long-liberal foreign allies — from Canada to Britain to Germany — in part because of aggressive information wars waged by Elon Musk and his supporters.
- Two billionaire CEOs announced big U.S. investments to kick off Trump press conferences at Mar-a-Lago: Before Christmas, SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son announced plans by the Japanese company to invest $100 billion in U.S. projects over the next four years. This week, the UAE's Hussain Sajwani, a close business partner of the Trump family, made a $20 billion commitment to build data centers in the U.S.
- Trump moved the Overton window on American expansion by publicly musing about seizing or acquiring Greenland, Canada and the Panama Canal — a reminder to the world and media that Trump is willing to say or do anything. Trump even said he'd move to rebrand "the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring ... what a beautiful name."
- Trump is by far the most popular politician in Israel, giving him enormous leverage over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose coalition is weak and polls are bad. Trump said at his press conference this week that if the hostages in Gaza aren't "back by the time I get into office, all hell will break out in the Middle East." With Trump's prodding, Bibi sent his negotiators back to Doha, Qatar, three weeks ago to resume indirect talks with Hamas in an effort to reach a deal by Jan. 20.
- The Trump effect in the Middle East extends beyond Israel. Iran is trying to keep a low profile in the region, shelved a retaliation plan against Israel, signaled several times it wants to negotiate a new nuclear deal and is uncharacteristically staying out of today's presidential election in Lebanon.
- Trump has raised a record $170 million for his inauguration — with so much still coming in that VIP events are over-capacity and "some donors have taken the unusual step of offering donations as high as $1 million without receiving anything in return," the N.Y. Times reports (gift link).
- Trump is already accepting funds for a future presidential library. The Times found Trump's allies have raised more than $250 million since Election Day for his political projects.
- As Jeff Bezos cozies up to Trump, Amazon Prime Video made a $40 million deal for streaming and theatrical rights to a documentary with behind-the-scenes access to Melania Trump — with her as an executive producer.
Reality check: This is raw, transactional power — based in many cases on efforts to curry favor, as opposed to clear-cut inspiration or ideological embrace.
Between the lines: Trump empowers himself and his entourage by castigating traditional media, which is more fractured and less trusted than ever.
What to watch: The Supreme Court, with its decisive conservative majority, will offer a key test of how far Trump can press his influence beyond the executive and legislative branches.
- Trump filed a brief last month asking the court to delay the Jan. 19 deadline for TikTok to be sold off or banned in the U.S. Oral arguments will take place Friday.
- Trump also has asked the high court to block Friday's sentencing in his New York hush-money case, arguing presidential immunity should extend to the transition period.
The bottom line: It's easy to offer symbolic gestures in good times. Trump's true test will come when he has to pick winners and losers — and the losers decide how to react.
- Axios' Zachary Basu, Marc Caputo and Barak Ravid contributed reporting.
