I’ll make this short and sweet. Elon Musk and Trump were ‘having issues’ before Musk’s tenure as a WH advisor ended last Friday. It had become clear in the weeks before then a rift had formed in their bromance. Elon, so the saying goes gave a version of the playground routine of “I’m taking my ball and going home.” In his case back to Tesla and Space X. Still, Elon’s little incel minions are still in DC doing their DOGE thing which I figured would make Trump and the GOP happy. That meant Trumpty and Muskrat might one day ‘kiss and make up.’ Now? I’m wondering how long Musk’s DOGE minions will stay on the job in DC. And worse, what havoc they will (on Elon’s orders) wreak on the way out the door!
The breaking news this afternoon, including by Raw Story is that Musk has escalated his feud with Trump, and the GOP in Congress too. We’re talking not just burning, but nuking bridges here. Musk’s butt-hurt has led to an ‘eff all y’all’ tweet, the text of which is:
“Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate,” Musk wrote on X, replying to a user.
“Such ingratitude,” he added.
The thing is, Musk is true, or mostly (Democrats had a near impossible lift in the Senate map) so and we all know sometimes the truth hurts. Bigly. Again, like others here on PZ I want to emphasize Trump LIED about winning big and having a mandate. He prevailed by a mere 1.5% of the popular vote, and a ‘meh’ margin in the Electoral College. He didn’t even get 50% of the vote nationwide! As for Congress like I said Democrats faced daunting map all along. Still, it’s a fair question as to whether if Trump had fallen behind in polling if Democrats might have pulled out two or three races, which with a Harris win would keep Democrats in control. And the House would definitely flipped to the Democrats.
Now I’ll be the first to say Musk got an awful lot of what he wanted for the hundreds of millions he poured into Trump’s and other’s campaigns. Add in the ‘in-kind’ contribution of his social media platform Xittter that was worth hundreds of millions more. That is a LOT and Musk expected if not being actual co-President then everything he wanted. He got plenty in government contracts, but envisioned a lot more. Hell, he wanted to pretty much gain total control of our space program, and while he was at it our Air Traffic Control system too. It’s long needed massive upgrades and Musk saw billions, tens of billions (or more) for his company there. And of course he wanted to be the EV Czar.
So yes, Musk got a lot including some massive ego stroking for a while there but when you look at the big picture objectively he surely wanted and didn’t get a whole lot more. Having the EV tax credit being stripped from the Big, Beautiful Bill is being blamed for his being pissed. Tesla stock is I think half what it was a year ago and the damage to sales has allowed other EV makers to take up the slack. Add that to the general Trump/MAGA/GOP “Drill Baby Drill” mentality and the EV industry in this country is in trouble. That means Tesla which accounts for the bulk of Musk’s fortune and therefore power is in trouble.
It’s no wonder he’s lashing out. He’s not been limited to lashing out at Trump. Congressional Republicans have been taking fire too with Musk threatening to fund candidates to primary anyone who votes for the BBB. (Or as I think of it the BUF – big ugly f**kwad) The thing is, GOP Congress Critters wasted little time expressing how they aren’t as worried as one might expect. What happened with that state Supreme Court Race in Wisconsin was an eye-opener for a lot of them.
Still, Musk doesn’t have to take out all that many House members to flip that chamber. In swing Districts (there are at least a couple dozen) members who vote for Trump’s bill and cross their fingers on being able to hand onto their seats will find themselves facing a fire breathing batsh*t insane MAGA. Which in the general election means Democrats will almost certainly win enough seats to retake control. As for the Senate there’s a little more breathing room given the built in GOP advantage but it’s possible Musk could screw Senators in the same way.
The best part about all this is this food fight has just started. I don’t see it ending anytime soon. And remember what I mentioned about Musk’s DOGE team still at work? If he does pull them out and give them other jobs if you thought things were a mess now you ain’t seen nothing yet. Voters, even in red states are already pissed and some of that displeasure is over DOGE affecting THEM and not just ‘those “other” people.’Â This has all the makings of an electoral bloodbath for the GOP in Nov. 2026. For GOPers on Capitol Hill that see that coming it means taking on Trump himself on a lot of stuff. Or at least not defending him like they’ve done so far.
The thing for now is Musk has made it damned near impossible to reconcile with Trump. And the GOP in Congress. From where I sit the only GOPers he’ll suck up to now are the state one in Texas. That’s another article entirely.
The main thing is by tonight Ronny Jackson will be mainlining drugs into Trump to settle him down. Musk openly said ‘You would be where you are if it weren’t for me’ and called our Trump for being ‘ungrateful.’ THAT is what Trump so loves saying/doing to others. I don’t think he’ll take being on the receiving end very well. It will be another instance of the laws of physics doing the impossible – an explosion and implosion on the same spot.
***From Ursula*** Zoomers, if you’re able to contribute in any way, we could use help. I’ve been ill and recuperating from a brief hospitalization. Times are tough for political commentary to begin with, and that’s been the case since November 5. Half the country is in a major depression. But we need to keep on keeping on. This too shall pass and there will be a brighter, post-Trump day if we work for it. Please join us and help if you can. Thank you. Ursula
