Trump, failing in physical and mental health, needs a mini-me. The world’s richest man is, in what is left of Trump’s “mind”, a worthy avatar. Trump doesn’t believe that Elon’s unpopularity reflects on him…it will be up to the American public hitting their elected folks in Congress good and hard at town hall meetings, flooding them with deluges of email and phone complaints, to the extent that they feel that their political futures are more threatened by WE THE PEOPLE than by Donald J TrumpMusk, to convince him otherwise.
A nice slap upside the combover may be a robust FRIDAY BUYING BLACKOUT tomorrow.
Musk is definitely not there to make government more efficient. I don't think he even knows what his kiddie squad is doing, totally lied about the ebola funding (or doesn't know better). He is diving for our data and Trump gave him the keys. Trump wants nothing more than personal power and enrichment and destroying anything that was functioning and stabilizing the country. Win/win!
They're using each other. Musk is using the noise of the chaos he's creating to directly go after and neutralize or exterminate multiple oversight agencies with whom he and his companies have run afoul. So get rid of the regs, get rid of the regulators, get rid of oversight entirely, so he can amass many more billions.
it's more than money. elon is the guy the "faux rich" guy wants to be. Look at the whole picture, Elon trying to inseminate the world with his superior sperm, literally screwing as many and as often as he wants, doing what he wants, when he wants, to whomever he wants, total allegiance and bought loyalty. DonOld wants to be Elon, and the money certainly doesn't hurt. But always remember, in DonOlds lizard brain, sex and dominance over women is a compelling theme. He only wishes he could screw at will and not only get away with it, but be celebrated with it.
I truly think this is just a game for two very basic and emotionally immature folks that landed in too much power. Both achieved their status through nepotism and some blind luck. They are bored and playing. Neither has ever been the popular kid. Each thinks they are gaining something being with the other. And for now, they are. And they even seem aware that folks want them to blow up so are holding it at bay. But that can only last so long with the egos we are talking about. Especially since every single one of those cabinet members believes they have a “special” connection and relationship with Trump. They will all just try to approach him privately to get their voices heard and ace out Musk. Trump will play them all saying yes to everyone until it blows up. He has no agenda besides having all the power and wielding it for his own fun. He will be fine with Musk as long as Musk doesn’t overstep. It’s anyone’s guess when that will finally happen. Human nature is a strange and unpredictable thing. It would all be very interesting to watch if our country weren’t being burned to the ground in the meantime.
The way I see it, Trump no longer cares about what the American public thinks about him, Musk, and/or DOGE. He has the Republican Party on its knees before him. He also knows that he won’t face voters again for whatever reason (i.e., term limits or through a coup). Thus, he has his sights set on impressing only the authoritarian leaders and hoping he will be welcomed to that club. That could be why he is shares the spotlight with Musk.
Trump is just letting Musk get his $250M worth of influence that he peddled…also, Trump enjoys the chaos this is causing while satisfying his more sadistic instincts against the “deep state” which has (in his mind) wronged him so much…when this creates significant hardship for MAGA voters (probably much sooner than later), Trump will try to sideline Musk…however, Musk may not go quietly if he thinks he hasn’t gotten enough ROI
Do you really think that Trump gives a damn about hardship hitting the MAGA faithful? He's already gotten all he needed from them, so he'll just tell them the shit they're being forced to eat is actually caviar and expect them to buy it like they've bought every other lie he's told them.
I think Trump is enthralled that the richest man in the world wants to be his friend. I also think Trump has some cognitive decline and Musk senses a vulnerability and an opportunity to control him and usher in the Elon vision of a new world order. I also would not doubt he has some dirt on Trump. Whatever it is it’s terrifying.
I'm in the "shield" category. It allows Trump to somewhat stay above it all. Eventually, the shields fail but it buys him time to hope that things blow over. Not the path I'd choose, but Trump isn't like most managers or leaders.
I think we can all agree that there is certainly waste and inefficiency in government. (Honestly, if we were all hard wired to do the 'right thing,' we could probably eliminate a significant amount of laws and programs currently in force.) So it's not eliminating the waste that is at issue, at least for me. It's the WAY they are choosing to go about it. Elon seems to know only one way to save money - and that's fire people. And in some instances, that's probably a good answer. But when you are firing people who are doing necessary and in many cases life saving work? Not the right answer.
