Immediately after taking the oath of office on Friday, Donald J. Trump declared that “we are transferring power from Washington, D.C. and giving it back to you, the American People.”
Documents obtained by The Intercept show exactly which people Trump is giving power to—the wealthiest sliver of American society. The incoming administration allocated at least a dozen of 183 seats on the inaugural platform to donors and fundraisers, who sat beside cabinet designees, senators, and President Trump’s immediate family. Another 49 seats for the pre-inaugural Friday morning church service, which Trump attended, were allocated to a billionaire fundraiser.
The documents, which come from the inauguration’s organizing committee, paint a markedly different picture than the one Trump presented during the campaign, that of a swashbuckling populist who would overturn “the rigged system” and drain Washington’s corrupt “swamp” of money-driven influence.
If these documents are any indication, Trump’s inner circle is shaping up to be even more plutocratic and insular than that of previous presidents.
The documents include a guest list for VIPs at a Friday morning church ceremony as well as seating behind Trump on the inaugural platform as he took the oath of office. These include megadonors like Sheldon Adelson, Carl Icahn, Steve Wynn, Woody Johnson, and Richard Lefrak—five billionaires with a combined net worth of more than $60 billion. Adelson was reportedly one of a very small number of people who shook hands with Trump following his inaugural address.
Thomas J. Barrack Jr., a lesser-known billionaire who chaired Trump’s Presidential Inaugural Committee, was allocated 49 of the 259 seats for Friday morning’s service at St. John’s Episcopal Church, which was attended by Trump and his family—more seats than those allocated to all of the donors combined. The committee reportedly raised $100 million in private money to help pay for inauguration festivities. Barrack and six of his guests had seats on the inaugural platform. Barrack’s personal seat allocation for the St. John’s service is roughly comparable to that of Vice President Mike Pence, who received 52 church seats and 42 platform seats for “friends and family.”
One of Trump’s own “friends and family” is Peter Thiel, worth more than $2 billion, who founded the data-mining company Palantir Technologies. Thiel is listed as “TBD”—to be determined—for the church service and had one seat allocation on the inaugural platform. It is unclear whether Thiel actually attended.
In 2013, the New York Times made an incomplete chart showing many of the attendees who were granted platform seats for Barack Obama’s second inaugural. Only two of those among the platform crowd who the Times was able to identify were megadonors—Chris Hughes, the Facebook co-founder, and his husband Sean Eldridge.
A spokesperson for the Trump transition team did not immediately respond to requests by phone and email for comment.
Top photo: President Donald Trump waves on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20, 2017 in Washington.
“Documents obtained by The Intercept show Trump is giving power to the wealthiest sliver of American society.”
That is not what the documents show. The first document shows that 12 people out of 289 got seats at the inauguration because they paid for them.
That doesn’t mean they have power. That doesn’t mean they can draft legislation or that other people take them seriously. It means they got good seating at a show.
Two of the 12 people marked as “donors” have the title “ambassador.” I think if you are an ambassador you can be at a government functions.
Bless your heart.
Regurgitating the swamp…poor little Donald can’t even handle a toilet plunger.
Ha! Absolutely right – President Shrimpdick’s hands are too small
Maybe its a good thing that the 1% are taking the reins directly as opposed to the traditional middle-class intermediaries like Obama who fool us into thinking the government actually works on behalf of the wider populace.
Exactly! That is the perfect summary statement of class politics. The apparachiks who have carried water for the 1% (so they can go to Davos? or Bono’s latest charity party??) have been called on it. About time.
And as the monopolies these donors control have, and continue to have, their power consolidated they turn the screws on the masses making the people’s unalienable… Rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness actually subject to transfer and sale to a psychopathic and greed obsessed oligarchy.
The decades-long turning of anti-trust philosophy into a build the corporate trust agenda have enabled those that have consolidated power to purchase all three branches of the U.S. state and federal governments. This hostile takeover of our Republic’s democratic principles has been upheld due to the unjust justification and protection of corporate personhood by our judicial system.
Ask five people what corporate personhood is and no wonder why you will most likely get the eyes caught in the headlights look as it is something rarely ever mentioned by the corporate media or brought up in the U. S. educational system. When it is recognized it is presented as an unquestionable unalienable corporate right despite the repugnance our Founding Fathers had for such a concept. Buy the media and own the nation’s mind.
Fake, irresponsible news. For example, the North Dakota bill says nothing about protesters. It is a mere restatement of existing negligence laws. In every jurisdiction in the US a motorist is not liable if he or she runs over pedestrian who disobeys a traffic signal, walks into an intersection, etc. You are creating liberal hysteria among your readers. But clearly they have a big appetite for it.
The comment at the top fortunately points that out. Only 2 out of the 12 people who got platform seats are donors, and another 2 are also barracks. The rest are actually either friends and family or people holding political positions. So, thus, the news is gravely and irresponsibly exaggerated. Look, as much as both you and I hate Trump, we both know that you still have to be responsible about the spread of information.
Divide and Rule: Class, Hate, and the 2016 Election
Counterpunch.
Well worth a gander, IMO.
