Why the capitalists have fallen in with the far right

Donald Trump, Elon Musk and the far right portray themselves as radical outsiders at odds with the political establishment, upending norms and breaking all the rules. But in reality, far-right politicians are slavish servants of power—indeed, extreme embodiments of it.

They personify everything cruel and exploitative about capitalism and are determined to make the system even worse for workers and the poor. Rather than being radical outsiders, the most prominent far-right leaders and their backers are the ultimate insiders: capitalists and those who aspire to be their political representatives.

Trump made his fortune among the milieu of property speculators and casino operators. Musk, the world’s richest man, is a defence contractor, car manufacturer and media baron. Alice Weidel, leader of the fascist Alternative for Germany, is a banker who has occupied high-ranking positions at some of the world’s most powerful financial institutions, such as Goldman Sachs and Allianz Global.

Whether they own or manage car factories, defence firms or banks, they have the same basic interests: compete with other capitalists for profits and market dominance and fight to secure the best conditions in pursuit of that goal. The political programs they present aren’t in the least bit radical—they are utterly pro-capitalist.

Massive tax cuts for the rich and the pledge to “drill, baby, drill” are quite obviously about direct profit-making for sections of capitalists. But the war on “woke” and the return of machismo also need to be understood as part of an integrated pro-capitalist agenda.

By attacking limited social gains such as anti-discrimination provisions, the far right is attempting to make open bigotry more acceptable. Mass deportations of undocumented migrants play a similar role. If people can live with these abuses directed against their communities, it normalises the idea that certain groups deserve fewer rights than others.

In place of anti-discrimination programs, Trump has vowed to “create a society that is blind to colour and based on merit”. But the idea that those at the top of capitalist society are there because of their intelligence and hard work is bullshit.

Trump, for example, is a trust fund baby who has bankrupted half a dozen companies. He owes his political power to wealthy tech industry backers like Peter Thiel and Elon Musk.

Likewise, Musk is from a wealthy South African family that made their wealth under apartheid in property development and emerald mines. He has built his vast empire off loans from his parents and off the backs of the workers he exploits. This is not unique to Trump and Musk but common to many people in positions of power who inherit their wealth and achieve their status through the opportunities afforded by class privileges.

Musk in particular personifies how economic power under capitalism is transformed into political power. Those with enough money can buy their way into government or bankroll political parties that promote and pursue their interests. Musk donated $246 million to Trump in the 2024 elections, becoming Trump’s biggest donor and most influential promoter. In return, he has been appointed as the head of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Musk has declared that DOGE—which is tasked with restructuring the government, cutting programs, firing workers and investing in high tech to increase the productivity of the remaining workforce—is nothing less than a “revolution”.

But there is nothing remotely radical about any of this agenda. Republicans have long dreamed of gutting the federal bureaucracy (except for the bloated military and security apparatuses). Democrats claim to be different, but they have spent decades carrying out a milder version of that same project. Cutting government expenditure on social programs while funnelling taxpayer money into the means of destruction is mainstream capitalist politics across the globe.

There is perhaps no greater illustration of whose priorities dominate the US government than the obscene spectacle of the world’s richest man slashing aid to the poor, sick and elderly under the guise of eliminating “waste, fraud and abuse”.

Musk is now leveraging his massive fortune to finance far-right forces worldwide and to promote them through his social media platform, X. He has endorsed Germany’s fascist party in the upcoming elections and spoke at its recent conference about the need for the country to get beyond “Holocaust guilt”. He recently hosted an X interview with Alice Weidel, which drew an audience of up to 210,000 people. Weidel thanked Musk for the mainstream exposure, saying: “Elon, it’s a completely new situation for me that I can just have a normal conversation, and I’m not interrupted or negatively framed”.

Musk is also considering bankrolling Nigel Farage’s far-right Reform UK party in Britain (although he has expressed his wish for the party to be led by jailed fascist street agitator Tommy Robinson instead). Among the other fascists he has befriended is Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, with whom Musk has met repeatedly since she came to power in 2022. (Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party traces its origins to Mussolini.)

Musk has praised far-right Argentinian president Javier Milei’s model, which aims to dismantle public services, labour protections and all regulations on corporate exploitation. He has stated that the “Milei model” is the inspiration behind DOGE.

All big capitalists do this to varying degrees, putting their vast wealth into media empires and behind political parties that will promote and pursue their interests. Gina Reinhart has recently declared that she wants to use her wealth to bring Trump-style politics to Australia; Rupert Murdoch’s media empire has been working tirelessly to create favourable conditions for decades.

Capitalists, in particular, can quickly fall in love with the far right because it supports an extreme manifestation of the system they already benefit from and preside over: a dictatorship of the rich built on exploitation, competition, social hierarchy and bigotry.