Trump Is Bigly Upset With ‘President Musk’ Talk

As we all know Donald Trump’s delusions of grandeur start with HIM being the center of the universe. Also that the spotlight is meant for him, and him alone unless something’s gone wrong and he has to shift blame. And said spotlight. For Trump it’s all about HIM and all things like money and accolades flow to him and him alone.  Elon Musk might not be as disconnected from reality as Trump but he’s in the ballpark. He too thinks he is the star of whatever he chooses to be the star of. These days that happens to be the incoming government come Inaugural Day. In fact, neither he or Trump seem willing to wait.

Musk shelled out $280 million give or take in actual cash and a f**ton of ‘in-kind’ contributions via the social media platform he owns.  In his mind he’s purchased the right to set whatever policy he wants and for Trump, as the “technical” leader of the free world to make it happen. Now, that might seem like an awful lot of money for most of us, even the average billionaire but Musk is the world’s richest man. By far. That’s not even tip money to him. More like pocket change BUT he paid for something and being transactional like Trump expects to get what he paid for.

Musk has already been mucking around with things, and heading up the whole DOGE thing and spending all kinds of time at Mar A Lago with Trump ‘advising’ him. Yes, there have been plenty of jokes about Musk actually being President come late January while Trump merely plays the role like he did in reality TV days. The thing is, some people with knowledge of the workings of the second disastrous Trump transition have indicated joking aside Musk has outsized influence. A “President Musk” reference once in a blue moon won’t matter much. However such references appear to be becoming more common. Trump reportedly has become aware of such talk and is pissed.  This kind of thing won’t help:

https://x.com/JasmineForUS/status/1870110388890501401/photo/1

You can check out this article from MSNBC which gives a general overview. (It’s where I got the link above) While the headline indicates it’s Trump ‘Officials” that are “infuriated” you can be sure they wouldn’t be leaking this if Trump himself wasn’t trying to keep from having whatever one calls a simultaneous thermonuclear explosion and social media meltdown!  Well, what matters is that all is not well down in Trumpty Town. Trump doesn’t like the ‘President Musk’ talk and we know he knows because he had his spokesperson Karoline Leavitt issue a statement to news outlets insisting Trump’s still in charge of the Party.  Well, it’s one thing to say that but MSNBC raises an interesting point:

“As soon as President Trump released his official stance on the [continuing resolution], Republicans echoed his point of view,” Leavitt said. “President Trump is the leader of the Republican Party. Full stop.”

But if your spokespeople are having to issue public declarations that no, really, you’re the one in charge, then it’s only because that isn’t as obvious as it should be. Needless to say, Musk is not actually president (and under the Constitution as currently written, he can’t be, as someone who isn’t a natural-born citizen).

One problem for Trump is that he has billed his massive wealth and huge audience as indicators of power, in politics or out. Remember when he ran for president against Hillary Clinton and claimed that his wealth afforded him control over every politician to whom he’d donated? And remember when, around that same time, he bragged about his large social media following?

The linked article then dryly noted “The tables, it appears, have turned.”

What brought all this to a head was the debacle with the government funding bill this week. Republicans crafted a proposal, worked with Democrats (who still control the Senate) to cut a deal which would keep the government funded and all seemed ready to go. All the House had to do was vote yes and Jeffries assured Johnson Democrats would do their part with most voting for passage as long as the lion’s share of Republicans joined in. It was an all too rare case of bipartisanship.

Musk however had other ideas and went on a twitter/X mission to kill the deal. In HIS mind the government should have shut down at midnight and stayed that way until after Trump was sworn in. At which point with control of all three branches the GOP could dictate harsh terms. As for the overall economic harm (shutdowns always cause plenty), things like even our troops not getting paid as well as other critical services being affected, but what does Musk care?  He’s the richest guy in the world after all. He and his buddies wouldn’t have their lives be the least bit disrupted!

I think Trump got blindsided by Musk’s move but he really found himself with little choice but to join in. Complete with the threats to “primary” those Republicans who didn’t follow orders.  So, like the bipartisan border bill Trump ordered tanked so he could use immigration as a campaign issue the government funding bill went down in flames. Frankly, given the disarray in the House I was pretty sure we’d have a shutdown tonight. Speaker Mikey ‘Moses’ Johnson was in a no-win situation. (He still is by the way)

‘Plan B’ was a bill to have a ‘clean’ CR and also an increase in the debt ceiling.  Most in the House GOP caucus were fine with the first part but NOT with the second. But it got put up for a vote and despite the aforementioned threats of being primaried no less than THIRTY-EIGHT GOPers told Trump and Musk to go to hell. I’m still trying to take in the implications of so many openly defying their orders. Had it been in single digits that would be one thing, but damned near 40 doing so?  That seems to have gotten through even to egomaniacs like Trump and Musk.  I think that’s why we had a ‘Christmas Miracle’ of a last minute deal today. Okay, so it’s still not done because as I write this the Senate hasn’t voted but from what Majority Leader Schumer has indicated the legislation will pass.

The thing is it never would have gotten to the point it did without Musk deciding to throw his weight around. Hence the renewed talk of Musk being the one who will actually be running things while letting Trump play the big shot just like the old days of The Apprentice. The problem is that Trump and his ego have grown way beyond that. TRUMP simply can’t stomach the idea of someone seeming not only as powerful, but even more so than him. And Musk, like any rich asshole who’s bought something (in this case a President) expects to get what he paid for.

Something has to give. If the fallout wouldn’t be so appalling it would actually be fun to watch the eventual falling out. That point where these two titanic egos collide in political and cultural steel cage ‘to the death’ match. It’s coming. I just thought of my childhood and Saturday morning cartoons – George in the Jungle specifically. I enjoyed the hell out of each show, but the part I ALWAYS looked forward to was the closing song.  And the part where the two trains crashed into each other.

I say we should talk up the whole “President Musk” thing on social media as much as possible. Trump’s ego simply won’t be able to handle it, especially if it grows to the point where RWNJ outlets like Fox have to go tamping it down.  Trump WILL be the one with the actual power. And control of the DOJ.  And a lot of government contracts that make Musk as rich as he is, as well as MORE contracts Musk is counting on getting. Trump could and might well issue an executive order nationalizing all of Musk’s government related businesses.  Oh, Musk would sue but it would be a mess and likely take a year if not years to resolve. And for good measure Trump could also do a number on electric vehicles and in the process tank Tesla’s stock.

You think Musk lost money on twitter?  THAT would be ‘tip money’ compared to the financial losses a vindictive President Trump could visit upon him. If Musk had any sense at all he’d make himself scarce for a while and convince his buddy Ramaswamy to do the same. There will be time for DOGE crap in six months or so. But maintaining such a high profile and fueling “President Musk” talk and memes will I predict lead to very bad things for Elon Musk.

Trump is aware of the talk. He owes Musk to a degree but there’s only so much Trump will put up with and Musk has just engineered a major embarrassment. AND Trump didn’t get what he wanted most today which was an increase in the debt ceiling he could pin on Democrats. He’ll get it of course BUT it will all be on him.

Personally I think Elon Musk is hearing a (to him) strange sound tonight. It’s the sound of the ice under his feet cracking!

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