pcr is asking some good questions here;

Can Trump Make A Difference?

Paul Craig Roberts

I have done my best to alert MAGA Americans to the difficulty of regaining control of the US government. For decades the US government and its policies have been controlled by the organized interest groups that fund political campaigns.  Regardless of the candidates voters elect, the legislation enacted and the federal government’s policies are the work of lobby groups. Among the powerful lobbies are the Israel Lobby, the military/security complex, Big Pharma, Wall Street, and agri-business.

American voters are repeatedly disappointed that little ever changes regardless of who they elect. Sometimes an administration can achieve changes in a few areas, as Kennedy, Nixon, and Reagan did in reducing tensions with the Soviet Union.  But even these achievements were overturned by subsequent administrations in response to the military/security complex’s demand for an enemy to secure their profit and power. Without an enemy, why does the US need a military budget that exceeds the GDP of most countries on earth? (for example, according to the World Bank, the GDP of South Africa in 2023 was $389.7 billion; Argentina $646 billion, Belgium $529 billion; Hungary $212 billion; Norway $485 billion; Pakistan $338 billion; Sweden $585 billion; Thailand $515 billion.)    https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?locations=ZA-AR-BE-HU-AU-MX-KR-NO-PK-SE-CH

The resistance to change is because the interests of what constitutes the American Establishment is institutionalized. American social and governmental institutions have become homes of The Establishment.  It was 64 years ago on January 17, 1961, that President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the five-star general in charge of the Normandy invasion, at the end of his second term warned Americans about the increasing power of the military-security complex.......more.........