Trump v Musk is the final battle before a catastrophe
Who needs reality TV when there's the psychodrama of Donald Trump's White House to keep us all entertained? As plot lines go, the falling out between Trump and Elon Musk was perhaps about as predictable as they come, but the sheer venom, speed and combustibility of the divorce has nevertheless proved utterly captivating.
Even the best of Hollywood scriptwriters would have struggled to do better. The stench of betrayal hangs heavy in the air, a veritable revenger's tragedy of a drama.
Beneath it all, however, lies a rather more serious matter than the sight of two of the world's richest and most powerful men breaking up and exchanging insults.
And it's one that afflicts nearly all major high-income economies. Slowly but surely – and at varying speeds – they are all going bust. Yet few of them seem even capable of recognising it, let alone doing anything to correct it.
None more so than the United States, where the Congressional Budget Office last week estimated that Trump's 'one big, beautiful bill' would add a further $US2.4 trillion ($3.7 million) to the national debt by 2034.
Loading
Let's not take sides, but Musk was absolutely right when he described the bill as 'a disgusting abomination'. It taxes far too little, and it spends far too much. It is hard to imagine a more reckless piece of make-believe.
Musk had backed Trump not just out of self-interest – more government contracts, protection of the electric vehicle mandate, personal aggrandisement and so on – but because he genuinely believed he could help stop the US from bankrupting itself.
This has proved a monumental conceit. The $US2 trillion of savings in federal spending he initially promised has turned out to be at most $US200 billion, and probably substantially less once double accounting and wishful thinking is factored in.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News AU
3 minutes ago
- Sky News AU
'Delusional' Hillary Clinton savagely mocked for Los Angeles riots response: 'Only leftists disable comments'
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was brutally mocked by critics over a "delusional" X post describing the anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles as "peaceful demonstrations" while pinning blame on President Donald Trump for sowing "chaos" in southern California. "Comments off lol. She can't handle the ratio. This is what Hillary Clinton calls 'peaceful demonstrations,'" popular conservative X account Libs of TikTok posted, referring to how comments on Clinton's post were restricted to only permit ones from accounts Clinton follows on the social media platform and accompanied by footage of the destruction in LA. The message was in response to Clinton posting her first and only comment as of Tuesday morning regarding the Los Angeles riots, describing them as "peaceful demonstrations" before Trump mobilized the National Guard over the weekend. "California Governor Newsom didn't request the National Guard be deployed to his state following peaceful demonstrations. Trump sent them anyway," Clinton posted on X. "It's the first time in 60 years a president has made that choice. Trump's goal isn't to keep Californians safe. His goal is to cause chaos, because chaos is good for Trump." The comment sparked widespread backlash among critics, who repeatedly urged the former first lady to "shut up" and accused her of turning off comments to the post amid the backlash. "Ever notice that only leftists disable comments?" California Republican Liberty Caucus chair John Dennis posted in response to Clinton. Social media users were able to respond to Clinton through quote engagements, but not through direct replies as of Tuesday morning. "These are not peaceful Hillary," Florida Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna posted to X. "A public figure and a fraud like herself shouldn't be able to lock her replies, @elonmusk," one person responded on X, tagging X owner Elon Musk. "Hey @ElonMusk, can you make it so that government officials and former government officials cannot turn off their replies," another user posted. "Accusing the National Guard of causing chaos is a serious allegation that requires serious proof. I see none," one social media commenter posted. "Hillary Clinton is delusional if nothing else," another posted in response to footage of a fire raging as rioters waved a Mexican flag. Riots broke out in the left-wing city Friday evening after federal law enforcement officials converged on Los Angeles to carry out immigration raids as part of Trump's vow to deport illegal aliens who flooded the nation under the Biden administration. Local leaders such as Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Newsom, however, quickly denounced the raids in public statements while offering words of support for illegal immigrants in the state. Protests over the raids soon devolved into violence as rioters targeted federal law enforcement officials, including launching rocks at officials, with videos showing