Our current political landscape — chaos, growing corporate power, and endangered food, water, and climate — is no accident. A small number of billionaires and wealthy CEOs have brought it into being. 

They’ve invested millions in getting Donald Trump to the White House and his cronies into Congress. Now, they’re reaping the return on their investment. With Elon Musk at his side, Trump is handing them even more power over our government. They have more license than ever to run roughshod over our shared resources, make life worse for workers and families, and enrich themselves even further. This is an oligarchy. 

Nowhere is this clearer than in the Big Tech and fossil fuel industries. Trump directly appealed to oil and gas executives for campaign donations, which they happily provided. He’s now stripping environmental regulations and halting federal clean energy funding. 

Meanwhile, Elon Musk — owner of Tesla and the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) — is the epitome of Trump’s tit-for-tat as he wreaks havoc with his “Department of Government Efficiency.” But Musk is far from the only Big Tech mogul to gain power by supporting Trump. 

Decades of bad policy have allowed corporations and the ultra-wealthy to run rampant. As a result, we’re facing more unsafe food and water, growing climate chaos, economic hardship for millions, and threats to our very democratic system. Musk and Trump are taking even more power from the people and giving it to billionaire oligarchs. To defend all we hold dear, we can and must fight back.

The Big Tech Bro-ligarchs Threatening Our Water and Climate

Big Tech elites have already made fortunes from government support. Elon Musk’s seven companies have collectively received $20 billion in federal contracts and subsidies.

But despite these taxpayer-funded leg-ups, some Big Tech elites are determined to break down our government. They want to profit unrestrained by things like pesky health, labor, and safety regulations and investigations.

This has far-reaching consequences for all corners of our internet- and computer-powered modern life — and for our water supplies and climate. Many Big Tech companies, like Meta and Amazon, are investing heavily in artificial intelligence, an extremely energy-intensive and water-hungry technology. 

Musk, for his part, is working on an artificial intelligence product, xAI, which relies on 14 polluting gas generators operating without permits in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Memphis, Tennessee. As our recent research exposes, data centers that power AI are looking to revive dying coal plants and demand billions of gallons of water, often in water-stressed areas.

Already, Lee Zeldin, Trump’s head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has committed to prioritizing the expansion of AI. The EPA is supposed to protect our health and environment. Now, under Trump and his oligarchs, it’s paving the way for more destructive business. 

The Big Tech Bro-ligarchs’ Investments in Trump 2.0

Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, is now notorious for dropping $277 million to back Trump and other Republican candidates in the 2024 election cycle. He also provided essentially “free advertising” to the campaign when he bought X and changed its algorithms to prioritize Musk’s own pro-Trump posts.

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta (which owns social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp), is following a similar playbook. Since the election, Zuckerberg has loosened Meta’s content moderation policies to cozy up to Trump.

Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and owner of The Washington Post, prevented the paper’s editorial board from publishing an endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris, which was widely criticized as a bid to curry favor with Trump. Bezos also announced that The Post’s Opinions section will now only publish work that defends “free market and personal liberties,” interpreted as a move to protect against retaliation from Trump. Notably, both Amazon and Meta have donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund. 

Trump Delivers a Return on the Bro-ligarchs’ Investment

Musk and Trump are gutting institutions that stand in the way of Big Tech’s unfettered profit-seeking. For example, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has hundreds of complaints against Tesla and would regulate X if Musk adds the payment system he’s long wanted. Musk-Trump has effectively shut down the agency and halted all its investigations.

For his part, Zuckerberg’s moves to cozy up to Trump could help Meta avoid regulations, as the company has been under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission. Zuckerberg has also said that Meta will work with Trump to oppose the European Union’s heavier speech regulations on social media platforms.

Like Musk and Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos stands to benefit heavily from deregulation and the gutting of government agencies. As the third-richest man in the world (after Musk and Zuckerberg), he gets most of his wealth from his shares of Amazon stock. Regulatory action stands in the way of more profits for Amazon and more wealth for Bezos.

Notably, Amazon — and Musk’s SpaceX — have challenged the very constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Board, which defends workers and unions — and Trump has already kneecapped the agency. 

Government Contracts Stand to Grow Their Wealth and Power

While Trump guts the government, these oligarchs stand waiting in the wings. Already, they hold government contracts that give them additional power over our day-to-day lives. As the administration seeks to auction off various responsibilities, projects, and functions (in other words, privatization), Big Tech companies are well-positioned to snap up yet more lucrative contracts.

Amazon Web Services, for instance, currently holds more than $10 billion in contracts with the National Security Agency and the Navy, and it’s currently competing for billions more. Musk’s Starlink company, meanwhile, seems poised to receive a $2.4 billion contract from the Federal Aviation Administration, potentially canceling the contract already in place with Verizon that Musk baselessly claimed is “not working.”

With contracts like these, the Big Tech Bro-ligarchs would amass more wealth through taxpayer dollars and gain more power over our government’s basic functions.

