Summary
Elon Musk’s $288M donation to Trump’s campaign has secured him influence, including a leadership role in DOGE, which aggressively cuts federal programs.
While their alliance is built on shared disruption and anti-“woke” policies, tensions could rise as Musk’s unchecked power draws criticism.
Musk serves as a useful foil, deflecting attention from Trump, but could become a political liability, fueling concerns over who wields real power.
Pressure from Republicans and critics like Steve Bannon may force a reckoning before the midterms.
I think that it will last as long as Musk wants it to. Trump spent years spewing his idiocy across Twitter for years. You can bet he was spewing the most damning stuff in DMs. Musk, having bought Twitter, now has every DM that Trump ever sent on that platform. Trump is not smart. He certainly sent things he shouldn’t have in those DMs. I would be completely shocked if he hadn’t sent DMs that included evidence of criminal activities by him or others. I’d be shocked if he hadn’t sent classified information to other via Twitter DMs. Musk now has all of that dirt on Trump and the resources to use it if he chooses to.
I find it hard to believe that Musk spent between a quarter and a half a billion dollars to get Trump in office just because he loves Trump “as much as a straight man can love another man.” I think he knew he had leverage on Trump and would be able to use it to do absolutely anything he wants. Now Trump is stuck with Musk because if he tries to dump him, Musk can suddenly find some of those DMs and drop a few tens of millions to make sure Trump gets roasted over it in the media and even in Congress.
Donald Trump cannot be shamed.
We already know that Trump has done all of those things. There is no possible information that could be revealed about Trump that would make his cult turn on him. That much is certain.
No, you and I know he has done many things. The MAGA cultists only know what their right wing media sources are telling them. Everything from a left or middle news source is all “fake news.” Musk has the financial resources to poison the well they are drinking from by getting Fox, et al to run endless stories about Trump’s corruption and incompetence.
It’s an interesting posit that’s for sure. On the one hand, he could " stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody" and not lose any voters. On the other hand, Musk is one of the only people with the access and resources to really mount a propaganda campaign against him. It’s a bit of a stand off, we don’t know what conversations have been had with Putin either.
edit: a word