It was a match that was never going to work out. Didn’t it seem odd at the time, here is Elon Musk liberal darling who all of a sudden took a right turn. He became the darling of the right wing, kind of like a born-again Christian. They love to espouse how much they love the faith, but it’s obvious they have never actually read/listened or practiced it.
Why though?
What many in the far left and right are not able to comprehend is that many a wealthy folk/heads of corporations want to be friends with the group in power. Harris lost, it was time to circle back to Trump. Now in the case of Musk, he is actually more of a libertarian in a sense of wanting freedom of speech (he bought X) and legalizing all drugs. Zuckerberg and others donated/flocked to Trump’s inauguration, many writing big checks. Not because they agree with Trump, it’s essentially a bribe to make it so his DOJ won’t break up their monopoly in tech.
But they got along so well?
Well in a sense yes. Musk saw Trump as a conduit, not a friend. It’s the opinion of this blogger that Musk wanted to parlay DOGE into being head of NASA or some other department that can help his companies out financially. Musk read and played Trump like a fiddle, Trump has loyalty to no one in DC and hates the culture. Look no further than Trump’s cabinet picks this go round. It’s a who-who of Fox News hosts/contributors, and politicians from certain states/areas who are loyalists to him. Qualifications be damned. Musk knew he likely could not get confirmed by the Senate since he angered the left helping Trump, and a lot on the right, like me, view him skeptically. So, DOGE was created.
Then what?
Well DOGE was somewhat successful in the eyes of some but likely in the eyes of Trump it failed. Trump wanted to find several trillion in savings… Musk could not deliver. Sure, DOGE did some good things, but it’s hard to find waste to cut. Waste to you is someone else’s pet project/grift. Also, Musk hurt himself by coming up with conspiracies that were flat out debunked; army of zombie 150-year-olds getting Social Security benefits anyone? I think Elon at that point realized the easy cuts were done, and he was looking for an off ramp to be rewarded for his work at DOGE. (As a side bar, the DOGE cuts never went through Congress as far as we know, so they will likely be revived under a different presidency.)
What was next?
To repeat, I think Musk was eyeing being NASA director, or somewhere there because he didn’t seem to want to be re-appointed to DOGE. Then came the Big Beautiful Bill (BBB) and its circa, 4 trillion dollars in new debt, price tag. Musk called Trump on the carpet about the debt and the debt ceiling parts of the bill. Trump hated it. Trump didn’t realize Musk is actually just like him politically, they are populists. I know the MAGA wing won’t like that description but it’s true. Tell me where Trump or Musk stand on something? It’s a shifting scale that slides depending on how it affects them and/or their poling numbers.
The marriage gets annulled
The fallout was wild to watch, kind of like an Enron executive’s fall from grace. The war of words on social media between the two was literally out of some reality tv type show. Allegations of Elon being on drugs on the campaign trail and not able to pass a drug screen to Trump being on the Epstein client list. It was bizarre. (Oh, wait there is no client list? WTF)
What really went down?
In one corner you have the richest man in the world, he blew a couple hundred million on Trump’s election and that is vapor to him. Musk has done very well for himself. In the other corner you have the most powerful man in the world in Donald Trump. Neither of these men like hearing “no.” They are also both extremely petty… kind of like someone I used to associate with. You go against them just once and they set out to ruin your life/isolate you. Musk is now starting a third party; Trump wants to deport him. Musk is threatening primaries against folks who supported the BBB, Trump will primary those who did not support his BBB.
Trump now wants to cut all of Musk’s green energy benefits….?
Bingo, we have a winner. Folks Elon Musk has made his fortune on the backs of taxpayers. Green energy credits, interest free government loans, cap and trade credits, government grants and subsidies, all for his green energy empire. Folks, Musk was a died in the wool liberal as far as California goes. Tesla was going to be forced on everyone, and in some parts of the Bay Area, it seems like it was. Solar was also a field Musk was in on. His SpaceX company is another that does a lot of business with the government among his other affairs. Cut those out, and Musk’s empire goes pop. Hence the reason he is raging out right now. Liberals have stopped buying his vehicles and conservatives have never wanted them. Dirty little secret … Musk’s subsidies likely never survive even if DOGE found trillions in cuts. I would not be stunned to see the subsidies darn near eliminated on a federal basis.
The next chapter will be fun to watch.
The Chief