This video discusses the significant influence of wealthy individuals on Donald Trump's second presidential administration. It highlights how Trump, known for gathering influential figures including business moguls and celebrities, is set to bring a new group of wealthy and powerful individuals into his circle as advisors. Figures like Elon Musk, Scott Besent, and Vivek Ramaswamy are posited to potentially hold key roles or advisory positions, indicating a more transactional nature with this diverse group compared to his previous administration.

The video further contrasts Trump's new advisory group with that of his first term, noting a shift from traditional political figures to more business-oriented personalities. This shift suggests Trump's focus on business acumen over political credentials, possibly to further expand the Republican base. It also explores the significant role of loyalty in Trump's selection process, where past critics who became supporters are now warmly received, illustrating Trump's unique approach to broadening his political influence.

Key takeaways from the video include:

Please remember to turn on the CC button to view the subtitles.

Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. orbit [ˈɔːrbɪt] - (noun) - The sphere of power or influence around someone or something. - Synonyms: (range, sphere, influence)

Donald Trump re-won the White House four years after getting voted out, and you're reporting on the ultra-wealthy who are in Trump's orbit, who are also potentially in his ear the second time around.

2. poised [pɔɪzd] - (adjective) - Possessing a composed and self-assured manner, or ready to do something. - Synonyms: (ready, prepared, set)

...and are poised to influence him and the administration.

3. resigned [rɪˈzaɪnd] - (verb) - To voluntarily leave a job or office. - Synonyms: (quit, left, stepped down)

She resigned after January 6th.

4. transactional [trænˈzakʃənl] - (adjective) - Relating to the conduct of business, especially emphasizing practical or utilitarian considerations. - Synonyms: (pragmatic, business-like, procedural)

...it's kind of a return to usual in terms of Donald Trump kind of having a more transactional nature and transactional approach to politics.

5. fealty [ˈfiːəlti] - (noun) - A feudal tenant's or vassal's sworn loyalty to a lord. - Synonyms: (loyalty, fidelity, allegiance)

...he loves people who once were against him and then pledged their fealty to him.

6. venture capitalist [ˈvɛntʃər ˈkapɪtəlɪst] - (noun) - A person or entity that invests money in new or struggling companies that have the potential for growth. - Synonyms: (investor, financer, backer)

Marc Andreessen, the Silicon Valley venture capitalist, he's somebody who's never been a supporter of Republican politics.

7. hostility [hɒˈstɪlɪti] - (noun) - Unfriendly or antagonistic behavior or attitudes. - Synonyms: (animosity, opposition, enmity)

...only endorsed Trump this time around because of what he viewed as the Biden administration's hostility to the technology sector.

8. coterie [ˈkoʊtəri] - (noun) - A small group of people with shared interests or tastes, especially one that is exclusive of other people. - Synonyms: (clique, circle, group)

...those informal telephone calls that he's known for having with his various coterie of advisers...

9. infusing [ɪnˈfjuːzɪŋ] - (verb) - To fill or pervade with a particular quality or feeling. - Synonyms: (imbuing, instilling, permeating)

...he did so in a big way, infusing $119 million, mobilizing the get out the vote operation in Pennsylvania...

10. hodgepodge [ˈhɒdʒˌpɔdʒ] - (noun) - A mixture of different things or a jumble. - Synonyms: (mix, assortment, medley)

This really is a hodgepodge of advisors, as you said.

A Look Inside The New Trumpiverse

Donald Trump is known to surround himself with the rich and famous as he prepares to reenter the White House. He'll bring with him a new group of billionaires, business leaders and entertainers. Forbes identified 13 of them who are poised to shape his second presidential administration.

Hi, everybody. I'm Brittany Lewis, a reporter here at Forbes. Joining me now is my colleague, Forbes staff writer John Hyatt. John, thank you so much for joining me. Thanks for having me, Brittany. Of course.

Last week we witnessed one of the most historic comebacks in modern day political history. Donald Trump re-won the White House four years after getting voted out. And you're reporting on the ultra-wealthy who are in Trump's orbit, who are also potentially in his ear the second time around. But let's rewind, let's back up four years ago, who were some of the ultra-rich and wealthy in his ear his first term.

So during Trump's first term, he brought with him folks who made their money on Wall Street, who he always respected as informal advisors, people he'd speak with on the phone, people like Carl Icahn, famous corporate raider, his Las Vegas business partner, Phil Ruffin, people like Blackstone's founder, Steve Schwartzman. And most of his cabinet was made up of political people.

But he also had some Wall street folks like Steve Mnuchin, of course, his treasury secretary, and Gary Cohen, a Goldman Sachs veteran who worked in the Trump administration as well. But he also had family in the White House, of course, he had Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump who were key senior advisors. So he had a range of different types of advisors in his first term.

A lot has obviously changed since he left the White house in early 2021. And in the past four years, some who previously served in the Trump administration have spoken out against Donald Trump. But who were the others who could potentially be returning the second time around? Yeah, you're right. I mean, people like Betsy DeVos, who was head of DOE in the first administration.

