Sunday, 8 June 2025

America is being crushed between two egos

The Trump/Musk saga continues, mostly fuelled by speculation about why it broke down so quickly and what might come next. I’ve heard several theories about the inevitability of the falling out, with one psychologist suggesting both of them have issues stemming from difficult relationships with their respective fathers. They are both desperate attention seekers to make up for the lack of warmth in their upbringing, apparently. It’s clear they are narcissistic and can’t bear to exist in somebody’s shadow, even for a few minutes. From that angle, the explosive separation was just a matter of time.  And contrary to some initial reports, it doesn't look like a trial one.

For a brief period, it looked like White House aides were trying to bring about a reconciliation by arranging a call between the two men, conscious of the massive risks to the administration from having Musk on the outside of the tent.  But Trump has now said publicly that he isn't interested:

As usual, Trump's first and last instinct is to double down. The stakes couldn't be higher.  Later, he is said to have described Musk as having "lost his mind" and a "big time drug addict."

After this, forget any notion of olive branches ever being exchanged. 

They are two of the most powerful people in the world, both are unhinged and Musk is a drug user and abuser, as has been widely reported. They both want to constantly be in the limelight and they are now locked in a battle to the end. It will not be pretty, but one of them will finish up on top. I wouldn’t like to bet which it will be.

How did the two of them end up so close in the first place? They are not seen as having similar agendas at all. One suggestion is that Musk in early 2024 was becoming concerned that various US government agencies were investigating his companies over labour law infringements and environmental or safety issues and could potentially shut them down. This is said to be the reason he backed Trump and donated the thick end of $300 million to get him elected.

It sounds plausible to me since the man who made the majority of his billions in clean EVs and is concerned about balancing the budget, has far more in common with the Democrats than he has with Trump. Support for Trump’s ‘drill, baby drill’ agenda just didn’t seem to align with Musk’s vision.

What Musk saw in Trump was an amoral opportunist who would be prepared to end federal probes into his myriad business interests in return for hard cash. True to form that is what happened. Once ensconced in government through DOGE, Musk managed to block various investigations, sometimes by closing down entire departments.

In return, Trump got $290 million to pump into his election campaign and the support of the world’s richest man with his own all-powerful social media platform and 200 million followers. It was an offer he couldn’t refuse.

But eventually, Musk became unhappy about the erratic tariff policy and Trump’s crackdown on immigration, including the high-calibre engineers and scientists he needed for his companies.  Finally, the ‘big, beautiful bill’ that threatened to raise the national debt by $2.4 trillion was too much, and he began to openly attack Trump.

The head of the FBI, Kash Patel, a Trump loyalist, was on Joe Rogan’s podcast when Musk tweeted that Trump’s name was in the Epstein files. Rogan immediately raised it with him. We know that Patel has seen the Epstein files and he didn’t deny the allegation as he could have done. Patel would only say he didn’t want to comment.  The Trump administration has publicly released the Kennedy assassination files and others. It has also promised to publish the Epstein files in unredacted form but has not yet done so.

Both men have much to lose. Musk’s wealth depends to a large extent on government contracts, which Trump controls. But Trump’s administration relies on SpaceX for launching satellites and space exploration. They need each other. The BBC reported this morning that the Trump-Musk row is fuelling the 'biggest crisis ever' at Nasa and you can see why. America's entire space programme may be collateral damage in the row.

Musk also seems to be talking about forming a new ‘centrist’ movement, asking his 220 million followers if they think it's "time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle."  When the vast majority of those who voted gave a resounding 'yes' he tweeted: “The people have spoken. A new political party is needed in America to represent the 80% in the middle! And exactly 80% of people agree…This is Fate.”

Meanwhile, Trump threatened unspecified ‘consequences’ if Musk funds the Democrats. 

The problem for Donald Trump is that events are starting to move against him. His cruel and crazy immigration policy is sparking unrest across the USA and he ordered 2,000 National Guardsmen to Los Angeles to quell one street protest over raids on undocumented migrants.  This is a real escalation and comes as Trump had threatened to withhold federal funding for California. Governor Gavin Newsom responded with a threat of his own, to block the transfer of tax revenues to Washington - the state pays $80 billion a year more than it receives. 

Republicans on Capitol Hill are growing concerned about adding to America's huge $36 trillion debt burden and Trump may not get his 'big, beautiful bill' through the Senate unscathed. 

Last week could turn out to be the beginning of the end of Trump's second term with the president for the first time ever, facing a worthy adversary who is equally deranged and determined, with money being no object to a desire for vengeance. It's a dangerous moment for America.

The most powerful nation on earth is being crushed between two planet-sized egos.

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