The liberal establishment is in red alert mode because they have essentially no power, a political chihuahua.
If Trump is even partially good on his word, he stands to crush the democratic platform. He has all the opportunity in the world with republicans in power to make good on his campaign promises.
If the 60 democrat members of congress who decided not to attend had been there, the extra seats wouldn’t have been available!! It was very nice of those boycotting to give their seats to citizens who would use them!!
Thanks for the information that Barrack Obama did not reward his donors with good seats. Now I understand why the Democrats lost.
This Carnage Stops Now benitoe.
Why is Jerry Falwell on the list? He’s dead.
It’s likely referring to Jerry Falwell Jr., the late televangelist’s son who runs the business now. Falwell Sr. died in 2007 of a purported heart attack.
What business is that? I thought he was a preacher.
Oh goody!
A conspiracy.
Was Jerry Falwell assassinated?
By who?
Why?
Did it have anything to do with his lucrative business?
Help me understand the truth, purported or not.
Please do not post comments under silly editorials written by Schwartz, Froomkin, Mackey e.a. They are not worth it. Sorry for this comment !
Strange i can no longer:
– see pictures on this site
– reply to posts
– get the ‘recently’ link to work to see older articles
Need to update iOS??
So I guess none of you here have ever been approached by Amway? We have and I said no thanks. Two of our my family members have and they said Yes please. It is a big divide. TheDeVos/Prince Family in Michigan , The Koch Bros in Kansas, now their power in Washington. GOD is Christopher Hitchens was here and not dead. Emotionally I am sad, for everything. Long live Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowdon
Meanwhile, in a lonely café in Casablanca, the emigrés gather.
HILLARY: Play it. Play it for old times’ sake.
JON STEWART: You know I don’t remember that one.
HILLARY: Of course, you do. (hums) Dum, dum da-dum, dum da-dum-da-dum-da-dum, dum.
JON: (plays it)
HILLARY: Sing it.
JON: Hail to the chief, and the king of all the carnage. Hail to the chief, and the biggest hair of all —
GLENN GREENWALD: (rushing up) I thought I told you never to play – (sees Hillary) Well, of all the gin joints in the world, you walk into mine.
CAPT. RENAULT: Unoccupied France welcomes you, Mme. former secretary.
HILLARY: I wasn’t sure you were the same, Glenn. Let’s see, the last time we met …
GLENN: Was the Trump Washington Hotel.
CAPT. RENAULT: And Bar & Grill.
HILLARY: How nice, you remembered. But of course, that was the day the Americans marched into Washington.
GLENN: Not an easy day to forget. I remember every detail. The Americans wore gray, you wore blue.
LINDSAY GRAHAM: I wore magenta.
GLENN: And you. Stay outa the casino. Your cash is good at the bar.
GOLDMAN SACHS: Do you know who I am?
GLENN: I do. You’re lucky the bar’s open to you.
MAJ. STRASSER: We are very honored tonight, Glenn. We’re all exiles now.
CAPT. RENAULT: You say that as if you expect Germany to be next.
VIKTOR LASZLO: France will be. Polls have Marine Le Pen leading. (to the band) “Die Wacht Am Rhein!” Play it!
EVERYBODY: (they know all the lyrics)
MAJ. STRASSER: (to Glenn) Welcome back to the fight. This time I know our side will win.
BILL CLINTON: What this country needs is a good 5¢ cigar.
?
Welcome to the Irony Coast.
You guys seem to care far more about the Clintons than most of the people who voted for them. It’s getting a little weird at this point considering how irrelevant they are, yet you guys still love beating that carcass.
These are all small time donors, not the special interest groups that we have seen before. It is quite obvious that donors must be given some recognition for their faith in the candidate, despite everybody else trying to undermine him in every way, and Robert Macky writing a lot of trash here and Wolf Blitzer baying away all the time on television. This was how the donors were rewarded, which does not harm anybody, especially considering that some sleazy talk-talk-talk-no-action folks stayed away and created some premium space. Trump is not going to reward the donors by patronizing their brokerage in mega-deals that have in the past profited them immensely at the expense of our taxes, and have robbed us of jobs and security.
If you have any problem with his selection then please provide a list of names of people who should have been invited with proper justification how they were more eligible and we shall investigate your claims after the wall has been constructed and our borders secured.
He’s also rewarding his donors by choosing them for his cabinet. Case in point : Betsy DeVos.
I’m curious how you’ll manage to spin this one. Her family donated a total of 200 million $ to various Republican candidates, she was born with a silverspoon in her mouth and has zero experience in education or public schools yet in nominated to lead the Department of Education. Oh well, when it’s impossible to explain, just shout MAGA loud enough, that’ll shut those damn liberals up !
Who’s “we”, asskisser? Got a mouse in your pocket?
I love the comments here and elsewhere. You wouldn’t think these little rays of darkness would stand out in the pitch. But they do.
They’re easy to write:
______________
“This must be lying fake Washington Post McCarthyite CIA Benghazi Russianphobic warmongering Deep State trying to discredit poor President Trump. They’ll say anything bad about him because they’re desperate.
President Trump said he would make America Great again and I believe him.
