As an immigrant, Elon Musk is constitutionally barred from running for the US presidency. It’s a ridiculous rule. (Why should a birth accident determine a person’s suitability for office?) But Musk, ever the innovator, seems to have found a clever way around this problem.
For a relatively small sum – A You mentioned $130 million In donations and other campaign expenses, less than Jeff Bezos spent on The Washington Post – the world’s richest man bought a controlling stake in a bankrupt, aging, scandal-plagued former president. Then, with the help of one of his other investments,
Now the question arises: What price will Musk ask for his investment? When it became clear on Tuesday that Trump would win, Musk said… Tweet a not-so-subtle insinuation: A photo of himself carrying a sink into the Oval Office, repeating a joke his father made when he bought Twitter. I wonder if Trump noticed that his orange mug wasn’t in Musk’s vision of the Oval Office. It certainly did, and that bothered me more than Trump’s victory itself.
After all, what could be worse than a narcissistic, megalomaniac billionaire taking over the United States? Answer: A efficient A megalomaniacal, narcissistic billionaire takes over the United States.
Philosophically and financially, Musk will benefit greatly from his new relationship with the White House. His many companies benefit greatly from federal subsidies and are subject to numerous regulations. He opposes unions, demands consistently low taxes, and believes federal agencies have too much power over corporations.
Throughout the campaign, both Musk and Trump suggested that Musk be given carte blanche over federal government operations, including running what they call the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, with a mandate to cut spending. Musk has floated an idea Reduce annual federal spending by $2 trillionOr roughly a third – an amount that cannot be achieved without deep cuts to Social Security, Medicare, other social welfare programs, and even national defense.
Of course, Republican promises to reduce government to nothing are nothing new, and even if the party gains control of Congress, many will refuse to repeal popular programs. But even a fraction of Musk’s $2 trillion in cuts would be devastating for many Americans. I worry that in Elon Musk they have found a man who is not afraid to push them forward regardless.
I’m not saying it’s going to be smooth sailing. Musk’s descent into right-wing politics could cost him customers. Tesla’s best markets are Democratic strongholds. In parts of the San Francisco Bay Area, where I live, Kamala Harris beat Trump by 2-to-1, and here Teslas are more popular than Camrys. How many of my neighbors will stick with Musk’s cars when they need new wheels? I personally can’t bear the thought of buying one.
There is also a conflict between Trump’s agenda and Musk’s business interests. Trump sees electric cars as sterile and un-American, and has proposed eliminating the subsidies and environmental regulations that incentivized companies to make them and people to buy them. Tucker told Carlson that American auto companies should cede the electric vehicle market to China. Finally, there is Trump’s arrogance. The former president does not like to share the spotlight; If Musk’s profile threatens Trump’s, it is not unlikely that there will be a rift between the two.
But Musk seems unfazed by these contradictions. This is what worries me. As a left-wing politician who has also admired Musk’s business successes, the scariest thing about him taking the reins of government is that his destructive, take-no-prisoners approach has paid off more often than not. Musk has an uncanny ability to turn certain defeat into overwhelming success. Time and again in his career — when Tesla nearly went bankrupt after the financial crisis, when it was mired in “production hell” after the late 2010 production ramp-up, and when SpaceX nearly went bankrupt — Musk has managed to pull a rabbit out of his hat and be amazed. Totally his critics.
Look at his purchase of Twitter. Over the past two years, the Liberals have been boasting about what appears to be one of the worst takeovers in business history. When Musk took over the company and fired almost everyone who worked there, many expected the site would go out of business. Its advertising business has declined, thanks in large part to Musk’s refusal to moderate hate on the site and his call for advertisers to “go to hell.” Musk and his co-investors paid $44 billion to buy Twitter; One recent calculation by Fidelity puts the company’s value at less than $10 billion.
However, in the 2024 election, Twitter seemed as indispensable to the political conversation as it was in 2020 and 2016. Sure, it’s now a hell site for white supremacists, but it’s a hell for white supremacists. However, as it turns out financially, after he exploited his role at Twitter to control the president and the perpetual political movement, can anyone say his money was… Did I make a spending mistake?
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