Of Cronyism and Absurdity: Capital Imperative Behind the Perpetual Chaos of Trumpworld
By Mike B. for MLRG, October 2026
Image: “The Bosses of the Senate” by Joseph Keppler, Puck, January 23, 1889 (Library of Congress). A “Senate of the Monopolists, by the Monopolists, and for the Monopolists” — Gilded Age capital’s capture of the state, drawn a century before the current vintage.
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From the moment Donald Trump announced his first presidential candidacy in June 2015, his political operation has run on a productive tension: on one hand, shrewd and cunning operatives like Stephen Miller and Sebastian Gorka, who design and implement the repressive machinery of Trumpian neo-fascism; on the other, an endless parade of equally zealous but decidedly unpolished personalities who sparkle and fade in Trump’s charismatic aura. It is the latter camp that has bemused and entertained American audiences for over a decade – from disgraced Republican congressman and convicted conman George Santos to Trump’s spiritual advisor, Paula White, who went viral in 2021 after a video emerged of her commanding angels to secure Trump’s victory in tongues. Yet the clown show is no contradiction of the machine’s menace. It is its camouflage – and, dialectically speaking, its complement: the buffoonery supplies the populist imagery, while the operatives maintain the authoritarian onslaught.
None of this is to dismiss satire. Humor can do real political work: casting doubt on the powerful, raising awareness, rallying the like-minded and, not least, relieving stress. The German party Die PARTEI (officially: Partei für Arbeit, Rechtsstaat, Tierschutz, Elitenförderung und basisdemokratische Initiative – “Party for Labour, Rule of Law, Animal Welfare, Advancement of Elites, and Grassroots-Democratic Initiative,” an acronym joke of a name) has used comedy and parody to embarrass Germany’s right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) since that party’s rise. But occasional humiliation is not defeat. Indeed, the AfD has since doubled its vote and stands closer to state power than any far-right German party since 1945. The defeat of fascism – in America and in Europe – cannot rest on ridicule and silliness alone. Yet the American left keeps mistaking ridicule for resistance.
Viewed only as a protracted series of miscalculations and gaffes, the endless stream of tabloid-style controversies surrounding Trump and his people casts the administration as “the gang that couldn’t shoot straight.” In Trump’s second term alone – which began January 20, 2025 – the public has witnessed a virtually unyielding procession of scandals from the denizens of Trumpworld. From the sordid depravity of the Epstein files to the corruption of bribe-accepting Border Czar Tom Homan to the overt buffoonery of Trump-obsessed Natalie Harp, the administration’s daily politics often seem lifted from the golden age of American soap operas, or perhaps a heavily dramatized Oliver Stone biopic.
Kimberly Guilfoyle: A Study in Cronyism
By “cronyism,” we express something distinct from mere corruption. It is the conversion of public office and political access into private benefit and political loyalty. While not new or exclusive to the Trump era, Trump’s time as a political contender and elected official has proven rife with this convention. The rise and fall of Kimberly Guilfoyle transcends scandal – it is a veritable parable of cronyism in the Trump age.
Most recently, Trumpworld saw the sudden downfall of Kimberly Guilfoyle, once a prominent member of Trump’s inner circle, eventually rewarded for her unwavering support with the plum assignment of Ambassador to Greece. Guilfoyle was already tainted by scandal many times over by the time of her arrival in Athens in November 2025. A lawyer as well as the former wife of Democratic standout Gavin Newsom, Guilfoyle gained prominence as a television legal analyst, eventually settling in at Fox News. She remained at the right-wing news outlet until 2018, when she was forced to leave amid a protracted sexual harassment investigation. Guilfoyle denied wrongdoing, but a subsequent report in The New Yorker revealed that Fox News had reached a settlement with her accuser in the amount of at least $4 million.
“Kimberly Guilfoyle.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Oct. 2026, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimberly_Guilfoyle. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.
Prior to her dismissal from Fox, Guilfoyle was already firmly entrenched in the Trump camp. She was reportedly a prospective candidate for Trump’s first press secretary in 2016, and by 2018 she was deeply involved in Trump’s political machinery, as well as in a romantic relationship with Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr. She was a prominent fixture of the 2020 campaign, where she chaired its fundraising operation, and her tenure was punctuated by a much-ridiculed, over-the-top televised speech at the COVID-era Republican National Convention. Guilfoyle and Trump Jr. were engaged the same year.
