Trump: Cut down the lover first when coming ashore!
Suggesting Old Ma read more about Chinese history
The trick of 'killing the donkey after it has carried the load' has been played countless times by our ancestors over thousands of years.
If Musk had really read the 'Comprehensive Mirror to Aid in Government', he might have understood long ago: The sweet words of political allies can never outweigh the conflicts of real monetary interests. The saying from our ancestors, 'When the birds are gone, the good bow is hidden,' applies everywhere.
At first, the two were as close as could be: Musk spent over $200 million supporting Trump’s election, Trump appointed him as head of a government department, they took a big photo in the White House, borrowed ties, and Musk even said, 'Straight men love Trump to the extreme.'
As a result, Trump created the 'Beautiful Big Bill', cutting electric vehicle subsidies and Tesla’s 'carbon credit profit-making mechanism'.
This thing is Tesla's 'money tree'; in the first quarter of 2025, the money made from selling this was more than the net profit from selling cars. Without it, Tesla’s financial report could turn into a loss, and Musk’s net worth would plummet as well (on June 6 alone, Tesla's market value evaporated by $150 billion, and he personally lost nearly $20 billion).
The conflict between the two had long existed: Trump wouldn’t let Musk see military plans, vetoed his allies’ nominations, and rejected his satellite projects. Musk also offended a bunch of people during layoffs in government departments.
Trump was not polite either, threatening to cancel all government contracts and subsidies for Tesla and SpaceX, saying Musk was 'ungrateful'. Now Tesla is facing protests, and stores are being vandalized. Musk has already sacrificed over $100 billion for Trump; the once 'good brothers' have turned into 'mutual enemies', to put it simply, they couldn’t come to an agreement on interests, and now it's completely broken.
However, to be fair, the essence of American politics is also a place for exchanging interests. Trump’s 'big knife of legislation' cuts towards Tesla’s 'carbon credit money tree', which is fundamentally no different from the emperors in history consolidating power by cutting down feudal lords.
The core is always 'Your interests threaten my power/policy implementation, so you must yield.'