She resigned after January 6th. She was one of those people. She has since suggested she'd be open to serving in a second Trump administration. She actually donated money to Elon Musk's pac, too. But, I mean, you know, Donald Trump doesn't forget people who go against him. He's already stated that he will not be welcoming back Mike Pompeo and Nikki Haley to people who served in his administration, his first administration, and who signaled their willingness to rejoin.

And of course, Nikki Haley ran against him. And Mike Pompeo had said some not so nice things, at least in Donald Trump's mind about him. So, yeah, for his second administration, there is a new group of people who are poised to influence him and the administration. People like Elon Musk, who is of course the most prominent. This is the wealthiest person in the world, controller of Tesla, SpaceX X, formerly Twitter, an incredibly powerful and influential person.

But Trump is also bringing with him a new group of people, people like Scott Besent. He's a little known hedge fund executive who has become quite close to Trump and is a top contender for treasury secretary this time around. Also, former rivals on the campaign trail, Vivek Ramaswamy and RFK Jr both of whom endorse Donald Trump and both of whom are slated for either cabinet positions or influential advisory roles.

And then you have other people like Dana White, the president of ufc, who's been a longtime Trump friend, who was invited to speak by Trump at his victory speech. And so you have a bit more of a hodgepodge group of people this time around who are in Trump's orbit and who are poised to influence. Let's talk about exactly what's different about this crop of people, because when you're listing these names, they're business people, they're celebrities, they're political outsiders like Trump was touted almost a decade ago. So what's different about them?

Well, I think one thing that's different about them is what you just said. They're not all. Most of them don't have a political background per se. You know, they made their money on Wall Street or in different types of business enterprises. I think one thing that's interesting about them too is that most of them were not original Trump people, excluding, say, Dana White, who's always been a friend of Trump's for decades and supported Trump through his 2016 campaign.

You think about people like RFK Jr. For example. I mean, RFK Jr. Was running as an independent candidate until August when he dropped out and endorse Trump. You look at other folks like Elon Musk. Elon Musk famously stepped away from an advisory role he held in 2017. It's like a business council. He stepped away from that during Trump's first administration after Trump pulled the US out of the Paris climate Accords.

And Elon Musk backed Ron DeSantis in the primaries for this election. And he only jumped on the Trump train this past summer. And of course, he did so in a big way, infusing $119 million, mobilizing the get-out-the-vote operation in Pennsylvania, making X into a very hospitable place for Trump and pro-Trump messages. And so you see, not uncommon with Trump, a fairly transactional nature in some of these people that he's brought in.

Either they gave large amounts of money to his campaign or they endorsed him early on, back when it wasn't clear if he would be the Republican candidate in 2024. And so in that sense, it's kind of a return to usual in terms of Donald Trump kind of having a more transactional nature and transactional approach to politics.

And political allies, as you mentioned, with some of this group, they were late to the Trump train, so to speak. And Trump seemingly doesn't forget a slight he values loyalty. So why does he in particular embrace this group's Support?

Well, you're 100% correct. He values loyalty. But we also know that he loves people who once were against him and then pledged their fealty to him. And so in the case of some of these people, one person I haven't mentioned, Marc Andreessen, the Silicon Valley venture capitalist, he's somebody who's never been a supporter of Republican politics. And he only endorsed Trump this time around because of what he viewed as the Biden administration's hostility to the technology sector.

And so he's a great example of somebody that Trump has embraced because it's evidence of maybe a turning tide, of an expanding of the Republican base of voters, a realignment, if you will. And so I think in the case of some of these people, one, they were never ardent Trump critics. The likes of Nikki Haley have not been invited back for a reason. Right. They were speaking out against Trump specifically. But whereas some of these other people, maybe they weren't Trump fans or they weren't Trump donors, as soon as they became Trump fans and became Trump campaign surrogates or donors, I mean, it's a great way for Trump to show that he's expanded the Republican base.

He's bringing in new groups of voters. And I think that was a key message that he had on the campaign trail. And I think we see that with the inclusion of really influential figures, people like Elon Musk, people like Joe Rogan, who are not necessarily political by nature, but who are part of this sort of new MAGA universe, or as we call it, the Trump Trump verse.

And to your point, I mean, someone who was a real turncoat who really spoke out against Trump, now pledged his loyalty to him. J.D. Vance, and he's number two on Trump's ticket, is now vice will be vice president. But when you're looking at the billionaires, the Celebrities who are in Trump's orbit. Let's talk money here. So who's the richest?

It would have to be Elon Musk. As of the time we're recording this, he's worth about $315 billion. And that's about $40 billion more than he was worth the day before the election. Investors have been pouring money into Tesla since Donald Trump emerged victorious. And so it's proven to be a phenomenal bet for Elon Musk.

$119 million into his pack, $40 billion richer. I mean, that's an incredible return on investment. But you're right, Elon Musk is not the only wealthy Trump surrogate. You have people like Vivek Ramaswamy, he's a billionaire. You have Marc Andreessen, another billionaire. John Paulson, prominent hedge fund executive, he's worth about $4 billion.

