'Trump Tramples On American Capitalism': Maxine Waters Blasts Trump's Intel, Nvidia Deals

Forbes Breaking News

At a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Wednesday, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) criticized President Trump for signing investment deals with corporations such as Nvidia and Intel.

Transcript

00:00Good morning.

00:01Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

00:03For years, this committee has proudly

00:05championed the values of capitalism and the free market.

00:10But Donald Trump's actions with companies

00:12like Nvidia, Intel, and US Steel

00:17is not capitalism by any definition of the word.

00:21To be clear, I do think it is appropriate for the taxpayers

00:25and the citizens of this country to have upside

00:30when taxpayer investments generate profit for corporations

00:36and their shareholders.

00:37If we appropriately tax corporations,

00:40especially those that receive substantial government

00:43subsidies, we, the taxpayers, would benefit.

00:46But we won't.

00:47We don't.

00:48Yet what Trump is doing is not growing the economy

00:52or protecting workers.

00:54His chaotic interference in private markets

00:57and the misuse of government tools

01:00is only to give Trump more ways to bully the American people.

01:04He's used the government to attack cities

01:08like Los Angeles and Washington, universities like Harvard,

01:12Columbia, and Brown, nonprofits like the National Endowment

01:17for the Arts, news organizations like NPR and PBS,

01:22former government officials, and law firms.

01:25Now he's attacking corporations.

01:28And by the way, Trump promised that tariffs would bring American

01:33manufacturing back.

01:34But the latest job numbers show that the US lost 42,000

01:40manufacturing jobs since April.

01:43And businesses continue to pass off the coast of tariffs to consumers.

01:51This is the kind of sweeping authoritarian style communist takeover

01:59that China's leadership would applaud.

02:01And just like in China, Trump isn't doing this to help working class families.

02:06It's simply about control, consolidating power,

02:10punishing his enemies, rewarding political loyalty,

02:13and retaliating against those who refuse to bend to his will.

02:19As Trump tramples on American capitalism and our democracy,

02:24I'm absolutely appalled that as I look at Republicans

02:29who claim to be strong capitalists and tout the businesses they own.

02:34For example, Mr. Huizinga, are you ready to hand over 10% of your gravel

02:40business to Trump?

02:42Of course not.

02:43Instead of speaking out in defense of capitalism and democracy,

02:47Republicans are working with Trump's SEC to advance legislation

02:52that will further his anti-capitalist agenda

02:56by silencing the voice of shareholders.

02:59They want companies to ignore legitimate concerns from shareholders

03:03about climate change and other risks,

03:06simply because those concerns don't align with Trump's political agenda.

03:12And if you want a case study in why shareholder rights matter,

03:17look at Tesla.

03:18After Delaware's Chancery Court boarded Mr. Musk's $56 billion award

03:25for a flawed process, the company reincorporated in Texas

03:32and is now proposing to award Mr. Musk with the obscene

03:36and outrageous pay package that will exceed $1 trillion.

03:41If Republicans get their way by silencing investors

03:45and remaking their boards to no longer be independent,

03:50public companies may experience a fate similar to that

03:54of Enron or WorldCom.

03:57And we all know what happened to them.

04:00As Trump operates as a communist and uses his government

04:05to control the economy, Democrats will fight to ensure that workers,

04:10not just the corporate elite, see and feel the benefits.

04:15We will also fight to ensure Congress, and not the president,

04:19determines how the government spends taxpayer resources

04:22on things that truly benefit taxpayers, like building housing,

04:26supporting health care, and caring for those in need.

04:30Anything less is unacceptable, I yield back.

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