Trump now more influenced by big donors than MAGA voices: Trita Parsi

Expert Trita Parsi claims Donald Trump is now more influenced by big money donors than his MAGA base, with the balance shifting towards neoconservatives. Parsi says this has disillusioned the 'America First' faction of his supporters.

Trump's Base Shifts to Big Donors, Expert Says

Middle East Expert Trita Parsi on Wednesday said that US President Donald Trump was now more influenced by big donors than conventional Make America Great Again (MAGA) voices. Parsi, in an exclusive interview with ANI, said that the bases have shifted from conservative voices.

"Again, this goes back to what I said earlier. I think the base, the voters are with Tucker Carlson, with Steve Bannon, with the non-interventionists who don't understand why he's spending time on this. He was supposed to fix the border. He was supposed to do all of these other things. I think the voters fall more closely with them. The big donors, however, fall into the other category. And so far, the balance has shifted, whereas it was quite strongly in favour of the Tucker and Steve Bannon and the MAGA or the America First faction earlier on in the administration," he said.

Conservatives 'Disillusioned' by Neoconservative Shift

Parsi said that this has left several conservatives disillusioned. "Over the last couple of eight months or so, it's shifted clearly in the direction of the neoconservatives and those who have the support of the big money donors. Venezuela, for instance, I don't think would have happened in a different scenario. And this has definitely disillusioned a lot of the folks on the America First or the non-interventionist side of things," he said.

Donor-Funded Ballroom Raises Questions of Access

In the same light, the construction of a USD 300m ballroom on the site of what was the White House's East Wing is the first major structural change to the complex since 1948. It involves tearing down the existing East Wing, which had housed the first lady's offices and was used for ceremonies. The work is being funded via private donations from individuals, corporations and tech companies, including Google and Amazon, raising uncomfortable questions about the level of access this might give donors to the most powerful man in the US, Al Jazeera reported.

In a statement made in August, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt indicated the cost would be about USD 200m. However, later, Trump raised that to USD 300m, as per Al Jazeera. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)