Not to plug The Daily Show, but Jon Stewart did a great riff on this last week and identified a number of places waste could be eliminated. I think it's worth watching (the mug smashing/blood letting is just a bonus).
He fired a ton of people at X and kept a much more barebones organization. That is the template for DOGE. The flaw is that X is relatively unimportant and government services are actually valuable. I’m guessing that Musk and Trump don’t believe most government functions to be valuable, don’t trust what currently exists, intend on cancelling the services, and using disruption as a way to know which are essential.
One of the many odd things for me is that while Republicans are hearing from their constituents, other Republicans are saying those constituents are really democrats flooding meetings who are getting paid to be there. How is it that the fall back position for Republicans is always that people who are upset with them are being paid by...uhm...someone?
Because the maga base love, and believe, every confirmation bias lie, and fact-free conspiracy, that they hear.
The maga base also love to hate--someone-- so when the Representatives say it is the dems or antifa or -whoever- is pretending to be upset just to influence them in Town Hall meetings, they are all over it to hate hate hate. Love to hate.
Even crazier - is that this fall back position of something negative always being conspiratorial in nature - gets rewarded by voters and never punished.
It’s my deep belief that Trump is using Musk’s DOGE initiatives, the Gaza stuff, the on-again/ off-again Tariff impositions, the Gulf of Mexico renaming, extreme immigrant treatment, …….. on and on (Everything Everywhere All At Once) to distract the free press and the rest of us from what his main effort is at present ~ taking absolute control of the Justice Department, FBI and other law enforcement agencies, and the U.S. military in order to ensure that they all do his authoritarian bidding.
I say let’s get focused strongly on the greatest danger ⛔️ our democratic republic has faced since its inception nearly 250 years ago!
My belief all along has been that trump sold the presidency to Musk for a huge sum. The Orange Idiot is just playing the role of president like in his reality TV show. Musk isn’t getting booted no matter what he says or does because he IS the acting president and has paid the money to run the country. trump is all about money and this holds water.
Unpopularity. Trump is basic. His brain doesn’t think that far ahead. He’s playing, not even checkers, but tic tac toe (chess is waaay to advanced for Titty Baby Trump)
Notice that 35-42% number. It's the same core DonOld/MAGA approval numbers that keep on popping up for the last (GASP) 12-13 years.
Consistently 35-42% of America has lost their minds. Now I'm no math expert, but those 35-42% of us (sadly) are driving the train. Where are they driving the train? Right into the most horrific humanitarian and financial disaster we've ever been in.
I really wish you would put the 35-42% statistic on the top of every one of your Substack offerings.
THEY are the MINORITY.
Speak Johnson is the MINORITY.
ELON is the MINORITY.
DonOld is the MINORITY.
Tommy Tubberville is the MINORITY.
Josh "Rinnin' Scared" HAWLEY is the MINORITY.
We need to stop ringing our hands. The FBI is not the enemy. Federal employees are NOT the enemy. Middle of the road decent Americans are NOT the enemy.
Those folks that condemn us are the true enemy of the people. Not us. Not ever.
I think that Trump needs a scapegoat for all of the firings and that Musk is perfectly happy to be that person. He has no qualms about pissing people off and Trump gets to kinda shrug his shoulders and say "Wasn't me".
Absolutely what you said: "On the other, Trump may be using Musk as a sort of a heat shield — allowing the billionaire to take the slings and arrows for a thinning of the federal bureaucracy that Trump clearly supports." Trumps fingerprints will not be on anything that Musk destroys.
Trump, failing in physical and mental health, needs a mini-me. The world’s richest man is, in what is left of Trump’s “mind”, a worthy avatar. Trump doesn’t believe that Elon’s unpopularity reflects on him…it will be up to the American public hitting their elected folks in Congress good and hard at town hall meetings, flooding them with deluges of email and phone complaints, to the extent that they feel that their political futures are more threatened by WE THE PEOPLE than by Donald J TrumpMusk, to convince him otherwise.