I even heard him say, “believe me.”
Now you try to make him look like a greedy lying douche bag?
He was just surrounded by his good friends congratulating him on his good fortune. And their good fortune. And the good fortunes of everyone with good fortunes.
Besides, what’s the harm? It’s not like he’s going to appoint only rich guys to his cabinet and let them rewrite the tax laws. Betsy DeVos isn’t some rich guy, is she? She’s not even a guy.
It’s no big deal.
Believe me. oIII”
THANK you, Mr. Dembot, for spewing every mindless fantasy in your head, while you totally clueless clowns were so competent that you lost to your opponent of choice, Donald effin’ Trump.
Little slow, eh?
You lost too.
Haven’t you realized that yet?
No matter. You will realize before too long exactly the sort of man he is.
The WORLD lost due to your thundering incompetence.
And you did anything to help?
Doing nothing is worse than incompetence.
Voting against your own interests is worse than doing nothing.
If you’re not already one of the ultra-wealthy and you voted for trump, you voted against yourself. You just haven’t realized it yet. I hope that when you do realize it that you will admit to it. But conservatives are so adept at being denialists no matter how hard reality smacks you upside the head.
Nice socialist POV but everyone who voted for President Trump fully acknowledge his own personal wealth and business acumen as being the very reason they voted him. That he surrounds himself with like minded people is because his underlying philosophy is goal orientated not ‘feeling’ orientated.
What planet do you live on?
The goal of yellow socialists like Trump and his GS ‘advisors’ is to feel good after every free lunch.
Goals: you bet. Pillage the treasury while dismantling the government. Come back in a year or two and let us know how the half wit is doing.
He’s going to #rainTheSwamp, down on the US.
M Schwartz,
I always find the phrase “did not immediately” respond to be misleading.
Doesn’t it more likely mean that they took their sweet time, as opposed to ignoring you completely?
Many journalists use it and I react the same way.
Perhaps it’s time to repeal and replace it.
Adelston may be a zillionaire but he’s only got two policy concerns that I know of, Gambling and Zionism. So it’s not TOO huge a blow to the domestic populism. (It may be a blow to the idea of pulling back from the “World Police” role depending on how much you blame Israel for US entanglements.)
Since he is a notorious loner who doesn’t have any friends, this is an easy case for plausible deniability.
So this now is JOURNALISM
Telling me that a person was found hanging out with his friends ? Big Woop !!
Tell you what ,,, Chelsea Clinton will be giving Donald head by May !!!
As I said above, he doesn’t have many friends.
This is according to close associates.
Unnecessary insert dick into mouth reference, you dick.
As I recollect Bill and Hill were guests of honor at his last wedding !
Who the hell is DICK ?
ok.
now we know who they are?
as opposed to being sworn in near…. strangers? bureaucratic lifers? elitists who opposed you? protesters? russians? the cia operatives who may have murdered SETH RICH?
the significance of this being….. (how this plays out)
“Giving power to the wealthiest sliver of American society”? Sorry, but being able to purchase seats at a prohibitive event is pretty far off from having influence in government.
These coments are funny…
Trump supporters giving beneficial information as to the pros and cons of this decision.
Libs crying about a subsidy they haven’t even receive yet. Oh, and don’t forget the useless name calling.
Trumpanzee logic is a scientific wonder, whenever the God Emperor is clearly corrupt, guilty, and hypocritical its suddenly everyone else’s fault in the universe. Priceless, these mindless animals. I voted for Bernie and Jill, Trump can kick tiny orange rocks.
Guess what? Calling people with different social and political views “mindless animals” will not help your cause.
By the way, that’s what brought us to Trump’s America.
Good job.
Its scary that Sheldon Adelson is the biggest donor to the POTUS. Downright depressing.
He wants that embassy moved to Jerusalem.
Jeez, you call this news? How many donors were at 0Bama’s inauguration or Bush’s or Clinton’s? I imagine most.
If big donors get a billion dollar seat at the Parade, who cares?
Try finishing the article before commenting:
“In 2013, the New York Times made an incomplete chart showing many of the attendees who were granted platform seats for Barack Obama’s second inaugural. Only two of those among the platform crowd who the Times was able to identify were megadonors—Chris Hughes, the Facebook co-founder, and his husband Sean Eldridge.”
Thank you for proving Trump supporters are not only morally bankrupt, but openly authoritarian and fascist sweeping all the cheeto skin Twitter child’s clear hypocrisies and corruption under the rug. Bravo, you’ve done the God Emperor proud.
You use a lot of $2 words to not know what “proving” means.
It’s okay. I know you must be frustrated and feeling terribly impotent today, but don’t worry – you’ll get used to it.
you should care.
For Mr Obama, click on the link that says, “incomplete chart.”
For GW or WJ, TBD,
Billionaire donors are not your average run-of-the-mill millionaire donors.
Nor are the $1,500,000 bundlers.
The rich and powerful obviously want a (literal) seat near the actual seat of power.
The thin-skinned one will be flattered and feel compelled to return the favor.
I CARE.
And I’m SURE that you accepted that Obama was a sill for big business without a word of complaint.