Former President Joe Biden warned of the United States turning into the direction of an oligarchy in his farewell address on Jan. 15, 2025. Social media immediately took to the internet out of concern. Millions of Americans, including myself, thought the warnings were unsettling and dystopian.

President Donald Trump took the oath of office just five days later on Jan. 20, 2025, being sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. As tradition for presidential inaugurations, former presidents lined the stage with Trump and his family.

Something that left plenty of Americans scratching their heads was the billionaires in the stage party. Billionaires such as Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk were present during the inauguration. Millions of Americans then began putting more belief into the former president’s warnings. 

Before we can answer the big question of whether the United States is becoming an oligarchy, we need to solidify what an oligarchy is and is not. Associated Press defines an oligarchy as “an elite few who control the government’s actions.” An oligarchy will not take authoritarian control of the United States. However, Americans worry that our democracy will be threatened by billionaires who have no concern for the average American and no awareness of what actually happens in American households. 

Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy have been promised by President Trump to lead a new government agency called the Department of Government Efficiency. Americans have questioned the motive the current president has behind appointing a billionaire with virtually no government experience into a position to measure government efficiency. 

It would be very difficult to determine right now if the United States is becoming an oligarchic state, although the current president’s inauguration did not quite deter the concerns of millions of American citizens.