Trump-Musk beef: What happens next?

Washington Post

a day ago

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Hell hath no fury like a billionaire scorned. After a few idyllic months of bromance, Elon Musk and Donald Trump have spent the past couple of days embroiled in a furious back-and-forth on social media. The Tesla CEO started the quarrel by calling the president's One Big Beautiful Bill a 'disgusting abomination'; Trump responded by threatening to cancel Musk's manifold government contracts. That's only a brief summary of a battle that so far has included everything from impeachment (of Trump) to deportation (of Musk) to Jeffrey Epstein.
But what caused this breakup, and what does it mean for the men involved, their missions and everyday Americans? I chatted with my colleagues Monica Hesse and Ramesh Ponnuru in hopes of finding out. — Molly Roberts, columnist
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Molly Roberts Let's start with the basics: What the hell is happening here and why? Was this explosive spat inevitable?
Monica Hesse First of all, can I say that I wrote a long and impassioned defense this week of my favorite reality show, 'Sister Wives,' but I take it all back because this is actually my favorite reality show? Second, to answer your question: Of course this was inevitable! These are two raging narcissists who cannot take responsibility for their own actions, and since they have already blamed everyone under them, they now must blame each other. It's Kang the Conqueror vs. Thanos. Musk must blame Trump because Musk cannot acknowledge that DOGE failed because he actually has no idea how the government works. Trump must blame Musk because Trump's bill is on the rocks.
Ramesh Ponnuru There's another reason the breakup was inevitable: Musk and the tech bros want a smaller government, even if he has no idea what that would entail. That has never been a priority for Trump or his coalition. Musk seems to have discovered this obvious fact very belatedly. Now, I think he is making a parallel mistake of overestimating the leverage that tech bros have over Trump.
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Molly Well, I guess that's why Musk wants Trump impeached and JD Vance behind the Resolute Desk. He's looking for someone more likely to be in the pocket of Silicon Valley. Now, let's get into the implications: What does this feud mean for the One Big Beautiful Disgusting Abomination?
Ramesh Republicans are not going to be swayed by Musk to oppose the bill just because he has broken with Trump and criticized it. Musk has no pull with normal voters. The only difference it will make is if Musk is willing to spend a lot of money against Republicans who vote for it.
Monica This feud is continuing to reveal how naked the emperors are. Trump really said the quiet part out loud when he mentioned that one easy way to slim down the government is to cut Musk's giant contracts. After he said that, it will be harder for Republicans, who say they are fiscally conservative, to pretend the truth isn't the truth.
Ramesh That threat also highlights the real balance of power here — which is not in Musk's favor.
Molly 'No pull with normal voters' understates it. Normal voters really do not like this guy! They think he is a weirdo who keeps a bunch of women and babies in a creepy compound. And that was sort of convenient for Trump for a while — Musk was able to absorb a lot of the criticism of the administration because he's so suited to play the role of the bad guy.
Monica Sidenote: On Thursday, I was driving down the road and saw a Cybertruck with a bumper sticker that said, 'This Tesla identifies as a Honda.'
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Molly Musk claimed Thursday he won the election for Trump. Do you both think that's true? Will Trump suffer politically at all from this feud? And what about Musk? What did he gain from his association with Trump, and what is he now losing?
Monica I am beyond the point of thinking that anything ever has a political implication for Trump. I think it sways half a percent of people at the margins, but they are swayed back three months later. As for how it will implicate Musk, I don't know! Steve Bannon is threatening to send him back to South Africa!
Ramesh I don't think Musk won the election for Trump. I think it's more that Musk was part of a larger trend: Trump picked up new supporters who thought the Biden administration was a failure or who became disenchanted with progressives.
Monica Right. I think the number of people who can be persuaded to vote for someone because they think Elon Musk is cool is actually vanishingly small. It seemed symbolically meaningful for Musk to offer his support, but I'm not sure we know how meaningful it was on the ground.
Molly Does this feud signal a broader rift between Trump and Silicon Valley, and if so, is that harmful? The coalition between the venture capitalist, artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency set and the MAGA movement was notable in the election.
Ramesh I think a lot of tech bros will stick with Trump because they want lower taxes and less regulation, and they'll get that. Musk is going to be all alone in his spaceship.
Monica I could be very wrong, but my gut reaction is no. I don't think Trump has coalitions with industries, really. I think he has individuals whom he occasionally likes. Or at least he likes them sucking up to him. He rewards those individuals more than he has a cohesive economic theory.
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Molly I feel like Trump and Musk both lose here. But Bannon wins! Because to the extent there were two warring ideologies in the Trump administration — populism and, I don't know, techno-libertarianism — the avatar of one of them is now out the door.
Monica If we could think of a political party that was a pun on AI, we'd really be cooking.
Monica THE ARTIFICIAL INTELLI-WHIGS. (I'm so sorry.)
Ramesh Bannon wins because the libertarian side of the Trump movement overplayed its hand. But even that victory is partial. The trade war still looks like an unpopular failure, employers aren't being sanctioned for hiring illegal immigrants, and the One Big Beautiful Bill is not especially populist.
Molly Sidenote: Trump may say he's going to cancel SpaceX's contracts, but that's the only easy-ish way to get astronauts, supplies, etc., to the space station. So, one point for Musk.
Ramesh The biggest losers here might be the stranded astronauts. It's the hurting-the-kids phase of the divorce.
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Molly Any final thoughts?
Ramesh Remember when people were saying the second Trump administration would have less drama than the first?
Molly And this is more than a drama! Steve Bannon wins, stranded astronauts lose. The story truly is a tragedy.