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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Peter Stone in Washington

Trump’s picks to reward top donors who helped him win, watchdogs say

a man looking up
Donald Trump attends a viewing of the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket on 19 November 2024 in Brownsville, Texas. Photograph: Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Donald Trump has quickly tapped big donors and political allies for top posts to roll back environmental and health regulations, cut taxes and government spending in ways that will benefit key backers, say government watchdogs.

Armed with blueprints to expand presidential power in aggressive ways and backed by a bevy of billionaire donors and ultra loyalists who helped him win, the president-elect’s transactional style of awarding powerful posts to backers such as X owner Elon Musk, or allies of others such as fracking mogul Harold Hamm, is seen as “unprecedented”, and will likely boost their bottom lines, say critics.

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