A nice slap upside the combover may be a robust FRIDAY BUYING BLACKOUT tomorrow.
So who is using who? Is Trump smart enough to use Musk as a shield and Musk "stupid" enough to be manipulated?
They are using each other.
I heard on a podcast yesterday that the fear is that Musk is using the data he's gathering out of the Federal government to train his own AI.
That idea scared the living shit out of me.
Musk is definitely not there to make government more efficient. I don't think he even knows what his kiddie squad is doing, totally lied about the ebola funding (or doesn't know better). He is diving for our data and Trump gave him the keys. Trump wants nothing more than personal power and enrichment and destroying anything that was functioning and stabilizing the country. Win/win!
Yes. I think Trump also uses Musk for his money.
They're using each other. Musk is using the noise of the chaos he's creating to directly go after and neutralize or exterminate multiple oversight agencies with whom he and his companies have run afoul. So get rid of the regs, get rid of the regulators, get rid of oversight entirely, so he can amass many more billions.
I think Musk has something over Trump- something huge!!!!
It's called MONEY! Pure and simple.
Elon is Krasnov's piggy bank and enforcer. Don't do as Krasnov says, Elon pays to have you primaried.
it's more than money. elon is the guy the "faux rich" guy wants to be. Look at the whole picture, Elon trying to inseminate the world with his superior sperm, literally screwing as many and as often as he wants, doing what he wants, when he wants, to whomever he wants, total allegiance and bought loyalty. DonOld wants to be Elon, and the money certainly doesn't hurt. But always remember, in DonOlds lizard brain, sex and dominance over women is a compelling theme. He only wishes he could screw at will and not only get away with it, but be celebrated with it.
I truly think this is just a game for two very basic and emotionally immature folks that landed in too much power. Both achieved their status through nepotism and some blind luck. They are bored and playing. Neither has ever been the popular kid. Each thinks they are gaining something being with the other. And for now, they are. And they even seem aware that folks want them to blow up so are holding it at bay. But that can only last so long with the egos we are talking about. Especially since every single one of those cabinet members believes they have a “special” connection and relationship with Trump. They will all just try to approach him privately to get their voices heard and ace out Musk. Trump will play them all saying yes to everyone until it blows up. He has no agenda besides having all the power and wielding it for his own fun. He will be fine with Musk as long as Musk doesn’t overstep. It’s anyone’s guess when that will finally happen. Human nature is a strange and unpredictable thing. It would all be very interesting to watch if our country weren’t being burned to the ground in the meantime.
The way I see it, Trump no longer cares about what the American public thinks about him, Musk, and/or DOGE. He has the Republican Party on its knees before him. He also knows that he won’t face voters again for whatever reason (i.e., term limits or through a coup). Thus, he has his sights set on impressing only the authoritarian leaders and hoping he will be welcomed to that club. That could be why he is shares the spotlight with Musk.
I agree.
Trump is just letting Musk get his $250M worth of influence that he peddled…also, Trump enjoys the chaos this is causing while satisfying his more sadistic instincts against the “deep state” which has (in his mind) wronged him so much…when this creates significant hardship for MAGA voters (probably much sooner than later), Trump will try to sideline Musk…however, Musk may not go quietly if he thinks he hasn’t gotten enough ROI
I definitely agree with your point about Trump enjoying the chaos. It's very on-brand for him.
Do you really think that Trump gives a damn about hardship hitting the MAGA faithful? He's already gotten all he needed from them, so he'll just tell them the shit they're being forced to eat is actually caviar and expect them to buy it like they've bought every other lie he's told them.
I think Trump is enthralled that the richest man in the world wants to be his friend. I also think Trump has some cognitive decline and Musk senses a vulnerability and an opportunity to control him and usher in the Elon vision of a new world order. I also would not doubt he has some dirt on Trump. Whatever it is it’s terrifying.
👍
I'm in the "shield" category. It allows Trump to somewhat stay above it all. Eventually, the shields fail but it buys him time to hope that things blow over. Not the path I'd choose, but Trump isn't like most managers or leaders.
