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Time of India
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
One Big Beautiful Break-up: Will Elon Musk escalate after Donald Trump's deportation threat? The bromance fallout continues...
Most people claim remakes never make good cinema. That's not entirely true. Kaante , Bollywood's homage to Reservoir Dogs , was so slick it earned Quentin Tarantino's own nod of approval. The Departed – Martin Scorsese 's lone Best Picture win – was a remake too, reworking Hong Kong's Infernal Affairs into an American mob masterpiece. And it would take a director of Scorsese's calibre to truly capture the gravity of the greatest bromance breakup of our times: the epic fallout between Donald Trump and Elon Musk . This saga has everything: betrayal, power plays, reality TV drama, Game of Thrones energy, and memes so surreal they feel like AI fever dreams. Musk, ever the chaos agent, tweeted: 'So tempting to escalate this. So, so tempting. But I will refrain for now.' The Deportation Dare Donald Trump warns Elon Musk At a press scrum before leaving for Florida's newly opened migrant detention centre – christened by supporters as Alligator Alcatraz – Trump was asked whether he would consider deporting Musk for criticising his One Big Beautiful Bill. The president paused, grinned, and dropped the verbal hammer: 'We'll have to take a look.' For Trump, citizenship has always been a transactional privilege. But Musk isn't just another immigrant. He is the world's richest man, the embodiment of American exceptionalism, an avatar of capitalist frontierism. Deporting him would be the ultimate flex. If Trump can exile Elon, what immigrant is safe? The Trigger: One Big Beautiful Betrayal This escalation was triggered by Musk's attacks on Trump's flagship spending and tax bill, which gutted clean energy incentives and electric vehicle subsidies. For Musk, whose empire runs on EV dreams, battery futures, and massive federal contracts, the bill was betrayal by spreadsheet. Trump responded with characteristic menace, implying that SpaceX, Tesla, and Starlink only exist because of government generosity. In his words, 'Without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa.' The subtext was clear: you owe me your empire. The subtext behind Musk's rage was clearer: I am the empire. Steve Bannon Enters The Chat As if the feud needed more reality TV energy, Steve Bannon leapt into the fray, calling Musk a 'dangerous alien' and hinting at nationalising SpaceX to protect American interests. For Bannon, who sees the world through a civilisational siege lens, Musk is not a heroic immigrant success story but a techno-libertarian Trojan horse undermining nationalist economics. Musk clapped back instantly, calling Bannon 'a traitor to reason,' and hinted at resurrecting his teased 'America Party' to challenge the Republican old guard. He knows that in the digital age, controlling narrative platforms like X is more powerful than controlling Fox News. His threat was not idle bravado; it was a signal to technocrats, crypto bros, suburban engineers, and the Silicon Valley libertarian diaspora that he could launch an ideological insurrection against Trumpian populism. The Calculated Rage Musk's 'so tempting to escalate' is not idle musing. He has cards to play: Launch a third-party spoiler movement, siphoning techno-libertarian voters from Trump. Even a 3-5% dent could reshape battleground states. Withhold critical Starlink or SpaceX support in government missions, turning contracts into leverage. Imagine a Pentagon war game without Starlink uplinks or NASA's Artemis programme delayed because Musk wants to prove a point. Weaponise X's platform dominance, which remains the main conservative-friendly digital arena not directly aligned with Trump's Truth Social. Musk controls the information bloodstream of MAGA's meme warriors. The Pop Culture Theatre Memes have reached peak absurdity. One depicts Trump as Regina George from Mean Girls screaming, 'Get out of my country!' while Musk sits atop a flaming Cybertruck like a rebel warlord. Another casts them in Game of Thrones: Musk as Daenerys Targaryen with his rocket dragons, Trump as Cersei on the Iron Throne threatening wildfire. Late-night shows are milking it. Jimmy Fallon joked it's like Kanye West trying to mediate a divorce between himself and himself. Saturday Night Live reimagined Succession, with Trump as Logan Roy taunting Musk's Kendall for never being a 'serious person.' Meanwhile, Chinese netizens have labelled Musk's 'America Party' idea as his Prigozhin moment, drawing parallels with mercenary coups against supreme leaders. The meltdown has become a global spectator sport. The Political Stakes Beneath the