One of the signatures of Trump’s second term is that he caterwauls about “socialism” while making deals with private companies in which he gives them government subsidies in exchange for partial government ownership—an approach reminiscent of the Chinese Communist Party. Now he’s doing it again with his new push for nuclear power.
The Washington Post reports:
The Trump administration will take a stake in at least $80 billion of new nuclear reactors that it sees as key to continuing to develop AI technologies through a deal it inked with the parent companies of nuclear developer Westinghouse.
The partnership is designed with “profit sharing mechanisms” that provide U.S. taxpayers returns “once certain thresholds are met,” according to the announcement.
Under the agreement, after the U.S. government signs final contracts for the construction of at least $80 billion in Westinghouse reactors, it would be entitled to receive 20 percent of Westinghouse returns in excess of $17.5 billion.
The U.S. could also require Westinghouse to go public if the company’s valuation surpasses $30 billion. If it does go public, U.S. taxpayers would be entitled to a 20 percent equity stake in the company, according details released by Brookfield.
This is another example of Trump’s centralized, command-and-control approach to the economy—and as is usual with this approach, it could turn out to be a boondoggle. Nuclear power plants are very expensive and take a long time to build, making it unlikely this venture will turn a profit and even less likely that new plants will come online in time to provide the energy needed for the current AI frenzy.
The Executive Watch is a project of the Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism, and its flagship publication The UnPopulist, to track in an ongoing way the abuses of the power of the American presidency. It sorts these abuses into five categories: Personal Grift, Political Corruption, Presidential Retribution, Power Consolidation, and Policy Illegality. Click the category of interest to get an overview of all the abuses under it.
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