“Kimberly Guilfoyle,” ibid.
Although Trump Jr. and Guilfoyle split amicably in 2024, she was still tapped to be U.S. Ambassador to Greece the same year and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate mostly along party lines the following year.
“Trump Ally Guilfoyle Takes up Ambassador to Greece Role.” Associated Press, 4 Nov. 2025, apnews.com/article/greece-us-ambassador-diplomacy-guilfoyle-9f87453f234752d66ca7a48f24dd27f1. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.
The Greek press initially raised concern over the appointment, citing especially coarse comments she made during her stint as a TV analyst.
“Greek news outlets quickly dredged up… remarks, noting that Guilfoyle, as a Fox News co-host during Europe’s debt crisis in 2015, had said Greeks needed to be trained like when a ‘dog pees on the rug.'”
Ballhaus, Rebecca, Dana Mattioli, Joe Parkinson, and Drew Hinshaw. “The Mystery Man Shadowing Kimberly Guilfoyle as She Pushes Deals Across Europe.” The Wall Street Journal, 25 Sept. 2026, www.wsj.com/articles/kimberly-guilfoyle-mystery-man-energy-5adeb541. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.
Greece may have looked like a gilded exile, but Guilfoyle’s posting was a working gig to further the MAGA agenda. Throughout 2026, she fronted the American campaign to build the Vertical Corridor – a natural gas route through southeastern Europe intended to cut Russia out of the region’s energy supply – and her heavy-handed interventions on its behalf stirred sharp criticism, spurred demonstrations in Athens, and set off a political storm in Bucharest.
In true Trumpist form, Guilfoyle raised the cudgel of imperialist intervention in a direct engagement with the Greek government earlier this year:
“They are… fearful of getting on her bad side. In March, at a dinner in Athens attended by Greek and U.S. officials, Guilfoyle got into an argument with Greece’s energy minister, Stavros Papastavrou, in front of the other guests. Referring to the impending collapse of the Romanian government, Guilfoyle told the group, ‘We can do that to any country we want. We can do that here,’ according to a person who attended the dinner and others who were told about it. The conversation became heated, with Papastavrou retorting that the U.S. couldn’t replace the government of Greece, which was elected by the people. Guilfoyle’s lawyer disputed the characterization of the exchange.”
Ballhaus, Rebecca, et al. ibid.
Months later, Guilfoyle reiterated that the U.S. was intent on guiding Europe’s energy policy at a granular level:
“The Bulgarian government, she told people, should deal with a Greek construction firm called Aktor Group, a newcomer to the gas business that had teamed up with a Greek state-backed energy company to bring in liquefied natural gas from the U.S. ‘There is no doubt that this is kind of an official position of the U.S. government,’ said a person familiar with the talks.”
Ballhaus, et al., ibid
Her efforts remained consistent with the MAGA agenda, in direct service to capital.
“At a conference in Greece… attended by cabinet officials including Burgum and Energy Secretary Chris Wright, the joint venture between Aktor and DEPA announced it had signed a 20-year deal with the U.S. company Venture Global to buy U.S. LNG, starting in 2030.
[…]
Other U.S. LNG companies that haven’t signed deals with Aktor say they have struggled to attract Guilfoyle’s attention. Jonathan Bass, the CEO of the Louisiana-based Argent LNG—a competitor to Venture Global—said the company has been ignored by Guilfoyle. Asked if Guilfoyle has promoted Argent in any of her discussions, he said: ‘No. She has her favorites.'”
Ballhaus, et al., ibid
The Fall
The proverbial worm began its turn on October 7, when The Wall Street Journal – an ostensibly Trump-friendly outlet – ran an exclusive report asserting that Guilfoyle had begged a Trump affiliate to wire $100,000 to her credit card account.
“Kimberly Guilfoyle was preparing for her congressional hearing to become U.S. ambassador to Greece when she reached out to a Trump donor with an urgent request: She needed $100,000 that she said she owed American Express—in a way that wouldn’t leave a paper trail.
‘It won’t show up anywhere if you wire money to American Express,’ she wrote on Signal, according to messages reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. ‘Please.’
For months, Guilfoyle had been chatting with Eric Deters, a former congressional candidate in Kentucky who was seeking her help in getting the attention of the new Trump administration on some personal tax and legal issues—and had promised payments of as much as $1 million if she was successful. As Donald Trump Jr.’s former fiancée, Guilfoyle offered to use her sway, according to Deters and messages reviewed by the Journal. She forwarded Deters the messages she’d sent to the new Internal Revenue Service chief and updated him on her efforts to lobby the Justice Department on his behalf.”
