Republicans have for decades hammered the tired refrain that Democrats are “radical socialists” who will lead the country to ruin. In 2020, former Gov. Nikki Haley (R-S.C.) laid out the stakes of electing Joe Biden and his party. “Their vision for America is socialism,” she said. “And we know socialism has failed everywhere.”

Democratic Party leaders seem to agree. When President Trump announced in his 2019 State of the Union Address that “America will never be a socialist country,” even Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) joined the chorus of colleagues who stood and applauded.

A 2021 report unpacking the 2020 election results concluded that “Republican attempts to brand Democrats as ‘radicals’ worked” — particularly in messaging around “radical socialists” and “defund the police,” as well as among “immigrant populations that fled socialist governments, including among Venezuelan, Cuban, Vietnamese, and Filipino voters.”

And despite Zohran Mamdani’s strong victory over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the June New York City Democratic mayoral primary, the self-proclaimed socialist has been shunned by numerous prominent New York Democrats. This includes Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Gov. Kathy Hochul and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).

But now it is Trump who is acting like a socialist. Corporate donors should take note.

In June, the Trump administration approved Nippon Steel’s acquisition of U.S. Steel on the condition that it give the White House a “golden share” of the Japanese company. Although it is not an equity stake, Trump declared, “We have a golden share, which I control, or the president controls.”

On Aug. 22, Intel announced an agreement with the administration to take $8.9 billion in the company’s common stock, approximately a 10 percent stake, making the U.S. the largest investor in the tech........

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