Big Oil and Gas Oligarchs Clear the Way for More Pollution

In May 2024, Trump held a meeting at Mar-a-Lago with oil and gas executives, where he reportedly asked for $1 billion in campaign cash in return for his commitment to pass fossil fuel-friendly policies as president. One analysis estimated those policies would make $110 billion for the industry.

Big Oil and Gas ultimately spent $75 million to elect Trump, which, by one estimate, won fossil fuel billionaires a collective $3 billion increase in net worth just a single day after Trump’s inauguration. 

From day one, Trump has passed policy after policy to open the floodgates for more drilling. On inauguration day, he issued a “National Energy Emergency” directing agencies to ram fossil fuel projects through as quickly as possible. A flurry of other early executive orders will clear the way for liquefied natural gas projects. And he selected a fracking CEO to head the Department of Energy.

Moreover, Musk and Trump are hollowing out the EPA’s staff, resources, and regulatory ability, enabling even more pollution from industries like Big Oil and Gas.

These developments are also directly tied to Big Tech’s planned AI boom. Trump’s loosened permitting requirements will bolster fracking to fuel AI, which fossil fuel companies like Chevron are taking advantage of as we speak. 

Planet Pollution for Personal Profit

Big Oil counts many of the country’s wealthiest people among its ranks. Thomas A. Fanning, former CEO of Southern Company, was one of the highest-paid utility CEOs in the country. His net worth in 2024 was estimated at $173 million thanks to stock holdings, including Southern’s, worth over $80 million today.

In 2022, Chevron was one of the country’s 10 biggest corporations, posting a record $36.5 billion in profits. As CEO of Chevron, Mike K. Wirth received $26.5 million in compensation in 2023. 

Harold Hamm, the founder of Continental Resources, has been called the country’s “richest oil man.” His net worth stands at $11.3 billion today, and he has used tax loopholes to pass on billions of Continental’s wealth to his children.

While many families can’t even fill up their gas tanks, these oil oligarchs are hoarding wealth. And as their product warms our planet and chokes our skies with pollution, they’re pushing for even more drilling and burning. With Trump, they have a fast friend in government willing to damn us all to help them grow their bottom line.

Big Oil Oligarchs Spend Big to Buoy Trump

One report found that Big Oil spent $445 million in total last election cycle, but suspects that to be a huge underestimate due to dark money. Dark money refers to donations to organizations that support candidates but don’t have to disclose their donors, leaving the public in the dark about who spent what to support whom. 

What we do know is damning enough. The Trump-Vance inauguration committee received $2 million from Chevron and $1 million from Occidental Petroleum. Vicki Hollub, Occidential’s CEO, spent $400,000 to get Trump elected.

Hamm is the closest with the Trump administration, described by The Washington Post as Trump’s “point person” for conveying Big Oil and Gas’s interests to the now-President and “cajoling” potentially millions in campaign funds from the industry. He alone pushed $1.2 million to elect Trump.

Trump Turns on the Spigot for Big Oil Oligarchs

These oligarchs will now personally benefit from Trump’s pro-fossil fuel policies. Several have explicitly stated they look forward to deregulation and serving as a “partner and resource” with the administration.

In response to a complaint from Occidental’s Vicki Hollub, during a 2024 fundraising event, Trump vowed to approve oil pipelines and expand oil drilling, and he implied he would make moves to speed up merger deals.

Just a month after Inauguration day, Southern Co. increased its five-year capital spending plan by $63 billion, planning massive build-outs of fossil fuel infrastructure. Chevron, for its part, forecasts oil and gas production to increase 6-8% in 2025 compared to last year. 

And it’s not just energy policy. Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 lowered the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, resulting in significant tax savings for large corporations. That includes Chevron, which reportedly received $2 billion in savings. 

Those tax cuts are set to expire this year, and Trump and his allies are pushing to renew and deepen them, aiming for $4.5 trillion in tax cuts for corporations and the ultra-wealthy. At the same time, they’re working to cut $2 trillion in essential services and resources for everyday people.

People Power Beats Corporate Power

It’s clearer than ever that many of the most powerful actors in our country put profit over people. They’re sitting on hoards of wealth and are still seeking more — and they’re willing to infiltrate our democracy and seize our government to make it happen. 

Unopposed, Trump’s oligarchs threaten every corner of our lives. Their attacks on federal agencies put our health and safety at risk. The deregulation they push for will poison our air and water and worsen the climate emergency. And as the power of mega-wealthy CEOs and their corporations grow, they will continue to drive an economic system that puts the wealth of a few above the well-being of everyone. Families, workers, and communities nationwide will suffer. 

But we know the only antidote to corporate power is people power. We can come together to hold our elected leaders accountable and ensure they work for us, not billionaires. 

Across the country, Food & Water Watch is joining with activists and organizations to fight the Musk-Trump regime and bring power back to the hands of the people. Since our founding twenty years ago, we’ve been bringing folks together to build strength in numbers and combat corporate power strategically. We’re leveraging those twenty years of victories for this new chapter.

Together, we’ll defend our food, water, and democracy from these oligarchs and build a livable future for all.