While loudly stoking fear of communism, Trump is quietly changing US capitalism

While warning of the rise of socialism on the left, President Donald Trump is simultaneously conducting his own experiments in economic theory, putting his nationalist spin on American capitalism. The fear of socialism is built on the idea that government intervention stifles free private enterprise, which capitalists view as the bedrock of American greatness. Trump, however, is using his view of the national interest — which frequently appears to coincide with his own personal interest — as an excuse to get the government involved in all sorts of markets. Without asking Congress, Trump’s administration has bought stakes in dozens of private companies. These range from the massive – a nearly $9 billion lifeline to Intel in exchange for nearly 10% of the company – to much smaller stakes in mineral, quantum computing and semiconductor companies, according to…