President Donald Trump has tried to strong-arm pharmaceutical companies into lowering drug prices by executive order. He has publicly warned Walmart not to raise prices in response to his tariffs, while privately sending automakers the same message. His administration has signaled that farmers could get bailed out from any market damage caused by his push to remake the world’s trade order.
And last week, the president touted what amounts to quasi-nationalization of steel manufacturing. “We have a golden stock, we have a golden share, which I control, or a president controls,” Trump said about the pending sale of U.S. Steel to Japan’s Nippon Steel. “That gives you total control.”
Trump’s “golden share” in U.S. Steel, negotiated as part of a long-delayed sale, extends for perpetuity, according to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. It hands Trump or his designee veto power to ensure steel production reaches a certain level and that jobs aren’t moved outside the U.S., among other matters at U.S. Steel. The firm is now a Nippon subsidiary, with the sale finalized on Wednesday.