Trump’s Intel Deal: Also Very Fascist

Before I answer that question, let’s pause to savor how much Trump’s allies are squirming over this. The United States Chamber of Commerce, which is surely in a panic, is saying nothing. Over on Fox News, Trump pom-pom shaker Maria Bartiromo said, “There are definitely reasons to raise your eyebrows about this situation,” but then excused it in light of national security. (Then why is the United States now party to conveying Nvidia and AMD chips to China?)

Excusing the Intel investment as a one-off doesn’t work, not only because it’s consistent with the Nippon and MP Minerals deals, but also because Trump (who loves to undermine his defenders) said Monday that “I hope I’m going to have many more cases like it.” The ferociously obedient Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, added: “I’m sure that at some point there’ll be more transactions, if not in this industry, in other industries.” In Congress, Rand Paul excoriated the deal as a “step toward socialism,” but otherwise, as Politico’s Jonathan Martin noted Monday on Morning Joe, the silence “is deafening among elected officials.” He meant Republican ones.

You might say that a spectre haunts Mar-e-Lago, but it isn’t precisely communism. It isn’t even democratic socialism. As I’ve explained earlier, what Trump practices is fascist corporatism, which is why Warren is right to keep her distance (and why Sanders should, too).