people looting local stores, setting cars on fire and taking over a freeway. Trump announced Saturday that he was deploying 2,000 National Guard members to help quell the violence, bypassing the governor, who typically activates the National Guard. California subsequently filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for efforts to allegedly "federalize the California National Guard." As the riots continued raging on Monday, the Trump administration deployed hundreds of U.S. Marines to respond to anti-immigration chaos. "Approximately 700 Marines with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division will seamlessly integrate with the Title 10 forces under Task Force 51 who are protecting federal personnel and federal property in the greater Los Angeles area," U.S. Northern Command said in a Monday statement. Trump defended in a Truth Social post early Tuesday morning that if he "didn't 'SEND IN THE TROOPS' to Los Angeles the last three nights, that once beautiful and great City would be burning to the ground right now." "Much like 25,000 houses burned to the ground in L.A. do to an incompetent Governor and Mayor – Incidentally, the much more difficult, time consuming, and stringent FEDERAL PERMITTING PROCESS is virtually complete on these houses, while the easy and simple City and State Permits are disastrously bungled up and WAY BEHIND SCHEDULE! They are a total mess, and will be for a long time. People want to rebuild their houses. Call your incompetent Governor and Mayor, the Federal permitting is DONE!!!" Trump continued, referring to the thousands of homes that burned in southern California wildfires that gripped the Los Angeles area in January. Fox News Digital reached out to Clinton's office for comment on the social media post, but did not immediately receive a reply. Originally published as 'Delusional' Hillary Clinton savagely mocked for Los Angeles riots response: 'Only leftists disable comments'
Sydney Morning Herald
27 minutes ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Has Trump created an opportunity for the euro to displace the US dollar?
Others, conscious that the US relies on foreign capital inflows to fund its yawning (and rapidly growing) government deficits and debt and enable the government and US citizens to live beyond their means, won't view the apparent crack in the value of the dollar and the US markets' status as the world's safe haven quite as positively. In the near term, the weaker US dollar also means the inflationary impacts in the US of Trump's trade war on the rest of the world will be exaggerated. A strong dollar, by making imports cheap in US dollar term, would muffle the impact on inflation. 'European leaders have recognised the window of opportunity opened by America's self-destructive trade policies.' The likely effects of Trump's war is reflected in this week's downgrading of the outlook for global and US growth by the World Bank, which sees global growth slowing from 2.8 per cent last year to 2.3 per cent and growth in the US economy halving from 2.8 per cent to 1.4 per cent. That outlook, if it eventuates, would provide even less reason to invest in the US and would result in an even greater reduction in demand for US dollars. Does that provide an opportunity for the euro? Perhaps, albeit not one that could be easily or quickly realised. The dollar has reined supreme as the world's reserve currency in the post-war era and still does. Even though the degree of dominance has been waning in recent years, it still accounts for about 58 per cent of central bank reserves – it was above 70 per cent in the early years of this century and was still above 60 per cent five years ago – and about 55 per cent of trade invoicing is denominated in dollars. The euro ranks second on both counts, with a 30 per cent or so share of reserves and a similar share of trade financing. The challenge for the Europeans, if they want to challenge the dollar's status, is that, while they might have the 'next best' currency, they lack some of the foundations that would make it the reserve currency. Loading They do have a floating exchange rate, no capital controls, an independent and respected central bank and an independent and respected judicial system. They don't have deep and liquid capital markets nor a single economy that is growing consistently and strongly, nor do they have current account deficits to expand the supply of euros – the European Union consistently runs current account surpluses (and hence is a major target for Trump's tariffs). The European capital markets are fragmented and shallow – European companies rely on banks rather than markets as their primary source of funding – and the condition of the underlying economies varies considerably. The closest thing the EU has to a US Treasury bond is a Germany bund but, where the US Treasury market has about $US28 trillion ($43 trillion) of securities on issue, the market for bunds is only about €1.8 trillion (about $3.2 trillion). That market, thanks to the historic decision to