This year, Elon Musk and Donald Trump didn’t just overwhelm the political landscape of the US but collectively the duo turned every political watchdog into a fidget spinner. Musk, the tech mogul, the Tesla billionaire, the man who builds rockets, electric cars and cyber trucks reduced himself to Donald Trump’s chest-thumping, front-row cheerleader. Even a man lurking in the comments section trolling celebrities who did not support Trump. Within a few hours after Taylor Swift endorsed Kamala Harris, Musk took to X, with a post, “Fine Taylor…you win…I’ll give you a child and guard your cats with my life.” That, of course, is not the only thing that Musk stooped down to while rooting for Trump.
I could have made Musk drop to his knees and beg: Trump
Throughout campaigning, the unpredictable, interesting and ever changing character of the duo’s relationship generated more interest than the outcomes of the electoral process itself. It was only two years ago in 2022 when Donald Trump hit back at Musk on Twitter rival Truth Social with a post, “When Elon Musk came to the White House asking me for help on all of his many subsidised projects, whether it’s electric cars that don’t drive long enough, driverless cars that crash, or rocket ships to nowhere, without which subsidies he’d be worthless, and telling me how he was a big Trump fan and Republican, I could have said, ‘drop to your knees and beg,’ and he would have done it.” Shortly before this triggered reaction from Trump, Musk had called him “too old to run again.”
Fast forward to 2024 and there are speculations being tossed, even doubts, being raised on whether Musk is a proxy President of the US. Apart from the ethical concerns that the nature of such a relationship, if true, raises. Elon Musk and President-elect met in Texas last week as SpaceX test-launched its largest rocket ever, highlighting the potential conflict of interest.
Shortly after Trump’s victory in the November 5 election, when Google CEO Sundar Pichai dialed US President-elect for a congratulatory call, reportedly Musk joined the call. While the duration of the call is not known yet nor the other things discussed but reports testifying to Musk overhearing the conversation has raised an alarm for obvious reasons. It is due to the nature of the relationship shared by the two that Musk is referred to as “The First Buddy.” Pichai is not the only one who had to face Musk listening to the conversation while on a call with Trump. The leaders of Turkey and Ukraine also had to put up with Musk while on a call to Trump. There are even reports alluding to Musk’s geopolitical ambitions and how an envoy from Iran met Musk to talk about deescalating tensions although Iran’s Foriegn Ministry has denied any such meeting.
Musk, The First Buddy
Shortly after the win, when Musk was handed over to lead the Department of Government Efficiency in Trump’s cabinet, the development did not come as a surprise to many. Considering that Trump had hinted at a similar arrangement during his campaign trail, it was known that Musk would be a part of Trump administration. Musk will head the department alongside Indian-American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. Trump justified appointing Musk as the head of the department in a statement, “Together these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies—essential to the Save America Movement.” In fact, not just in his cabinet Musk found a mention in Trump’s victory speech as an “amazing guy.”
From enemies to friends to what next?
It’s no wonder that recent developments has had many questioning as to whom did they actually elect? Also no surprise that Democrats joked that Musk, not JD Vance was Trump’s running mate. The detractors, however, have put an expiry date on the newly-formed duopoly. They reason that ultimately their agendas don’t align, not to forget that both are impulsive, eccentric and used to being the power centre. It won’t be long before the conflict of interest gets in the way and what if they start to clash? Before November can end, netizens got a glimpse of the potential opening for a rift as Musk targetted Trump’s favourite fighter jet with a post on X, “Manned fighter jets are obsolete in the age of drones.” While tearing into the F-35, a favourite of his new best friend forever’s, Musk targetted the tri-service fighter jet program.
Experts have also warned that Musk’s deep tries with China also set set up a potential rift or complication between the two.
But it’s a while before the tensions, if ever, will escalate and come to the surface. For now, the President-elect hasn’t even be sworn in and the value of Musk’s fortune surged by roughly $50 billion in the week after the election results, with investors betted big on Tesla shares. Already a neat recovery of the reported $120 million Musk pumped into Trump campaign. It’s time to revel, and currently both are too intoxicated in the spectacle of their successes as it plays out before them.
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