As one American author once said, the United States is “the best democracy money can buy.” Or it can even be called a “Democracy For the Few." Those who funnel money into Donald Trump’s presidential campaign earned buckets full of money as a return on their investment. They moved their best men to key positions to secure even larger sums.
Lobbyists who specialize in promoting the interests of the "American Military-Industrial Complex" or energy companies are represented at the highest levels in the administration, including at the secretarial level. While the head of an arms company is appointed to the top positions in the Pentagon, their generals can spend their retirement years as consultants in these companies. They call this circle the “revolving door lobbyists.” You leave through one door, and enter again through the same door.
The benefits reaped by ordinary Americans from the so-called tax reform, which brought huge tax cuts to big corporations, were mere drops in a bucket.
Furthermore, Trump withdrawing the U.S. from the "Paris Climate Agreement" is directly linked to the interests of the Energy Lobby.
Young Democratic lawmakers are trying to limit revolving door lobbying and financial support to campaigns that appeal to personal interests. They have just started the race, and still have a lot of work to do before they can establish a "Democracy of the Majority."
Decisions made by Trump to pull out of the Iran Nuclear Agreement, move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, as well as policies aimed at backing Palestinians into a corner are all results of the Israeli Lobby’s efforts.
The wings of the Lobby supporting Netanyahu's inflammatory policies made generous donations to Trump’s election campaign.
John Bolton was brought to Trump's National Security Advisory by billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, who was one of the lobby’s chief financiers. It was Adelson's biggest dream to move the U.S.’s Israel embassy to Jerusalem and nullify the Iran Nuclear Deal.
Trump, who appointed Bolton in April 2018, withdrew from the Iran deal a mere month later in May. The U.S. Embassy was also moved to Jerusalem in May. Adelson was front and center at the inauguration ceremony as a guest of honor.
Trump withdrew from the "Nuclear Deal", but he also opened the door to negotiation with Iran under new conditions.
Bolton and the lobby endorsing him fundamentally opposed this idea. At the "G-7 Summit" held in France in August 2019, Trump wanted to meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif. Bolton then called his best friend forever, Benjamin Netanyahu, to prevent this tete-a-tete.
Bolton asked Netanyahu to discourage Trump from going ahead with this meeting. Bolton is someone who does not shy away from advocating his belief in the military intervention to procure a regime switch in Iran.
In an article published in the New York Times in 2015, he was so determined to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon that he was ready to bomb the country.
Until Bolton was sacked by Trump in September 2019, he worked day and night to gain ground for the special agenda of the lobby he represented.
These days, the American media establishment is busy discussing Bolton’s latest book. With four months to go for the U.S. elections, Bolton's White House notes are getting more attention.
Speaking to the "Fox News" channel, Trump called Bolton "sick", a "liar" and "stupid."
"He was a sick man, there was something wrong with him. I noticed it early," said Trump, noting that it was the wrong call to hire Bolton. However, Bolton is a Neocon who has occupied critical positions in almost every Republican administration since Ronald Reagan.
Trump's first Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, is purported to have told Bolton "I hear you’re the devil incarnate.” Bolton is the embodiment of the "Washington Swamp," which Trump has spoken out against so many times.
Trump pledged to withdraw U.S. troops from the "endless wars." This promise appealed to ordinary Americans. However, John Bolton, a hawk of the democracy for the few, wanted the U.S. to be in a permanent state of war. It had then seemed unlike Trump to assign such a man to a critical position of this sort. It is now clear that these lobbies were responsible for this inconsistency.