reform the country's 'debt brake' in order to use debt-financing for what might be a €600 billion increase in military spending, will grow, but it would still remain small relative to the Treasury market. Loading What could the EU do to create a deeper bond market? It could issue eurobonds, or debt raised on behalf of all its members and backed by all their economies. It has toyed with that idea for decades and, indeed, created a eurobond facility of up to €800 billion to help member countries recover from the pandemic, although those bonds are supposed to progressively mature and disappear by 2058. Germany has historically been opposed to the issuance of collective EU debt. It's strict fiscal discipline means it can borrow more cheaply than other EU members and pay lower interest rates on its debt. With eurobonds, it would pay more and effectively be subsidising the rest of the EU. The prize for the EU as a whole – a greater share of world reserves, a more stable currency in stressful times, cheaper funding generally and therefore greater economic growth and the geopolitical benefits from having a reserve currency – is, however, worth striving for. The EU could do more trade in euros – it buys a lot of energy but pays for it almost exclusively in US dollars, for instance – it could issue a digital euro to facilitate global transactions, and it could integrate its economies and policies more deeply. It could also do as the US Federal Reserve Board has done in financial crises, and create permanent swap lines with its major trading partners to provide euro liquidity in moment of stress. That would bolster confidence in the currency. It is improbable that the euro could displace the dollar as the world's reserve currency in anything other than the truly long term. Loading It could, however, increase its share of global reserves and transactions and share some of the dollar's 'exorbitant privilege' – the ability to borrow cheaply without any real limits, the haven status in a crisis, the ability, if they ever transpired, to run trade deficits without any fear of a balance of payments crisis, and, above all, the enhanced geopolitical authority the EU has always sought. European leaders have recognised the window of opportunity opened by America's self-destructive trade policies – it's been a growing topic of conversation in Europe since Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariffs announcement – but have also acknowledged the complexities and obstacles to taking advantage of it. Still, small but important steps could be taken, with eurobond issuance at the forefront and, with the EU members committed to ramping up their defence spending in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, this could be an instance where, thanks to Trump and Vladimir Putin, opportunity and need start to converge.
Sky News AU
28 minutes ago
- Sky News AU
US ABC News fires veteran correspondent over anti-Trump post on social media
ABC News correspondent Terry Moran is leaving the network after he took aim at President Donald Trump and top White House aide Stephen Miller in a now-deleted post on X. "We are at the end of our agreement with Terry Moran and based on his recent post – which was a clear violation of ABC News policies – we have made the decision to not renew," a spokesperson for ABC News confirmed to Fox News Digital. "At ABC News, we hold all of our reporters to the highest standards of objectivity, fairness and professionalism, and we remain committed to delivering straightforward, trusted journalism," the spokesperson added. Moran found himself in hot water both inside and outside the Disney-owned network when he called Trump and Miller "world-class" haters early Sunday morning. Moran, who's been with the network since 1997, was initially suspended after ABC News honchos woke up to the viral backlash. "The thing about Stephen Miller is not that he is the brains behind Trumpism," Moran began his post. "Yes, he is one of the people who conceptualizes the impulses of the Trumpist movement and translates them into policy. But that's not what's interesting about Miller. It's not brains. It's bile." "Miller is a man who is richly endowed with the capacity for hatred. He's a world-class hater," Moran wrote. "You can see this just by looking at him because you can see that his hatreds are his spiritual nourishment. He eats his hate." Moran's post went on to also call Trump a "world-class hater" but added that "his hatred [is] only a means to an end, and that end [is] his own glorification. That's his spiritual nourishment." Moran's firing came less than six weeks after he interviewed Trump, during which the president criticized the ABC correspondent for his questioning. "They're giving you the big break of a lifetime," Trump told Moran. "You're doing the interview, I picked you because, frankly, I never heard of you, but that's OK. I picked you, Terry, but you're not being very nice." Originally published as US ABC News fires veteran correspondent over anti-Trump post on social media
