Trump’s inauguration brings together Musk, Bezos and the TikTok CEO as billionaires flock to the Capitol

Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg walk into a bar.

Sounds like the start of a joke, right? If only it was.

Today they are the three richest men in the world according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index will meet for the inauguration of Donald Trump. It’s a picture-perfect snapshot of what we can expect over the next four years: an administration built around delivering for big business. And for the next 100 days and beyond, that’s what we’re going to track on “The 11th Hour.” We call it “White House: For Sale?”

In his farewell speech from the Oval Office on Wednesday night, President Joe Biden warned: “Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our fundamental rights and freedoms and a fair shot. for that everyone can move forward.”

It is a stark warning. Pay attention.

Follow MSNBC’s live blog for the latest updates and expert analysis on Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Trump is already hard at work fill key positions in his administration with billionaires and millionaires. Howard Lutnick, Trump’s pick for Commerce Secretary, is reportedly worth $2 billion. Linda McMahon, who will head the Department of Education, has a net worth of $2.6 billion. All told, there may be more than a dozen billionaires working in multiple federal agencies, not to mention quasi-government workers Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, co-chairs of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

Meanwhile, the biggest tech names are showing up at Mar-a-Lago to visit Trump. Musk, Bezos and Zuckerberg have all trooped down to Florida over the past few weeks. CEO of TikTok, Shou Zi Chewalso made the pilgrimage in December. Chew is fighting to keep his business in the US now expected to join his social media peers at the inauguration alongside Google CEO Sundar Pichai and OpenAI’s Sam Altman.

Perhaps it is not surprising to see so much money and power mingling with the incoming president and his administration. The revolving door from lobbyist to White House staffer to lobbyist and from CEO to cabinet secretary and back again is not exclusive to one political party. Money in politics has been an issue in both Republican and Democratic administrations.

But since the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United, this problem has gotten worse. (Somewhat ironically it is tomorrow 15 years since the verdict.) Citizens United opened the floodgates to unlimited election spending by corporations, special interest groups, and ultimately individuals.

And give they did.

According to OpenSecretsoutside groups spent a total of $574.5 million during the 2008 election cycle. Four years later — and two years after Citizens United — that amount more than doubled to $1.3 billion. In 2024, it hit a whopping $4.5 billion. That’s a 680% increase from 2008 to 2024 in money from corporations, super PACs and individuals.

Which brings us back to where we are today, at the beginning of a new administration led by arguably one of the most transactional presidents in modern history. When Trump was last in office, his company owned a hotel blocks away from the White House, where foreign leaders and special interest groups booked rooms and host sumptuous parties. When Trump left Washington, the Trump Organization sold the lease rights to this hotel. Now it’s talking about will purchase them again.

In this Trump White House, Fortune 500 companies know what to expect. They see the deal making and they will do what they believe is in their company’s best interest for their shareholders, employees and customers. Donations for the inauguration are coming in reaching almost 200 million dollarsalmost double the amount in 2017.

That does not mean that what is decided in this second administration will be in the best interest of the American people. What this means is that we all need to watch what’s happening in Washington and stay clear-eyed about what we can go after. You continue to pay attention. And so do we.

Charlie Herman contributed.