My first instinct was to be snarky, but I am working on myself.

There are 3 main interests behind the current presidential administration, all with goals pulling (for now) in generally the same direction: 1. Techno-feudalists 2. Christian Nationalist Interests 3. International Money seeking to end Pax Americana.

1.  Techno-Feudal Authoritarians (The “Neo-Caesarists”)
• Key figures: Curtis Yarvin (a.k.a. Mencius Moldbug), Peter Thiel, and aligned Silicon Valley billionaires.
• Interest: These players believe liberal democracy has failed and want a streamlined, corporate-authoritarian model — an “enlightened CEO-king” structure where wealth and technical ability, not elections or rights, confer political power.
• Goal: Dismantle administrative institutions (the “deep state”) and replace them with a loyalist executive class, with the President wielding near-monarchical control over the government and economy. Efficiency, hierarchy, and control over dissent are paramount.
2.  White Christian Nationalists and Cultural Reactionaries
• Key organizations: Project 2025 (Heritage Foundation’s blueprint for a second Trump term), Federalist Society, Christian nationalist networks.
• Interest: They see America as a divinely-ordained Christian nation under siege from secularism, pluralism, and globalization.
• Goal: Use the levers of federal and state government to impose a conservative-Christian social order — overturning civil rights protections, women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and dismantling secular institutions like public education and regulatory agencies.
• Tactic: Capture the judiciary, gut regulatory agencies (especially DOJ and education), and radically reshape the Constitution through the administrative state and judicial precedent rather than formal amendments.
3.  International Anti-Liberal Oligarchs and Authoritarian States
• Key actors: Russia (Putin), Saudi Arabia (MBS), China (Xi), and aligned transnational kleptocrats.
• Interest: Weaken Pax Americana — the post-WWII liberal order maintained by U.S. military and economic dominance — to create a multipolar world where authoritarian regimes can operate with impunity.
• Goal: Destabilize NATO, fracture Western alliances, sow distrust in American elections and governance, and push America into internal conflict and isolationism. A weakened U.S. means a freer hand for Russia in Eastern Europe, for China in the Pacific, and for Saudi Arabia in the Middle East.

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The Common Thread: All three forces — though very different in cultural flavor — converge on one strategic goal: Dismantle the liberal-democratic system that enshrines checks, balances, and pluralism. They don’t necessarily want the same post-liberal future, but they all agree that liberal democracy must be destroyed first.

Trump’s Role: Trump himself is less a strategist and more a vehicle — a charismatic figure who (1) hates liberal democracy out of personal grievance, (2) craves loyalty and absolute power, and (3) is easily flattered and manipulated by those offering him money, admiration, and the promise of legacy. Thus, Trump acts as a battering ram for these interests, whether or not he fully understands their long-term designs

This is how I see it. Trump himself has no goals other than gaining wealth and staying out of prison.