An unstoppable force loses the battle against an immovable object: Elon bows to Trump
Four days into a public dispute between the most powerful person in the world and the richest person in the world, I declare Musk the loser
Elon Musk and Donald Trump are no longer friends. Tensions between the two erupted publicly in the middle of last week, with each launching sharp criticisms at the other. Four days into the public dispute between the most powerful person in the world and the richest person in the world, however, I declare Musk the loser. An unstoppable force has lost its battle against an immovable object.
From my colleagues Hugo Lowell and Andrew Roth: On Thursday, Elon Musk called for the impeachment of Donald Trump and mocked his connections to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, while the U.S. president threatened to cancel federal contracts and tax subsidies for Musk's companies, in an extraordinary social media dispute that erupted between former allies. The direct attacks on Trump were the latest twist in the public confrontation over a Republican spending bill that Musk had criticized.
"Without me, Trump would have lost the election, the Democrats would control the House, and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate," Musk said in a post on X. He added: "Such ingratitude."
Tesla's shares, which were already struggling, fell 15%, wiping out about $150 billion of its total market value. The consequences for Trump and the Republican Party may be broader: the midterm elections for positions in the U.S. Congress are not scheduled until the second half of next year.
When Trump and Musk got together, U.S. liberals predicted that the relationship would end in a public and acrimonious disaster. I did not think so. Musk was an extremely powerful and unusually close ally to Trump. Trump's campaign needed the huge cash infusion that Musk could provide. $BTC