I think we can all agree that there is certainly waste and inefficiency in government. (Honestly, if we were all hard wired to do the 'right thing,' we could probably eliminate a significant amount of laws and programs currently in force.) So it's not eliminating the waste that is at issue, at least for me. It's the WAY they are choosing to go about it. Elon seems to know only one way to save money - and that's fire people. And in some instances, that's probably a good answer. But when you are firing people who are doing necessary and in many cases life saving work? Not the right answer.
Not to plug The Daily Show, but Jon Stewart did a great riff on this last week and identified a number of places waste could be eliminated. I think it's worth watching (the mug smashing/blood letting is just a bonus).
He fired a ton of people at X and kept a much more barebones organization. That is the template for DOGE. The flaw is that X is relatively unimportant and government services are actually valuable. I’m guessing that Musk and Trump don’t believe most government functions to be valuable, don’t trust what currently exists, intend on cancelling the services, and using disruption as a way to know which are essential.
Agree. As I said earlier everyone should read Robert reich’s column from today
One of the many odd things for me is that while Republicans are hearing from their constituents, other Republicans are saying those constituents are really democrats flooding meetings who are getting paid to be there. How is it that the fall back position for Republicans is always that people who are upset with them are being paid by...uhm...someone?
Because the maga base love, and believe, every confirmation bias lie, and fact-free conspiracy, that they hear.
The maga base also love to hate--someone-- so when the Representatives say it is the dems or antifa or -whoever- is pretending to be upset just to influence them in Town Hall meetings, they are all over it to hate hate hate. Love to hate.
Gotta distract that hate away from Prez musk/djt
Even crazier - is that this fall back position of something negative always being conspiratorial in nature - gets rewarded by voters and never punished.
Wild.
true
It’s my deep belief that Trump is using Musk’s DOGE initiatives, the Gaza stuff, the on-again/ off-again Tariff impositions, the Gulf of Mexico renaming, extreme immigrant treatment, …….. on and on (Everything Everywhere All At Once) to distract the free press and the rest of us from what his main effort is at present ~ taking absolute control of the Justice Department, FBI and other law enforcement agencies, and the U.S. military in order to ensure that they all do his authoritarian bidding.
I say let’s get focused strongly on the greatest danger ⛔️ our democratic republic has faced since its inception nearly 250 years ago!
My belief all along has been that trump sold the presidency to Musk for a huge sum. The Orange Idiot is just playing the role of president like in his reality TV show. Musk isn’t getting booted no matter what he says or does because he IS the acting president and has paid the money to run the country. trump is all about money and this holds water.
Unpopularity. Trump is basic. His brain doesn’t think that far ahead. He’s playing, not even checkers, but tic tac toe (chess is waaay to advanced for Titty Baby Trump)
Notice that 35-42% number. It's the same core DonOld/MAGA approval numbers that keep on popping up for the last (GASP) 12-13 years.
Consistently 35-42% of America has lost their minds. Now I'm no math expert, but those 35-42% of us (sadly) are driving the train. Where are they driving the train? Right into the most horrific humanitarian and financial disaster we've ever been in.
I really wish you would put the 35-42% statistic on the top of every one of your Substack offerings.
THEY are the MINORITY.
Speak Johnson is the MINORITY.
ELON is the MINORITY.
DonOld is the MINORITY.
Tommy Tubberville is the MINORITY.
Josh "Rinnin' Scared" HAWLEY is the MINORITY.
We need to stop ringing our hands. The FBI is not the enemy. Federal employees are NOT the enemy. Middle of the road decent Americans are NOT the enemy.
Those folks that condemn us are the true enemy of the people. Not us. Not ever.
I think that Trump needs a scapegoat for all of the firings and that Musk is perfectly happy to be that person. He has no qualms about pissing people off and Trump gets to kinda shrug his shoulders and say "Wasn't me".
Absolutely what you said: "On the other, Trump may be using Musk as a sort of a heat shield — allowing the billionaire to take the slings and arrows for a thinning of the federal bureaucracy that Trump clearly supports." Trumps fingerprints will not be on anything that Musk destroys.
Yup!