'Maga since forever': mercenary mogul Erik Prince pushes to privatize Trump deportation plans

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Guardian

Sun 16 Mar 2025 07.00 EDT
Last modified on Sun 16 Mar 2025 07.01 EDT


Silicon Valley has played a sizable part in the early days of Donald Trump’s new administration, but another familiar face in the Maga-verse is beginning to emerge: businessman Erik Prince, oft-described by his critics as a living “Bond villain”. Prince is the most famous mercenary of the contemporary era and the founder of the now defunct private military company Blackwater. For a time, it was a prolific privateer in the “war on terror”, racking up millions in US government contracts by providing soldiers of fortune to the CIA, Pentagon and beyond.

Now he is a central figure among a web of other contractors trying to sell Trump advisers on a $25bn deal to privatize the mass deportations of 12 million migrants. In an appearance on NewsNation, he immediately tried to temper that his plan had any traction. “No indications, so far,” said Prince about a federal contract materializing. “Eventually if they’re going to hit those kinds of numbers and scale, they’re going to need additional private sector.” But the news had people wondering, how is Prince going to factor into the second Trump presidency?

Sean McFate, a professor at Georgetown University who has advised the Pentagon and the CIA, said: “Erik Prince has always been politically connected to Maga, the Maga movement, and that’s going back to 2015.” Prince, himself a special forces veteran and ex-Navy Seal, is a known business associate of Steve Bannon, the architect of Trump’s first electoral win. Prince even appeared with him last July at a press conference before Bannon surrendered to authorities and began a short prison sentence for defying a congressional subpoena.

“He comes from a wealthy Republican family,” said McFate, who has authored books on the global mercenary industry and is familiar with Prince’s history. “His sister, Betsy DeVos, is the former education secretary, and he’s been a Maga, not just a Maga, he’s been a Steve Bannon, Maga Breitbart Republican, since forever.”

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/16/erik-prince-trump-immigration-enforcement

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These people have 9 lives. We knew he was just waiting in the background but wasn't sure for what... Now we know.

[hlthe2b]

1. Another psychopath who believes himself not susceptible to US law-what could go wrong?

[DENVERPOPS]

6. Not surprising

he and blackwater Mercs did all the dirty work for Cheney/Rumsfeld during the Iraq war, The taxpayers paid for it, and Halliburton others prospered from it....

[DV1]

2. Deportation of migrants?

No, it's an excuse for organizing a private army. Just the outfit Trump would need if a real conflict happened with the regular U.S. Armed Forces. Once a merc . . .

[NotHardly]

4. Brown shirt sh*t, billionaires for profits & imprisoning the rest of us.

Are we entering the 'slaves' phase? These tyrannical billionaires living off our blood, sweat, and tears. I'm wonder what the French would do.

[2naSalit]

3. I knew he'd...

Show up eventually.

[3auld6phart]

5. Feckin

Amway scum. Gawd dammit, some body put this republicans filth out of our lives. This shit is getting reddiculilous…

[Hekate]

7. KnR

[Hekate]

8. KnR

[Buddyzbuddy]

9. Where you see a problem,

they see a Republican caused opportunity to make a profit.