President Donald Trump’s lighthearted manner masks a genuine push toward state ownership of private enterprises.
“Communism’s easy to sell. I would be the greatest communist in history.” —President Donald Trump, July 8, NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey
That assertion marked the second such declaration issued within a couple of months. The first surfaced on June 26, as Trump responded to a surge of democratic socialist wins in party primaries across New York City, Denver, and Washington, D.C.
Speaking in Ankara, where he also argued that communism has “never worked,” the president appeared to be joking. Yet the remark stood out because the administration’s subsequent course has embraced a milder form of communal control by acquiring stakes in the means of production.
Since 2025, the Trump administration has secured federal positions in private firms such as Intel, the rare earths miner MP Materials, and U.S. Steel. In the case of the latter, the government captured a “golden share,” granting it veto power over major strategic decisions in return for approving Nippon Steel’s takeover of the company.
In October 2025, the state also acquired a 5 percent stake in the Canadian mining company Lithium Americas and a 5 percent stake in its Nevada lithium project. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt characterized the arrangement as “a creative solution” to “our nation’s crippling debt crisis.”
Later that month, officials signaled another so-called “creative solution.” By underwriting the expansion of nuclear reactors operated by Westinghouse Electric Company, the government would receive 20 percent of dividends that exceed $17.5 billion. If the privately held company’s valuation reaches $30 billion or more by 2029, the government may require it to issue stock, in which case Washington would hold a warrant to convert its participation into a 20 percent equity stake.
Early indicators suggest the government has not been an adept dealmaker. Last year, the Trump administration approved the export of certain Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices chips to China in exchange for a 15 percent slice of the sales. Politico reported in June that the regime should have netted “about $63 million between August and December of 2025.” In reality, it has received nothing so far, because “the administration has yet to issue the necessary regulations to codify the profit-sharing arrangement amid questions about their legality.”
There remains time for the administration to alter course before more transactions go awry. Perhaps the president should listen to his own proclamation. Capitalism is “just the best system,” he declared shortly after touting his communist potential in Ankara. “It’s been amazing.”