billionaire slap-fest lies genuine electoral risk. Musk's financial and social media muscle could fracture the Republican coalition, especially among suburban technocrats, engineers, and venture capital classes who idolise him as innovation's high priest. Trump's threats to cut off Tesla and SpaceX contracts risk alienating key battleground states where EV jobs and satellite internet are lifelines. And lurking in the wings is Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor positioning himself as the stable Republican adult who can harness tech without chaos. In private donor circles, DeSantis allies whisper that if Musk ever endorses him, it would instantly inject the campaign with credibility, capital, and narrative dominance. The Banality of Ego Strip away the memes and think pieces, and this feud is not about clean energy, free speech, or subsidies. It is about two men who see themselves as American destiny's singular protagonist. Trump wants a loyal industrialist who bows to Caesar. Musk wants a blank cheque to remake the world without populist drag. One controls the levers of state. The other controls the timeline. One threatens exile. The other threatens escalation. And the rest of America scrolls endlessly through their digital divorce, meme by meme, late-night monologue by late-night monologue. A Scorsese Film Waiting To Be Made If The Wolf of Wall Street was Scorsese's exploration of greed's bacchanalia, Trump vs Musk would be his meditation on power's absurdity. Picture the cold open: Musk walking down a neon-lit SpaceX corridor with 'Sympathy for the Devil' playing, intercut with Trump at a rally chanting 'Send him back!' to a sea of red hats. Add a menacing Bannon cameo, a tearful congressional testimony about Starlink being 'too big to sanction,' and a final act with Musk testifying before Congress while secretly texting his engineers to reroute satellites over Florida. End with both men staring at their reflections, realising neither can truly destroy the other without imploding America itself. Postscript: The Coming Finale It is tempting to dismiss this as billionaire theatrics. But in the modern digital republic, politics is spectacle. Today it is a deportation dare. Tomorrow it might be Musk's America Party nuking the Republican landscape. Either way, it's Mean Girls with missiles, Game of Thrones with Cybertrucks, and Real Housewives with real consequences. Because in the end, there is only one rule in American politics: never stand between a narcissist and his mirror. In this saga, there are two – both convinced the mirror belongs to them alone.
Express Tribune
01-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Suniel Shetty recalls how a Pakistani man saved him from a post-9/11 crisis
Listen to article Bollywood actor Suniel Shetty recently revealed an incident from his past, describing it as one of the most challenging moments of his life. Surprisingly, a Pakistani citizen played a crucial role in saving him from a potentially dangerous situation. According to Shetty, this incident occurred in 2001, in the tense aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States. At the time, he was in Los Angeles, filming for the movie Kaante. In a recent interview, Shetty recalled how a simple misunderstanding escalated into a serious situation, and how a Pakistani-origin hotel manager helped him get out of it. Shetty recounted that a few days after the 9/11 attacks, when filming resumed, he was returning to his hotel. Upon entering the elevator, he realised he had forgotten his room keys. He turned to an American man in the elevator and asked, 'Do you have a key? I forgot mine.' However, the man misinterpreted Shetty's request and, panicked, rushed out of the elevator to inform the police. Within minutes, armed police officers surrounded Shetty, forcing him to kneel and handcuffing him. The Bollywood star was in complete shock and fear, unable to understand what was happening. A Pakistani hero's timely intervention Shetty was a well-known Indian actor and posed no threat. Thanks to his timely clarification, the police released Shetty. Given the reputation of US police and their often brutal treatment of minority communities, this was certainly a close call. Reflecting on the incident, Shetty said, 'It was an unbelievable experience. There was chaos all around, and I had no idea what would happen next. But without the hotel manager's help, I might not have gotten out of that situation so easily.' Shetty expressed his gratitude to the Pakistani manager, emphasizing how this experience reinforced his belief that humanity transcends borders. This revelation highlights an inspiring story of kindness and understanding amid one of the most tense periods in recent history.
