The richest man in the world is getting a lesson in Trump.
Doubts abound as to whether he will graduate in 2028 with a four-year degree in Trumpism: It is now a parlor game in Washington and Silicon Valley to speculate just how long the Musk-Trump relationship will last. The answer, as discarded aides from Mr. Trump’s first term will tell you, may depend on Mr. Musk’s ability to placate the boss and keep a relatively low profile — but also to shiv a rival when the time comes.
In short, how to play the politics of Trumpworld.
Most of the people who now surround Mr. Trump in the transition are battle-tested aides from his past fights, or decades-long personal friends. Mr. Musk is neither. What he brings instead are his 200 million followers on X and the roughly $200 million he spent to help elect Mr. Trump. Both of those have greatly impressed the president-elect. Mr. Trump, gobsmacked by Mr. Musk’s willingness to lay off 80 percent of the staff at X, has said the tech billionaire will help lead a Department of Government Efficiency alongside Vivek Ramaswamy.
I just love the fact that Trump thinks laying off staff at a social media platform (which, by the way, has become a total wingnut sewer and is failing at a rapid rate) is equivalent in any way to “reforming” the US Government. It’s absurd. Especially when you hear something like this:
In private meetings at Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Musk shows little familiarity with policy or the potential staff members being discussed, but he returns repeatedly to a central point: What is required, he says, is “radical reform” of government and “reformers” who are capable of executing radical changes, according to two people briefed on the meetings, who insisted on anonymity to describe the internal conversations.
He’s no genius, I’m sorry. He’s a talented entrepreneur, obviously, but there’s no reason to believe he understands anything other than that. When it comes to philosophy, ideology, politics, history — the world — he’s no better than your average right wing troll on Truth Social, operating from a gut that favors bigotry, selfishness and stupidity. He’s clueless about government and he’s going to crash and burn.
He’s already feeling the need to lick some boot:
On Wednesday, in response to a headline describing him as Mr. Trump’s “closest confidant,” the tech billionaire went out of his way to praise “the large number of loyal, good people at Mar-a-Lago who have worked for him for many years.”
“To be clear, while I have offered my opinion on some cabinet candidates, many selections occur without my knowledge and decisions are 100% that of the President,” he wrote on X.
It appeared to be a recognition of a well-known lesson in Trumpworld: Don’t outshine the boss. At least if you want to stay awhile.
Mick Mulvaney says that Musk should be Trump’s “straight shooter” who tells it like it is:
“What makes Musk such a valuable adviser,” Mr. Mulvaney told The Times in an interview, “is that he has enough money — and enough other things to do — that he is uniquely situated to be the bearer of honest news. More than perhaps anybody else on the planet, he doesn’t need the job.”
Oh for sure! Musk needs to be up in Trump’s fave constantly telling him things he doesn’t want to hear. That’s the perfect job for him and Trump will be so appreciative. He respects that sort of thing.
It’s not going to work out. Right now Trump may be enjoying the fact that the richest man in the world is his BFF. But before too long he’s going to realize that the richest man in the world is trying to usurp him — the most powerful man in the world — and he’s going to get sick of him. At this point I wouldn’t bet on Musk being around even 3 months from now.