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Trump further exposed: more evidence that he is a reserve of the establishment

Monitoring closely the 'anti-establishment' fairy tale around the new US president


Long before the final result of the US elections, we have mentioned several times our estimation that Donald Trump is only a reserve of the establishment, a necessity solution against the extremely unpopular Hillary Clinton. Now, further evidence points that the new US president is indeed a reserve of the establishment.

Steven Mnuchin, who Trump has indicated he hopes to make Treasury secretary, appears to be coming straight from the Wall Street elites who are the forefront of the neoliberal status quo through the destructive financialized capitalism.

From heavy.com :

Days after the historic election of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States, we’re beginning to hear about his possible cabinet appointments. Among the names being floated is Steven Mnuchin, who Trump has indicated he hopes to make Treasury secretary, according to Politico. Mnuchin served as Finance Chair during the Donald Trump presidential campaign, and he would be replacing the current Treasury secretary, Jacob Lew.

Much to the chagrin of many within both the Republican and Democratic parties, Trump’s potential Treasury secretary pick is a 17-year veteran of Goldman Sachs, the bank which had a role in the 2008 financial crisis and which was bailed out by the United States government. Mnuchin came to work for Goldman Sachs in part because his father, Robert Mnuchin, was a prominent Goldman Sachs banker of 30 years, according to The New York Times. Mnuchin left the bank in 2002, but he would later become the head of OneWest Bank, and he currently is the chairman of Dune Capital Management, a private investment firm.

In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, Steven Mnuchin and a group of investors including George Soros purchased IndyMac Bank from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation for $1.5 billion. IndyMac was one of the lenders that dealt with high-risk loans and which collapsed during the housing market crash, being seized by the FDIC. According to The Nation, Mnuchin and his fellow investors made a deal with the FDIC where they would purchase the bank and also receive reimbursements for the cost of foreclosing on people who had loans with IndyMac. Mnuchin later renamed IndyMac OneWest Bank. OneWest has been criticized for cruelly foreclosing on Americans across the country, often being taken to court for their practices. [...] In October 2011, around the time of the Occupy Wall Street movement, protesters marched outside of Steve Mnuchin’s mansion in Los Angeles, holding up signs reading “Stop taking our homes,” according to Bloomberg. Over the next few years, OneWest was involved in several lawsuits and on multiple occasions settled for millions of dollars, according to The New York Times. They have also received subpoenas from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to The Nation. Last year, Mnuchin sold OneWest Bank for $3.4 billion.

Like Donald Trump himself, Steven Mnuchin has donated to politicians on both sides of the aisle, including Trump’s 2016 opponent, Hillary Clinton. According to Bloomberg, Mnuchin has donated about $7,000 to Hillary Clinton, including during her 2008 bid for the White House. He has donated to the Republican National Committee as well, but Bloomberg reports that Mnuchin’s donations to Democrats outweigh his donations to Republicans. Mnuchin told The New York Times that he donates to both sides because he has “always believed in supporting the best candidate at the time.”

Throughout his campaign, Donald Trump has positioned himself as a candidate outside of the establishment, criticizing his rivals for taking money from Wall Street and suggesting he will end corporate loopholes that benefit wealthy bankers. This populist message appealed to his Republican reporters and even to some Democrats, who felt Hillary Clinton was too cozy with Wall Street. But some critics worry that the hiring of Steven Mnuchin suggests that Trump will not do anything about Wall Street after all. “It’s hard to see Mnuchin cracking down on Wall Street,” Jeff Hauser, director of the non-profit Revolving Door Project, told Politico. “Indeed, one imagines Mnuchin’s banking agenda would be to rehabilitate Trump’s reputation with Wall Street.”

But there is also evidence that Trump is on the same side with the arms industry and one of the most powerful components of the US deep state, which is the military-industrial complex.

From PressTV :

Trump, whose victory over Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in Tuesday’s presidential election virtually shocked everyone, is in favor of increasing the size of the US Army and Navy, modernization of military facilities, weapons and the nuclear arsenal as well as a dramatic boost in the country's missile capabilities.

"This is all music to the ears of not only Republican leaders in defense, but many Democrats too," Michael Herson, a prominent defense lobbyist, told The Washington Post. Trump has yet to lay out all the specifics of his defense policy, which will be largely implemented by his defense secretary.

Rudy Giuliani, a Trump ally who seeks a cabinet position in his administration, said Sunday that strengthening the military is a big priority of the president-elect. "He's going to be facing [Russian President Vladimir] Putin with a country that is not diminishing its military but a country that is dramatically increasing it to Reagan-like levels," Giuliani said on CNN, invoking former President Ronald Reagan’s mantra of "peace through strength."

However, Trump’s desire to have a bigger military is estimated to cost anywhere from about $100 billion to $300 billion more over the next four years than the current plan. Congress, which remained under Republican control, cannot approve that money until it eliminates the budget caps put in place since the start of fiscal 2003 as part of a spending compromise between Republicans and President Barack Obama.

Additionally, Ron Paul mentioned that “Unfortunately, there has been several neoconservatives that are getting closer to Trump. And if gets his advice from them then I do not think that is a good sign,”.

There is now plenty of evidence that the 'anti-establishment' show played by Donald Trump is only a joke. Banksters and lobbyists will flood the DC, as usual. The agenda will be continued uninterrupted under Trump presidency with further tax-cuts for his billionaire class, further dissolution of labor rights and of the welfare state, further suppression measures by enlarging the US police state.

Related: 

Trump completely exposed: time to abandon the anti-establishment game

Trump is only a reserve of the establishment 

The US establishment just gave its greatest performance so far ...

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