Ray Dalio says to understand Trump's 2nd administration, you should study how far-right governments in the 1930s worked

Billionaire investor Ray Dalio has suggested that examining hard-right regimes from the 1930s can provide insights into how President-elect Donald Trump might reshape the U.S. government under the guise of efficiency.

In a commentary posted on LinkedIn on Wednesday, Dalio shared his predictions for Trump’s second term in office, describing it as a sweeping overhaul akin to a corporate restructuring.

"It is now clear that Donald Trump and the individuals he is selecting will reform government and the country in the manner of a corporate raider conducting a hostile takeover of an inefficient organization," wrote Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund.

Dalio explained that Trump’s vision for a revamped government involves "massive reforms" such as replacing key personnel, cutting costs, and leveraging advanced technologies.

Trump recently announced Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy as the co-leaders of a newly established Department of Government Efficiency. Both have indicated plans to reduce federal workforce numbers and dismantle certain federal agencies.

"Think of Gordon Gekko and the ethos of his 'greed is good' speech," Dalio wrote, referencing the infamous character from the 1987 film Wall Street. "Now imagine that perspective applied by the president of the United States to the federal government and the entire country."

Dalio drew parallels to historical regimes, writing, "The most comparable examples in recent history were the hard-right states of the 1930s."

However, Dalio clarified that he is not equating Trump’s administration with fascist governments or asserting that Trump would emulate fascist leaders. Instead, he noted that policies like "government renovation" and "America First" foreign strategies mirror approaches employed by such regimes.

"My point is that, to understand those now in power—who are implementing nationalist, protectionist, top-down, government-driven economic and social policies, while showing limited tolerance for internal dissent and engaging in international great-power conflicts—it is valuable to study how similarly structured states operated in the 1930s," Dalio wrote.