$10 Billion and Counting: Trump Administration Snaps Up Stakes in Private Firms

[demmiblue]

Source: NYT

The Trump administration is snapping up ownership shares of private companies it deems essential to national security. It is an unusual new strategy that has already committed more than $10 billion in taxpayer funds and shows little sign of slowing.

The government’s growing portfolio of corporate ownership involves minority stakes, or the option to take them in the future, in at least nine companies involved in steel, minerals, nuclear energy and semiconductors, a New York Times analysis found. The deals were all struck in the past six months, with the bulk made in October and November.

The effort appears mostly driven by national security concerns, particularly a desire for the government to prop up strategic industries and lessen America’s reliance on foreign countries like China for key resources. Some officials are hopeful the equity stakes will generate a windfall for taxpayers, but the likelihood of that is unclear. Many of the companies are facing financial headwinds, and some could take years to become profitable.

The unusual government intervention into the private market is fueling some concerns, including the opacity of the process, the potential for favoritism, corruption and market distortions, along with the possible loss of taxpayer funds should the investments fail.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/us/politics/trump-intel-steel-minerals-china.html?unlocked_article_code=1.308.XIMx.3WcQ8CbWM3Tm

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[gab13by13]

1. Biggest Socialist President since FDR.

Seeing as Krasnov wants government to control companies, now it's time for Universal healthcare, which is different from single payer healthcare.

[thesquanderer]

4. Yes, socialism. Imagine if a Dem president was directing U.S. ownership in private companies!

The screaming we'd be hearing from the right.

[Justice matters.]

13. Socialism for the already rich only is not the real def

of Socialism.

It's Kleptocracy mixed with a ugly taste of Fascism.

[demmiblue]

2. This is so sketchy:

This is so sketchy

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/u...

— Molly Jong-Fast (@mollyjongfast.bsky.social) 2025-11-25T13:20:12.081Z

[C_U_L8R]

3. What's really inside those "deals"?

What aren’t we seeing? Deposits in offshore accounts? Shady option grants? Other quid pro quo favors?
The apparent corruption is more pungent than Trump’s diaper.

[Silent Type]

5. Know for a fact Sen Sanders endorsed the Intel deal and presumably others. Actually think having an ownership

interest in these situations is a idea that might work out longterm. Obviously, trump's greedy hand is a concern, but still.

[PatSeg]

7. Yes, this sounds like it could be a good idea

but the fact that this administration is behind it makes me very suspicious.

[lonely bird]

6. State crony capitalism?

China has a host of issues and Trump thinks it’s a good idea to copy them.

[Kid Berwyn]

8. Other People's Money!

Traitor Don the Con for Putin.

[Hieronymus Phact]

9. where is the money coming from?

did congress appropriate it? is it part of the big bill? is he just using the govt. as a slush fund?

[William Seger]

10. But why?

How does the government ownership of an insignificant amount of equity do anything to protect those companies?

[louis-t]

11. Never being one to use his own money for anything, the taxpayer

will foot the bill while he consolidates more power for himself. And if you think some of the income from those businesses WON'T make it to his own pocket, think again. Even when those businesses fail, he will profit.

[patphil]

12. Creeping Socialism, but only in the area of gaining some control over certain businesses.

That will probably expand greatly over the next 3 years to include more businesses and greater control.
All for the sake of money, power, and control.
But the part of Socialism that actually helps people probably won't be there.
What the nation really needs is Universal Healthcare, and a restoration of all those agencies that monitor, and set standards for, industry. The latter is needed to reduce the need for expenditure on the health care side of the equation.
Clean air, water, and soil results in healthier people. Pure/healthy food has the same result.
However that doesn't result in short term billions pouring into the pockets of Trump and his cronies. After all, that's what this move by the Trump administration is really all about.

Selective Socialism of the kind that makes the rich richer.

[Justice matters.]

14. Kleptocracy:

Kleptocracy is a government whose leaders use their political power to steal from the country's citizens and resources for their own personal gain. It is a form of systemic corruption where the ruling elite, or "kleptocrats," expropriate the nation's wealth, often using political power to maintain their control and enriching themselves and their networks. This can destabilize a country by depleting funds for public services and development.

It's what Putin did in Russia when he came in and his pals, the oligarchs got their feet into businesses more and more until they seized them one by one to become billionaires on their own.

[William Seger]

15. We need to limit it to "next year" not "next 3 years" -- IMPEACH the MF in January '27!