Silicon Valley jumps into Trump’s second term: Tech surrounds Washington

US President Donald Trump, being a businessman himself, has always been fond of what Silicon Valley has to offer. But this time, unlike his first term, which was characterized by MAGA populists and political outsiders, Trump has returned to the White House with the tech industry’s biggest names by his side.

At the heart of this political shift is Elon Musk, whose Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has reshaped Washington’s power dynamics to the point that liberals are framing its activities as a “government hostile takeover.”

Musk ally David Sacks, a former PayPal executive, now serves as Trump’s artificial intelligence and crypto czar. Meanwhile, Paul Atkins, a known advocate for digital assets, has been nominated to replace the infamous Gary Gensler as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Even tech leaders who had previously distanced themselves from Trump, Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook, Sundar Pichai, and Mark Zuckerberg stood at the front lines at the President’s Inauguration ceremony, seemingly keen to ease tensions with the new administration. 

Trump 2.0: Tech’s economic stakes in the US government 

The influx of tech elites in Washington is a striking departure from the previous Republican administrations; Trump’s second term has drawn a different crowd—Silicon Valley executives, software developers, and teen coders, all eager to disrupt government operations.

The tech industry flourished during Trump’s first term, benefiting from corporate tax cuts, deregulation, and pandemic-driven market booms. The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act slashed corporate tax rates from 35% to 21%, enabling companies like Apple and Google to reinvest billions into stock buybacks, acquisitions, and infrastructure expansion.

Now, Silicon Valley sees a new opportunity: streamlining public sector operations with automation and most importantly, artificial intelligence (AI).

Even in a first-world country like the US, public institutions are notorious for “holding onto” outdated systems and unwarranted skepticism of new technology. This presents the perfect opportunity for tech firms eager to modernize government functions, which Elon Musk and DOGE will certainly be aiming at. 

The US tech industry as a whole is happy that Trump is in the Oval Office; the hurdles they had previously faced, are slowly being phased out. FTC Chair Lina Khan, who aggressively pursued antitrust actions against Amazon, Apple, Google, and Meta, resigned on January 21; which is arguably because Trump is now US President, again. 

Trump has also reversed Biden’s cautious stance on cryptocurrency, going so far as to launch his own memecoin, “$Trump,” and proposing the creation of a national Bitcoin reserve.

Big Tech’s investments pay off

Tesla CEO Musk was one of the biggest financial backers of Trump’s 2024 campaign, contributing over $250 million to his election efforts. He actively campaigned for Trump, appearing and speaking in several MAGA rallies across the country.

In a Wednesday episode of The Times Tech Podcast, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman praised the current US administration as a “breath of fresh air” for the tech industry. Altman criticized the Biden administration for being unfriendly to business and expressed optimism about Silicon Valley’s ability to expand under Trump’s policies.

The CEO himself contributed $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund and has partnered with the administration on a $500 billion AI infrastructure initiative, dubbed Stargate. The project, aimed at revitalizing America’s semiconductor manufacturing and AI capabilities, is seen as a major win for the US tech sector.

“There’s huge excitement in the industry that we can build a lot in the US now,” Altman said, implying that the US government has increased ambitions for tech companies to dive into chip fabrication, robotics, and energy innovation.