The problem of money in politics has been talked about for decades, decades ago, people warned that America might have already become an oligarchy. But there seems to be something different about the beginning of President Trump’s second term, and that is that attention, not cash, is the form of power that interests him most. His billionaire backers did not make the cut at his inauguration, instead, the seats of power were occupied by the titans of attention, the leaders of Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, Amazon, and Google, whom Trump was eager to see arrayed before him. Washington is filled with lobbying offices and fundraisers because powerful interests believe that something is gained when dollars are spent. They are right. We have come to expect and accept a grotesque level of daily corruption in American politics, aided by a series of Supreme Court rulings that give money the protections of speech, and by congressional Republicans who have fought even modest campaign finance reforms. But at least we have some rules to limit the power of money in politics and track its movements. However, the same cannot be said for attention. If Trump saves TikTok and, in return, TikTok boosts pro-Trump content before the 2026 elections to help it go viral, would that be illegal? Perhaps. But would we even know it had happened? If Elon Musk turns the dials on X to tilt the conversation in the Republican Party’s direction before the 2028 elections, who will stop him? Attention, not money, is now the fuel of American politics. It was clear in 2022 that Musk overpaid when he bought Twitter for $44 billion. If judged as a business transaction, he probably did overpay. But we did not know then, and we do not know now, how to value the attention he bought. In terms of attention, Musk’s purchase of Twitter turned him into the most powerful person in the world, perhaps only Trump could match. What is that worth? Oligarchy is not just corruption, it describes what happens when wealth becomes intertwined with rulership. Musk is not just seeking contracts or favors, he is seeking influence and centrality. He is offering Trump not just money but also attention. And Trump has been happy, at least so far, to make that trade. Past presidents have had their wealthy backers, and those backers have won access and even spoils, but we had never seen such a clear power trade in the modern era. And by making this trade so publicly, Musk and Trump have opened a path that other attention oligarchs may well want to follow.
Read from: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/26/opinion/trump-musk-zuckerberg-attention.html