Trump has served as the Pied Piper for the most radical GOP agenda on the economy, workers, and the poor.

American Mythology: The Presidency of Donald Trump

An Intercepted audio documentary series offers a comprehensive analytical history of the Trump presidency. Featuring in-depth examination of Trump’s extreme agenda, the roots of U.S. history, and the policies of Trump’s predecessors, the series seeks to analyze the question: Is Trump the worst president in U.S. history?

DONALD TRUMP HAS run the White House like his family business with one primary aim: to enrich his brand, his family, and his cronies.

In part six of “American Mythology,” we examine how Trump and the GOP — at times with help from the Democrats — have opened the gates to the federal feeding trough for corporate greed and unaccountability. Throughout the 2016 campaign Trump claimed that, unlike Hillary Clinton, he was not beholden to corporate or special interests and that he would uplift the working class.

Once in power, he appointed record numbers of Goldman Sachs veterans to his administration, passed sweeping tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, attacked organized labor, and chiseled away at an already abysmal health care system. Unprecedented inequality and stagnant wages have persisted. Fewer Americans currently have health insurance than when Trump was sworn into office.

These sharp economic injustices have come into clear focus during the Covid-19 pandemic: Corporate robber barons like Jeff Bezos have increased their wealth by billions while 40 percent of Americans say they couldn’t withdraw $400 in the event of an unexpected emergency. In America, eight million more people have descended into poverty in recent months, as the wealth of billionaires grew by $845 billion.

Over the past week, we’ve been releasing an episode each weekday focusing on a different aspect of the Trump presidency and digging into the history and context of the actions of this administration. Make sure to tune tomorrow to part seven of this series, where we’re going to be taking an in-depth look at Donald Trump’s policies on the climate.

American Mythology: The Presidency of Donald Trump is an Intercepted limited documentary series. You can follow us on Twitter @Intercepted and on Instagram @InterceptedPodcast. Intercepted is a production of First Look Media and The Intercept. Our lead producer is Jack D’Isidoro. Our producer is Laura Flynn. Elise Swain is our associate producer and graphic designer. Betsy Reed is editor in chief of The Intercept. Rick Kwan mixed the show. Transcription for this program is done by Lucie Kroening. Our music, as always, was composed by DJ Spooky.

First aired on The Intercept.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License