And he's another potential candidate for a Treasury secretary or another key economic advisor role. And then you have people like Doug Burgum. He was the short-lived candidate for president in the Republican primaries. He endorsed Trump pretty early. He stumped for Trump. He was briefly in the discussion for potential vice presidential pick. And so like Trump himself a billionaire, you know, he likes to surround himself with folks who also have money.

So no surprise to see that a lot of these names, they're rich, they're successful, they're powerful, they're household names. Who do you think would be the most influential in the White House in Trump's ear?

Well, I think Elon Musk is the obvious answer just based on what we've seen already. There's been reporting, first reported by Axios, that Elon Musk participated in a call between President Elect Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky. And so we're already seeing Elon Musk wielding an extraordinary amount of power, unprecedented amount of power as a private citizen business owner.

Tagging along on phone calls with major foreign leaders is something we haven't seen before. But I think a dark horse in terms of somebody who's going to be very influential in the second Trump administration is Linda McMahon. She's currently co-chair of the Trump transition team. She served in Trump's first administration actually as the head of the Small Business Administration department. And in addition to co-chairing the transition team this time around, she is also very influential in the America First Policy Institute.

That's a think tank that was set up by Larry Kudlow and some other Trump first term people. And it's sort of like a Project 2025 type group. That has been crafting policies and executive actions. But unlike Project 2025, this is really geared around a second Trump term. It's not just for any Republican candidate who may have emerged in 2024. It's really geared around Trump's vision for American politics and for policymaking.

And so I think she, by virtue of helping to identify people to work for Trump, but also in terms of crafting these executive actions, crafting this policy agenda, she's going to be very influential. I want to talk about someone else who could wield some influence, and that's Joe Rogan. He's the king of podcasting. He has millions of views, subscribers listens. How influential do you think he will be and how loud is he supporting Trump in the wake of his victory?

Yeah, so, I mean, he's one of, if not the biggest podcaster in the United States. Of course, he endorsed Trump on the eve of the election. And Trump considered it such a big deal that he, while he was addressing a rally crowd on the eve of the election, he kind of interrupted himself to say that he just gotten word that Joe Rogan had endorsed him. And he touted that as being huge. And it was, frankly.

I mean, we did see a massive boom for Trump among the 18 to 29 year old voter base, especially men. And we know that that is the core of the Joe Rogan audience. And so I think a big question going forward is, will Trump continue to have those conversations with Joe Rogan, those informal telephone calls that he's known for having with his various coterie of advisers, both official and unofficial?

And if so, what do those conversations look like? I mean, Joe Rogan is not steeped in policymaking, but he has his finger on the pulse of what young men are thinking and how they're viewing the world. And so I think in terms of Donald Trump's desire to make the MAGA movement outlive him to his successor? People like Joe Rogan are going to be very influential in crafting that ideology and in ensuring the Trump legacy sort of lives on.

It's really interesting. Trump's on the phone with these people. Trump and Elon Musk were on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Would any of these people on this list hold positions in the White House under Trump? Yeah, certainly. So you look at somebody like Scott Bessent, hedge fund executive, formerly worked for George Soros, interestingly so.

Another example of somebody who, you know, originally worked for a liberal icon in George Soros, liberal billionaire, mega donor, has now, you know, come full, come fully around and is fully on board with Trump. He's being floated as potential Treasury Secretary. Vivek Ramaswamy is being floated as a potential head of a department. Doug Burgum has been rumored to be in contention for Department of Energy.

And so some of these people could definitely have top White House roles, I think. Others, though, people like Joe Rogan, people like Dana White, those folks are likely to more remain informal advisors, people who Trump speaks to casually and who he hears out to kind of get their read on the political situation and sort of the politics around governing. This really is a hodgepodge of advisors, as you said.

So I want to talk about the precedent here. How does this kind of influence differ from White House's past? Well, I think in the case of Elon Musk especially, we've never seen anything like it. We've never seen somebody of Elon Musk's wealth, which in itself is unprecedented. He's the wealthiest person in the world right now. Nobody's ever been as wealthy and powerful as Elon Musk with the extent of influence he has over the administration right now.

And of course, SpaceX is a major government contractor partner of NASA's. He wields total control over X, formerly Twitter. So, you know, he is setting the agenda and making the key decisions around algorithms and news feeds affecting how people view the news and what kind of information they receive. And so this sort of shadow presidency role that he's trying to carve out for himself is not something that, you know, we've ever seen before.

I think in the case of the other folks, you know, I think it's less abnormal and more sort of par for the course. You know, all presidents have advisors and people they speak with. Though I think in the case of Trump, he's definitely somebody who is not bound by the norms or confines of traditional policymaking and government. Right. Well, John, there's certainly a lot to look out for in the next four years. And as time marches on, I know you will be reporting all about it. John Hyatt, thank you so much for joining me. Thank you, Brittany.

Politics, Business, Leadership, Influence, Elon Musk, 2024 Election, Forbes