The most important thing about the relationship between Donald Trump and Elon Musk is what we don’t know. Because there is some reason, unseen by us, that Trump didn’t fire Musk weeks ago and seems incapable of even considering it.
Let’s begin with what we do know: Donald Trump is one of the most narcissistic, thin-skinned petty little men who has ever lived. You’d have to go back to a butchering Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo in the fascist 1930s and 1940s to find someone as petty and transactional (although Trujillo was more brutal and much smarter).
- Trump is so petty that he encouraged a challenger to Congressman Bob Good, a MAGA-loving lockstep Republican who made the mistake of endorsing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for president before switching his support to Trump.
- Trump is so petty that he’s decimated the Kennedy Center because he’s mad that the film and theater world have rejected him so thoroughly — and taunted him so hilariously.
- Trump is so petty that his administration has declared war on The Associated Press because the wire service dares to call the Gulf of Mexico by its real name.
- Trump is so petty that his unwavering desire to eliminate the Affordable Care Act stems from his jealousy over President Barack Obama, who once made fun of Trump.
- Trump is so petty that he only provided federal assistance to California in 2018 when aides pointed out to Trump that millions of Californians voted for him — obviously not a majority but a sizable number.
- Trump is so petty that he repeatedly tries to humiliate former Senator Mitt Romney and the late John McCain for having the backbone to stick up to him.
I wouldn’t be surprised if I found out that Trump’s transgender hatred emanated from Caitlyn Jenner having once insulted him. There’s petty, and then there is Trump petty.
So why is Elon Musk still around? Musk’s very chaotic involvement in the federal government provides a rebuke to Trump, who spends more time golfing or in “executive session” than working.
In the earliest days after the election, even before Trump’s inauguration, people were already seeing an active Elon Musk making pronouncements and outshining The Donald — enough that #PresidentMusk began trending late last year. President Petty still didn’t oust Musk. Then there’s that Feb. 7 Time magazine cover featuring Elon Musk behind the presidential Resolute Desk. In any other circumstances, Trump would have fired Elon and scuttled his DOGE pseudo-agency. In the past, Trump has edged out underlings who dared to overshadow him to a much lesser extent. Yet, Elon’s still here.
Then there was the country’s weirdest presidential press conference from the Oval Office ever. Trump sitting quietly at his desk while Big Boy Elon commands all the attention and lays out how things are going to be. But that wasn’t even the craziest part: Elon’s 4-year-old son X Æ A-Xii (dubbed Li’l X because the name is typical Elon folly) can be clearly heard insulting Donald Trump. Check it out here. It’s wild! Li’l X first tells Trump, “You’re not the president. You need to go away.” Later the Elon spawn tells Trump, “I want you to shush your mouth.” Holy moly!
It’s not campaign donations that Elon has hanging over Trump’s head. Trump’s transactional nature means that he doesn’t keep his word unless someone forces him to do so. Now that Trump’s the president (at least technically), he could just enjoy the slush fund and dismiss Elon. After so much humiliation, why hasn’t Trump jettisoned Elon? Fear that Twitter’s #MAGA denizens are more loyal to Elon than to Trump? I doubt it. So what is it? Kompromat? It must be bad, if it’s that, because the stuff that Trump has openly admitted is so frightful that anything Trump would want to keep quiet would have to be one spectacularly damning scandal.
In the end, we just don’t know what hold Elon has over Trump. But it’s something we need to figure out as soon as we can. Otherwise, we’ll have President Elon actually running things even after Trump is gone.
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