Why the billionaire class is kissing Trump's proverbial ring

Despite all beliefs to the contrary, the billionaires who have been seen in President Donald Trump's orbit since he won the presidency for a second time last November are not mere sycophants to his regime. Former Washington Post political cartoonist Ann Telnaes should know. Last month, Telnaes quit her job after her editor refused to publish what turned out to be her last cartoon for the newspaper. In it, Telnaes drew Amazon and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos, Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, OpenAI billionaire Sam Altman, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, and Mickey Mouse (representing media giant Disney/American Broadcasting Company) either kneeling or bowing face down in front of a statue of the president. In explaining her decision to resign from the Post, Telnaes wrote, "Owners of such press organizations are responsible for safeguarding that free press – and trying to get in the good graces of an autocrat-in-waiting will only result in undermining that free press."