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SINKING SHIP

Executives Who Sucked Up to Trump Panic as Disaster Looms

The world’s richest are preparing for life after a widely forecasted blue wave.

President Donald Trump reacts onstage while rallying for Sen. Roger Marshall in Park City, Kansas.

Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Desperate executives are pleading with Democrats after years of sucking up to Donald Trump and the GOP, according to a new report.

California tech moguls have played a recurring role in the president’s circus, creeping into photographs, dinners, and even the government itself.

But now some are scrambling to curry favor with Democrats, as the party looks to crash a blue wave over the GOP and challenge Trump’s power for the final two years of his term, according to The Washington Post.

US President Donald Trump speaks with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the White House driveway following a luncheon for tech leaders in the East Room, in Washington, D.C., US, September 29, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Tech moguls like Mark Zuckerberg have snuck into many a photo op with Trump during his second term.

Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

“They essentially made the cardinal sin of forgetting that pendulums reliably do one thing—and it swings back most of the time,” Silicon Valley-based Democratic strategist Cooper Teboe told the Post. “They’ve got a very rough couple years ahead.”

“Folks now look at Silicon Valley and they see a number of oppressors,” he added, noting that if “Democrats are on the side of holding tech accountable… that it is fantastic, fantastic politics for them.”

It comes against the backdrop of spiking public concern over AI, which Trump has suggested should be checked only by a system of self-policing, rather than robust government oversight.

President Donald Trump and Elon Musk

Elon Musk has become the tech leader most closely affiliated with the White House.

Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

A Democratic-majority Congress could lead to investigations into business dealings that took place under Trump.

Democrats will also know that if they manage to take control of one or both chambers, a fast start to the term’s second half would be in their favor.

Law firm Crowell & Moring’s congressional investigations lead Jamie Bair told the Post that compared to trump’s first term, Democrats won’t “burn anywhere near as much time on the ramp-up.”

He added: “It’s going to get pretty intense pretty quickly.”

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 19: President Donald Trump speaks with Satya Nadella, Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft, and Jeff Bezos, Chief Executive Officer of Amazon during an American Technology Council roundtable in the State Dinning Room at the White House in Washington, DC on Monday, June 19, 2017.

Jeff Bezos has also been spotted around Trump's orbit.

Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images

While the Post didn’t identify which executives had been courting Democrats, several of the wealthiest people on the planet have made no secret of their desire to get on the right side of Trump.

Tesla tycoon Elon Musk has made eye-watering donations to GOP campaigns and became a key face in the early days of Trump’s second term through his incendiary leadership of DOGE.

Amazon boss Jeff Bezos’ streaming service platformed Melania Trump’s panned documentary, and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg has popped up in the crowd at a host of Trumpy events, often looking pally with the president.

Congressional staffers, political lobbyists, lawyers, investors, and executives, told the Post that Democrats were plotting to look into firms involved in various stages of the military supply chain, including mining, defense technology, and manufacturing.

Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT) questions U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell as they testify during a House Financial Services Committee hearing on oversight of the Treasury Department's and Federal Reserve's coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic response on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., September 22, 2020. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/Pool

Rep. Jim Himes has suggested that little quarter will be given.

Joshua Roberts/Pool/Reuters

Two sources told the paper that firms with ties to Elon Musk and DOGE will be under the microscope, while four said firms that had received payments from the Pentagon would be too.

Ranking House Intelligence Committee member Rep. Jim Himes told a defense lobbying group in a letter that he wanted it to turn over documents related to donations its firms have made for Trump’s massive ballroom project.

“These matters… are topics upon which we are likely to take future investigative steps,” the Connecticut Democrat said, in a clear suggestion that Democrats will be on the offensive against those who sucked up to MAGA.

pete hegseth

Pentagon contracts will be under the microscope.

Kylie Cooper/Reuters

The Democrats would also have more teeth under the Constitution, as a majority is needed for congressional subpoenas.

“Every committee is going to want a piece of this,” law firm DLA Piper’s congressional investigations co-lead Brandon Rios told the Post.

“Companies in this ecosystem are going to face multiple fronts of investigations.”

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