Dana Mattioli, Drew Hinshaw, Rebecca Ballhaus, and Joe Parkinson, “‘Honey Please’: Kimberly Guilfoyle Pushed Donor to Wire $100,000 to Her Amex Account,” Wall Street Journal, October 7, 2026, https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/guilfoyle-amex-donor-100-000-0e02cdc3.
According to the article, Deters ultimately declined, stating that sending the money would “jeopardize his marriage.”
Mattioli, et al. ibid.
Eric Deters, who has described his affinity for Trump as “Trump today, Trump tomorrow, Trump forever” is an uber-conservative staple in the Southwestern Ohio/Northern Kentucky mediasphere. A lawyer and a frequent guest on right-wing talk radio shows and host of his own YouTube program, “The Eric Deters Show,” Deters is as much known for his conservative absolutism as he is for his over-the-top carnival-barker antics. In fact, less than a week before the Journal’s first exposé on September 25, Deters publicly melted down after canceling his much-touted “Freedom Fest” event due to abysmal ticket sales.
“Eric Deters has canceled Freedom Fest after low VIP ticket sales, ending the event planned for Sept. 26. He announced the decision on social media Monday and said, ‘I am never ever, ever, ever, ever doing this event again. Ever.’ At past events, thousands attended at his Morning View farm in Northern Kentucky, about 25 miles south of Cincinnati. The festival has featured conservative speakers, live music, food trucks, vendors, entertainment for kids, and fireworks. Deters said he expected VIP sales of $1,000 from 100 people, but only six tickets were sold. He also said, ‘I want to tell you something, rich people, as a whole, suck,’ and noted 600,000 followers and 50 million monthly views.”
“Eric Deters Cancels Freedom Fest Amid Low VIP Ticket Sales,” Cincinnati Enquirer (cincinnati.com), September 21, 2026, video, https://www.cincinnati.com/videos/news/politics/2026/09/21/eric-deters-cancels-freedom-fest-amid-low-vip-ticket-sales/91878890007/.
Indeed, in previous years “Freedom Fest” served as a kind of connective tissue between Deters and Trumpworld, with Deters shelling out hundreds of thousands to the likes of Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and a pro-Trump PAC. According to the WSJ piece, Deters gravitated most to Guilfoyle, leading to something of a personal friendship. But when the friendship turned quid pro quo, with Deters calling in political and personal favors and Guilfoyle leaning on him for money, things went sour, ultimately exploding into the public eye.
Dana Mattioli, Drew Hinshaw, Rebecca Ballhaus, and Joe Parkinson, “‘Honey Please’: Kimberly Guilfoyle Pushed Donor to Wire $100,000 to Her Amex Account,” Wall Street Journal, October 7, 2026, https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/guilfoyle-amex-donor-100-000-0e02cdc3.
Although the Trump administration initially dismissed the evolving scandal, WSJ remained on the story, publishing texts from Guilfoyle that backed up their original story. Although her legal counsel initially asserted the texts were AI-generated, the mounting evidence became increasingly embarrassing for the Trump Administration. Secretary of State Marco Rubio mounted a feeble defense, although his own secondhand embarrassment was evident in his statement that the disclosures weren’t “gospel.”
Dana Mattioli, Vera Bergengruen, et al., “Inside Kimberly Guilfoyle’s Final Days as Ambassador to Greece,” Wall Street Journal, October 14, 2026, https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/kimberly-guilfoyle-greece-ambassador-resignation-dbd7551c
As for Trump, he placed considerable distance between himself and Guilfoyle, stating:
“She wasn’t a member of my family; she was dating my son a long time ago.”
“Trump Pretends Like He Doesn’t Really Know Kimberly Guilfoyle After Ambassador Scandal,” People, October 13, 2026, https://people.com/trump-pretends-like-he-doesn-t-really-know-kimberly-guilfoyle-after-ambassador-scandal-12173693.
On October 13, Trump Press Secretary Katie Zacharia – who was just beginning her own Aristophanic foray into Trumpworld – announced that the White House had asked for Guilfoyle’s resignation. Guilfoyle resigned the same day.
People, ibid.
