Trump and Musk: Partners, frenemies, now adversaries

Is the Trump-Musk party over? Yes, if we go by how ugly their public brawl has now become, with Musk threatening to launch his own America Party while also accusing Trump of partying in the past with the wrong sort of people. I am referring, of course, to the disgraced sex offender Joseph Epstein.

Very unfortunate. In the grand circus of American public life, what is on display is not exotic animals and trapeze artists. Unless one considers these metaphors for the games that the rich and powerful play. Instead, in the daily soap opera, aired not only on TV channels but also on social media, it is egos clashing like cymbals that grabs our attention, with headlines blaring like trumpets.

In present times, few spectacles rival the peculiar pas de deux between the broken bromance partners, US President Donald J. Trump and his one time confidante and the world’s richest man, Elon Musk. It is, indeed, a clash of titans. When I last considered their brawl, or should I call it a cat-fight, even writing about its implications, I had predicted an uneasy truce, if not patch-up.

I was basing my conjecture not only on rumours that the spat was orchestrated, but also on practical considerations. The two had simply too much to lose if they continued their slugfest, whatever its entertainment value. True, both are alpha males, unaccustomed to backing off, let alone conceding defeat. Both are also publicity hounds. Remember the old adage — there is no such thing as bad publicity.

This still holds true, especially if you are a politician and, increasingly, a high-profile businessman with ambitions to change the world. To this end, both men, as we know, invested heavily in their own digital platforms or should I say megaphones. Only because they wanted to address the whole world, which they regard as their legitimate flock, directly. Trump created “Truth Social” after being cancelled by Twitter; Musk bought the latter and rechristened it X. Now both are using these very public platforms to abuse and target one another.

I guess I was wrong. Their rupture now seems irreparable even if it is somewhat premature to call it permanent. Trump, as a politician, cannot but be populist. Worse, he has a reputation of using and discarding friends when they no longer serve his interests. Musk, apparently, is much more of an idealist. He really believed, and continues to, that balancing the federal budget, reducing expenditure, and the ballooning US debt were not only campaign promises, but national imperatives to save America.

It is, indeed, a clash of titans. Musk, already unpopular in Washington’s political circles, apparently got into fisticuffs with a member of Trump’s team. He also struck below the belt by trying to associate Trump, as I already mentioned, with Epstein. Shouldn’t he have been less reckless? Having gone into a self-destruct mode, Musk’s exit from the centre-stage of Trump’s road show now seems more or less certain. And not only the Trump team, but lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle are breathing a sigh of relief. Not only because of DOGE, but owing to his precipitous and drastic acts and words, Musk had rendered himself into quite a liability to the US capital’s power elite.

That is why I am no longer sure that in the not-so-distant future, after Trump and Musk have traded barbs to their hearts’ content, more than enough to fill several pages of tabloid or digital click baits, call it a truce. The chances of sitting down over a Diet Coke and Ketamine hit are fast receding. Trump’s blustering aggression matched by Musk’s sanctimonious zeal spell disaster. Even if AI generated parodies of Trump banning Tesla in the US and putting up his own red racer for sale for $69 are obvious fakes, the damage to the reputations of both men is enormous if not irreparable.

But Musk does need US governmental support, not only to fuel his dreams of colonising Mars, but also regulatory approvals for pet projects in AI, robotics, and self-driven cars. The US, in turn, needs Musk to be defence capable, especially in space, what with NASA’s faltering efficiency and bureaucratic bungling and Musk’s extraordinary, almost incredible, reusable rockets.

Trump and Musk were certainly an odd couple. Their bromance was too good to last. Now it seems over.