Trump's Investment Accelerator: A Corporate Giveaway in Disguise

The White House’s latest executive order, signed by President Donald J. Trump on March 31, 2025, promises to unleash a tidal wave of domestic and foreign investment by slashing regulatory red tape. On its surface, the United States Investment Accelerator sounds like a bold step toward economic vitality, a beacon for companies weary of bureaucratic quicksand. Who wouldn’t cheer for streamlined permitting and a government eager to roll out the welcome mat for billion-dollar projects?

But peel away the glossy rhetoric, and the reality stings. This isn’t a plan to uplift the American people; it’s a love letter to corporate giants, dressed up as patriotism. The administration claims it’s modernizing processes to benefit everyone, from small businesses to sprawling multinationals. Yet the fine print reveals a troubling truth: the Accelerator’s focus on megaprojects, like those tied to the CHIPS Program, prioritizes the already powerful while leaving everyday workers and communities in the dust.

History whispers a warning here. When deregulation becomes the rallying cry, it’s rarely the little guy who wins. The 2025 order echoes the hollow promises of past initiatives, like the 2018 American Infrastructure Initiative, which vowed to empower local voices but ended up funneling benefits to well-connected firms. This time, the stakes are higher, and the administration’s blind faith in corporate self-interest threatens to widen the chasm between the haves and the have-nots.

The Investment Accelerator, nestled under the Department of Commerce, isn’t some neutral tool for economic growth. It’s a machine built to grease the wheels for investments topping $1 billion, with a laser focus on sectors like semiconductors. The CHIPS Program Office, now under its wing, is tasked with negotiating “better deals” for taxpayers, a phrase that sounds noble until you realize who’s really at the table. Semiconductor titans, already flush with resources, stand to gain the most, while small businesses, the supposed beneficiaries, are left scrambling for scraps.

Evidence backs this up. The CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, which this Accelerator builds on, has already doled out over $32 billion in grants across 23 states. That’s a staggering sum, but the catch is clear: profit-sharing kicks in only for projects exceeding $150 million, and private funding is a prerequisite. Translation? Only the biggest players can play. Meanwhile, the New York State proposal for progressive design-build methods, aimed at supporting smaller firms, gets no mention here. The administration’s vision conveniently ignores those who can’t bankroll their way to the front of the line.

And let’s talk national security, the buzzword sprinkled throughout the order. The Accelerator is directed to assist foreign investors, but only “consistent with” protecting American interests. Sounds reasonable, until you consider the expanded reach of the Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS), which has tightened scrutiny on Chinese firms while giving allies a pass. This isn’t balance; it’s selective favoritism, cloaked as strategy. The ethical rot runs deeper when you realize these policies could choke international collaboration in fields like AI, all while handing domestic giants a blank check.

Opponents might argue this is just smart economics, a way to keep America competitive. They’d point to countries like Singapore, which pair tight security reviews with open investment climates. But that comparison falls flat. Singapore’s transparency and digitized processes dwarf the opaque, corporate-first approach here. The Accelerator isn’t about competition; it’s about consolidation, funneling wealth upward while waving the flag of prosperity.

Worse still, the order’s vague assurances about taxpayer benefits ring hollow. Negotiating “better deals” sounds tough, but without clear metrics or accountability, it’s just noise. Historical flops, like the lax oversight of 2010s public-private partnerships, show how these schemes often morph into corporate welfare. The American people deserve more than recycled promises dressed up as innovation.

There’s a different path, one the administration refuses to see. Streamlining investment doesn’t have to mean handing over the keys to the kingdom. Look at Vietnam, which plans to slash 30% of its business conditions by 2025 while digitizing every administrative step. That’s a model that lifts everyone, not just the elite. In the U.S., advocates for equitable growth have long pushed for policies that prioritize small businesses and community-led projects, not just the billion-dollar behemoths.

The real-world impacts hit hard. Workers in struggling towns won’t see jobs from a semiconductor plant they can’t reach or afford to train for. Communities sidelined by this order will watch as tax dollars prop up distant corporate hubs, not local revitalization. Research from the 2019 Global Investment Competitiveness Survey drives this home: investors crave predictable, transparent rules, not a deregulatory free-for-all that leaves most behind.

This isn’t about rejecting investment; it’s about demanding it serve the public good. The Accelerator could have been a chance to rebuild trust, to prove government can work for people, not just profits. Instead, it’s a stark reminder of who this administration really answers to.