As for Eric Deters, he remained locked on the Guilfoyle scandal. Notoriously bombastic and attention-seeking, Deters announced a defamation lawsuit against Guilfoyle and her legal team on October 15.
Deters said Guilfoyle’s legal team issued a statement to the Wall Street Journal claiming Deters owed Guilfoyle money and did not fulfill his obligations. The Journal published part of her attorney’s statement, that Guilfoyle “was owed a balance for traveling to and supporting these patriotic events,” which Deters denies.
“‘Kim Guilfoyle and her lawyers claimed my allegations were false and they would defend the allegations vigorously,’ Deters wrote in a statement accompanying his lawsuit. ‘Now they can in Kentucky.'”
Kathryn Watson and Weijia Jiang, “Eric Deters Files Defamation Lawsuit Against Kimberly Guilfoyle,” CBS News, October 16, 2026, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/eric-deters-files-defamation-lawsuit-against-kimberly-guilfoyle/.
Aftermath
Mainstream and progressive media outlets covered the Deters fracture with delight, just like countless other Trumpite scandals. Deters, who has made a career out of castigating the so-called “liberal media,” even appeared on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 on October 12 to tout his role in the scandal. Outlets including celebrity gossip site TMZ, as well as Huffington Post and News Nation, also gave Deters press, promoting his assertions that the information that will come out through his lawsuit might spell an ignominious end for Trumpworld:
In a video posted on Facebook Thursday, Deters said his lawsuit “might bring down the entire Trump administration — an administration which I have supported from day one, whose policies I still support.”
“‘It also may end the JD Vance/Marco Rubio ticket,’ he cautioned.
Isabel Keane, “Donor Kimberly Guilfoyle Begged for Money Files Defamation Suit That He Says Could ‘Bring Down Entire Trump Administration’,” The Independent, October 15, 2026, https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/kimberly-guilfoyle-eric-deters-defamation-lawsuit-b3067755.html.
But for all the hand-wringing and cautious optimism that this or any scandal will bring about the end of Trumpism, the unfortunate truth is that it’s just another tile in a mosaic of cronyism and absurdity. There remains much to be done, and Americans cannot count on Trumpism to implode upon itself and clear the way for better days.
What It Means
Corruption and cronyism aren’t new in the Trump age. They are a defining characteristic of rule by capital. They are its very fabric. In the present era, Donald Trump is American capital’s designated functionary. In the Manifesto of the Communist Party, Marx and Engels provided a crystallized explanation of this relationship:
“The executive of the modern state is but a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie.”
Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, Manifesto of the Communist Party (1848), Chapter I, Marxists Internet Archive, https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/ch01.htm#007
Enver Hoxha concurred more than a century later, observing that bureaucracy ‘is part of the nature of capitalism and characteristic of it.’
https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/hoxha/works/1978/yugoslavia/04.htm
Engels, writing about the American system in 1891, saw “two great gangs of political speculators, who alternately take possession of the state power and exploit it by the most corrupt means and for the most corrupt ends,” with the nation “powerless against these two great cartels of politicians, who are ostensibly its servants, but in reality exploit and plunder it.”
Frederick Engels, “1891 Introduction” to Karl Marx, The Civil War in France (1891), Marxists Internet Archive, https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/subject/hist-mat/civ-war-intro.htm.
Whether the alternation he described continues in the form of future elections remains to be seen, for as we have previously noted, the American bourgeoisie appears to be “all in” with Trumpist neo-fascism. And to the extent that Trumpworld corruption now follows a predictable cycle, Trump himself is virtually impervious to the consequences of scandal. His possession of state power – and his ability to exploit it – shall remain unfettered for the foreseeable future.
Those who await an eventual collapse of Trumpism confuse the downfall of an individual with the fate of a class. History looks unkindly upon this brand of cautious optimism.
As an integral part of a united front, Marxist-Leninists must therefore hold fast to the examples of Lenin and Stalin – organizing with principle, exposing the cronyism of the bourgeoisie in its every absurdity, while guarding against the opportunism and deviationism that would mistake the fall of one grifter for the fall of the system. As such, we maintain that Marxist-Leninists work towards a united front of all forces willing to combat fascism and capitalist repression.
Further reading:
– “Bonapartism” and Trump – a reply to Anthony Teso (MLRG.online, July 2026)
– Theses on Trump 2 and the USA Ruling Class (MLRG.online, April 2025)
