Ramifications of Musk/Trump meltdown

MAGA’s mutually assured destruction

To honor the end of Elon Musk’s “incredible” government service, President Trump presented his friend, adviser and billionaire benefactor with a golden key to the White House.

• • Six days later, Musk lit the place on fire, Axios’ Zachary Basu writes.

Why it matters: The most powerful civilian ever has effectively declared war on the president of the United States, incinerating their relationship — at least for now — in one of history’s most extraordinary political meltdowns.

• • The long-predicted rupture built over months, but exploded in hours — unfolding in real time in the Oval Office, on Truth Social and above all, on X.
  • The consequences were tectonic, shaking the foundations of a MAGA-tech coalition that has mapped out grand ambitions for Trump’s second term.

Zoom in: Tensions have simmered all week over Musk’s scathing criticism of Trump’s budget-busting tax bill, which is projected to add trillions to the national debt.

• • Yesterday, Trump claimed the Tesla CEO was lashing out over the bill’s rollback of electric vehicle credits — and suggested he was suffering from “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”

Musk responded by committing what can only be described as an unforgivable sin in Trumpworld: claiming credit for the president’s 2024 election victory and arguing that his political power would far outlast Trump’s.

Trump fired back by threatening to terminate Musk’s billions of dollars in government subsidies and contracts, and declaring that his former adviser had gone “crazy.”

• • Over the next few hours, Musk would call for Trump’s impeachment, claim the president is implicated in unreleased Jeffrey Epstein files, and float the creation of a new political party.
  • He also announced that SpaceX would “begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately” — a move that would disrupt NASA operations and sever a core link between his empire and the federal government.

Between the lines: Musk later walked back that threat and opened the door to a thaw with Trump. He responded positively (“You’re not wrong”) to a plea by financier Bill Ackman that they make peace.

• • White House aides scheduled a call with Musk for today, Politico reported.

The episode underscored the extraordinary leverage the billionaire holds over critical government functions — and how easily that power can be politicized.

As the bromance between Musk and Trump collapses, the memes and comments are coming in thick and fast…

…the childishness of this fight between a man child who has all our data with another man child who has the nuclear codes is as alarming as it is emotionally stunted…

…Musk tweeted to Republicans that Trump was here for 3 and a half years while he is here for 40! That’s such a brutal threat, but not as brutal is this meme…

…this is a pocket civil war and it has enormous ramifications.

It says something about the madness of Late Stage Capitalism Plutocracy that two mens wounded egos can impact the entire globe.

They are both sociopaths and they have enormous power to do each other huge damage.

Peter Thiel and Bezos benefit immediately as Trump turns to them to replace Musk, which will only enrage Musk even more.

This meltdown between narcissists takes an unstable situation and makes it even more combustable.

America’s Enemies will be watching intently, their eyes glittering.

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