Tech Titans and Traditional Conservatives : Analysing the Unstable Coalitions behind Trumpism and Right-Wing Populism
Are we seeing a technocracy emerge in America? Martha Dacombe looks at how the technology sector shapes Trump’s administration and what this means for his supporters.
Donald Trump's 2025 return to the Presidency unfolded within the hallowed confines of the Capitol Rotunda, marking the first such ceremony held in this historic space in several decades. The majestic setting was a backdrop to two notable developments that distinguished this inauguration from its 2016 predecessor. First Lady Melania Trump made an architectural statement of her own, wearing an avant-garde hat whose dramatic proportions seemed to obscure her view of the surrounding grandeur deliberately. However, the most significant shift came in the form of an unprecedented display of Silicon Valley support, as the most influential leaders in the field of technology—Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Sundar Pichai—stood in formation behind the newly sworn-in President and Vice President. Their carefully choreographed presence signalled a remarkable realignment of power, suggesting that this administration's policies would be significantly shaped by the interests of America's technology sector.
Donald Trump campaigning in 2024 at a rally in Rochester, New Hampshire
At the same time, there was also a shift in the support for Donald Trump in his 2024 election with a huge surge of working class and non-college educated individuals. Trump won all swing states, including the industrial heartlands of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Crucially, this was not just the supposed ‘white working class’ that turned out to vote for Trump. Still, further typical Democrat target groups of Latino and Black voters ‘took the red pill’, abandoning the Democratic Party. Therefore, working-class Americans constitute a key group within the MAGA electoral coalition. This is not just an American phenomenon of working-class voters abandoning typically left-leaning parties, which have historical relationships with working-class communities and trade unions; rather, this is a global occurrence.
Over the 21st century, across Western liberal democracies, there has been a significant electoral realignment. In 2024, the year that the world went to the polls, this phenomenon showed little sign of slowing down. For example, in France, 57% of workers voted for the populist right-wing party National Rally (Rassemblement National) in the first round of the Parliamentary Elections in June 2024; further, in Austria, 50% of workers voted for the populist right-wing Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ). These shifts in support are significant and constitute an abject failure in progressive politics to take seriously the concerns around immigration and globalisation from working-class communities. However, fundamentally, the coalitions now constituting MAGA world and much of the global populist right-wing are precarious and contradictory. This instability goes beyond the relationship between Musk and Trump. Rather, the often protectionist and anti-globalisation instincts of the working-class vote, which form the backlash, have conflicting interests in regard to the operations of globalised capitalism crucial to the success of the billionaire tech entrepreneur backers at the crux of populist right-wing successes.
“The coalition underpinning Trump's second administration represents a delicate balance.”
A perfect demonstration of this vulnerable coalition of the second Trump administration is through the accusation against Elon Musk ostensibly attempting to introduce “techno-feudalism on a global scale,” this accusation was not by Jeremy Corbyn or the ghost of Karl Marx but by former White House Advisor Steve Bannon. This comment by Bannon links back to a split within MAGA between the right-wing nationalists and right-wing global capitalists, specifically over the issue of the H-1B visa, which allows companies in the US to bring in highly skilled workers from abroad. Since its introduction in the 90s, it has been supported by firms such as Tesla as a key to bringing in skilled technology workers to push innovation. However, it is a contentious point within MAGA political circles due to the concern of more nationalist voices believing American workers, not foreign workers, should fill these jobs.
This worldview and Bannon’s influence at the beginning of Trump’s first term was significant. For example, Trump suggested in 2016 that the H-1B visa programme was bad for American workers and explicitly intended to ‘substitute for American workers at lower pay.’ However, since the gradual uptick in support from technology entrepreneurs in the USA along with wider global facing corporate America, Trump has loosened his rhetoric against H-B1 visas, now suggesting he has “always liked the Visas” and that he has “many H-1B visas on my properties”. Indeed, Musk has argued H-1B visas are essential for American companies, writing on X to critics of the scheme, which includes MAGA traditionalists like Laura Loomer, to “take a big step back and F–K YOURSELF in the face. I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend,”. Trump is clearly increasingly influenced by pro-globalisation forces who benefit from a global, mobile workforce. However, these sympathies are at odds with more traditional MAGA-ites who are more aligned with the anti-globalisation backlash vote, which has fuelled Trump’s support and election in both 2016 and 2024.
This coalition split will likely continue throughout the administration. As Trump announces protectionist measures to please his anti-globalisation domestic base, his approach has led to disquiet within the wider business community over his jumbled decisions regarding tariffs, deportations and scrapping DEI initiatives. Companies have been reported in the FT to be experiencing concern over the speed and support they need to make adequate changes to prepare for the Trump 2.0 policy landscape. Arguably, parts of Trump’s economic plan will hurt American companies that trade with countries such as Canada and Mexico, as Trump imposed tariffs of 25%, potentially leading to job losses for American workers he vowed to protect in the first place.
However, this essay is by no means attempting to suggest there are no alignments within the MAGA coalition beyond the cult of personality around Trump himself. Rather, Trump knows the power of the technology sector to attract funding and investment to the USA. For example, Trump has announced since his election a $500bn AI infrastructure project with SoftBank and OpenAI, dubbed ‘Stargate’, with aims to build the “physical and virtual infrastructure to power the next generation of advancements in AI, and this will include the construction of colossal data centres”. These investments are essential for creating thousands of job opportunities for Americans and should be celebrated as such. Further, the investment also provides a strong bedrock for broader geopolitical security of the USA and her allies against the rising threat of Chinese technology advancements, combined with providing fruitful links with foreign investment firms such as Abu Dhabi’s state fund MGX and Oracle, which are also providing funding for the project.
“potentially leading to job losses for American workers he vowed to protect in the first place”
The coalition underpinning Trump's second administration represents a delicate balance. While initiatives like Stargate demonstrate potential areas of alignment, fundamental tensions persist, particularly around immigration and globalisation, as exemplified by the H-1B visa debate. Further, the extent to which the ‘tech bros’ will actually get on with one another and keep a unified front behind Trump will be worth watching; for example, Musk and Altman’s open feud could spill over into the administration. Overall, the administration's ability to manage these competing interests while delivering policies that satisfy all constituencies will determine its success and the future trajectory of right-wing populist movements globally that also aim to strike a balance between business and their voter base.