Don't underestimate Donald Trump — he and his goals will survive without Elon Musk

New York Post

5 hours ago

Among other things last week, President Trump played host to Germany's chancellor in the Oval Office, issued a travel ban against 12 countries whose citizens routinely violate their visas, had a 'very positive' conversation about tariffs with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and twisted arms to push his 'one big beautiful bill' across the congressional finish line.
Meanwhile, a stream of good economic news sent stock markets higher, with a jobs report beating expectations while inflation fell and wages rose.
Oh, and Trump also had a brutal falling out with Elon Musk.
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3 Elon Musk attends news conference with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, May 30, 2025, in Washington.
AP
No need to guess which of the above dominated the news.
Bad news travels fast and predictions of calamity win eyeballs, but I've learned a few things knowing and covering Trump for a decade. Rule No. 1 is always to remember to take a deep breath when it feels as if the end of his days is near.
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Whatever the sensational event of the moment, the smart play has been to realize that this too shall pass — and to feel sorry for cats because they only have nine lives.
Rule No. 2 is to be prepared for the next big end of days event, which is coming soon, and to expect another one after that.
The 47th president is a human machine full of pride and plans, but only rookies still attempt to define him by a single event. If a stream of nasty Democrat prosecutions and threats of jail didn't derail him, the end of a partnership with the world's richest man won't either.
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While Trump often appears to be courting disaster, reports of his imminent political demise still remain premature.
That's not to say he is impervious, only that he is the closest thing to it on the American scene today.
The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on.
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So long, Elon, it was nice knowing ya.
Need for speed
Another thing to remember about Trump is that he's in a hurry to get big things done and is determined not to get sidetracked by anything. He's well aware of how Dems used the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax to win the House in the middle of the first term and showed no compunction about impeaching him over a nothing-burger phone call.
He's not going to squander his second chance with a GOP-controlled Congress to engage in wild goose chases or pout over setbacks, even when they involve an important ally such as Musk.
The clock in his head is always ticking.
3 The Musk-Trump feud sparked the day after the DOGE head left the White House.
NY Post
Despite his occasional talk of a possible third term, he knows that's not going to happen. Besides the constitutional prohibition, the reality is that he turns 79 next Saturday, and the last thing Trump wants to do is stay too long at the party and repeat Joe Biden's decrepit decline in office.
Thus, Trump's need for speed is what makes the Musk divorce important. It ends, or at least interrupts, an iconic alliance that was good for both men and was paying big dividends to America.
Whether Musk is right that his support and his extensive financial contributions made the difference in last year's campaign is impossible to know. But there is no doubt that the addition of Musk, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard to the Trump train broadened his appeal well beyond traditional GOP circles and MAGA diehards.
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Consider, for example, that Kamala Harris foolishly tried to counter Trump's moves by adding former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney and his daughter Liz Cheney to her team and claiming they were evidence she had bipartisan appeal.
The advantage to Trump wasn't a close call.
As for Musk, most critical was his commitment to DOGE and to the idea that spending cuts are not only possible but essential to the nation's future. He used his soapbox to set a new standard for Washington, even if the results fell short of the promise.
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Whatever started his break with Trump, it was complete when he attacked the tax cut and spending legislation the president helped to craft, saying at one point, 'I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful, but I don't know if it can be both.'
No damage to agenda
The oddity is that the break came after Musk officially left his temporary DOGE post, complete with a happy sendoff in the Oval Office where Trump praised him and gave him a ceremonial key to the White House.
Given the nasty nature of the rupture, attempts by others to forge a reconciliation are not likely to succeed. Yet even if the break is final, I don't believe it will do serious damage to the president's agenda, despite the hopes of media doomsayers.
As even The New York Times ruefully conceded in a Saturday headline, 'Elon Musk May Be Out. But DOGE Is Just Getting Started.'
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3 President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference with Elon Musk in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, May 30, 2025, in Washington.
AP
Another mistake many Trump observers are making is seeing him through the eyes of his chaotic first term.
As I have noted before, Trump 2.0 is a very different person.
Being on the sideline for four years served him well in that he better understood Washington, and was smarter about what he wanted to achieve and who could help him do that.
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In raw political terms, Biden's spending-palooza that drove inflation to 40-year highs and the inexplicable decision to open the southern border were gifts that helped pave the way to a Trump return.
And then came the brush with death from a would-be assassin's bullet in Pennsylvania.
'God spared me'
I had previously arranged to interview Trump the next day on his flight to the GOP convention in Milwaukee, and to my everlasting surprise, he kept his schedule.
It was during that interview that he first raised the idea of divine intervention, saying, 'I'm not supposed to be here . . . I'm supposed to be dead.'
His wry sense of humor remained intact, as he noted that people were already calling the photo of him standing up, pumping his fist and shouting 'fight, fight, fight,' with his face streaked with his own blood, an 'iconic' scene.
'They're right and I didn't die,' Trump said. 'Usually you have to die to have an iconic picture.'
Although he was never an especially religious man, Trump began to embrace the idea that 'God spared me for a purpose, and that purpose is to restore America to greatness.'
It's a fat target for haters, but the important thing is that Trump himself believes it to be true.
One result is that he is a much calmer and more gracious president.
Even his demeanor last week reflected a 'what, me worry?' approach, as he demonstrated in a series of quick phone interviews with media outlets, including The Post, where he insisted he was not rattled by the blowup.
His explanation was simple: Musk suffers from 'Trump Derangement Syndrome.'
Woof, woof, and the caravan moves on.