Trump's Corporate Equity Stakes Hand Future Democratic Presidents a Tool to Pressure Private Industry
Source: "How Trump's 40 equity stakes could empower future Democratic presidents | Fox News." October 23, 2026. www.foxnews.com
The Gist
The author argues that Republicans should stop and unwind Trump's government ownership stakes in 40 companies. Even if Republicans like the idea now, a future Democratic president could use those stakes to push companies around on guns, oil, and AI. The stakes also do little for taxpayers or national security, which can be served by less intrusive means.
Conclusion
Republicans should end the Trump administration's government equity-stake program and divest the holdings, because the stakes are unjustified on their own terms and would empower future Democratic presidents to use government ownership to pressure companies and advance policies Republicans oppose.
Premises
- The Trump administration has announced or completed deals for ownership stakes in 40 private companies, with no clear legal authority and no formal sovereign wealth fund structure.
- Democratic figures, including former Biden and Lina Khan-era officials, are openly considering using government ownership to pressure gun, oil, and AI companies.
- The Biden administration pressured social media platforms to remove content without any ownership stake, suggesting ownership would give future administrations even more leverage.
- The fiscal rationale is weak: selling the entire Intel stake would net about $28 billion, under 1.5% of the $2 trillion annual deficit, and paper gains do not equal Treasury revenue.
- Government picking winners disadvantages competitors, diverts private investment from firms with better commercial prospects, and discourages new entrepreneurial entrants.
- The national security rationale is weak because less intrusive tools already exist, such as easing permitting, removing tariffs on inputs, purchase contracts, and stockpiles of critical materials.
- Congressional Republicans have done nothing to stop the program and are trying to give the executive branch, including future administrations, legal authority to continue it.
Assumptions
- Future Democratic administrations will actually use equity stakes to coerce companies, and this outcome is bad from a Republican or limited-government viewpoint.
- Executive power created or normalized by one administration will be inherited by its successors.
- The administration's stated rationales (taxpayer returns, national security) are the only plausible justifications, and the alternatives are adequate substitutes.
- Government ownership gives meaningfully more coercive leverage than existing regulatory and political tools.
- Republicans would not accept the same program if run by Democrats, so the principle should apply regardless of who is in power.
- The Intel stake is representative of the portfolio's fiscal significance.