Is Donald Trump afraid of Elon Musk?
Is Donald Trump afraid of Elon Musk?
The president has long operated without anything resembling worry when it comes to appointments or executive action, but as his most powerful—and richest—political ally chainsaws his way through the federal government, some observers wonder if Trump might be tasting his own medicine.
Summary
Elon Musk has amassed significant power in Trump’s White House, leading DOGE and embedding his tech team into federal systems.
Musk is using his X account like a personal White House pressroom podium to dominate the news cycle, pushing conspiracies and undermining Trump’s announcements.
Ironically, Trump now struggles to control Musk, who is doing to Trump what Trump did to the GOP—pushing limits and amassing a devoted fan base. Trump knows that Musk is willing to out-crazy him.
While Trump tolerates him for now, tensions may rise as Musk’s influence grows.
If Trump isn't scared already, he should be.
Trump may understand old media, but Musk understands new media much much better.
I'd assume that Trump assumes "Musk can't take power because he's an immigrant" as though Trump himself isn't making laws like those completely meaningless with how he is approaching things.
I think that's part of the trouble, Trump really doesn't understand all the systems that allowed his wealth to grow in the USA. He's busy tearing down the same systems that allowed him to be such a worthless waste that failed upward for eight decades.
He's like the joke about how libertarians are housecats. He's entirely dependent on a system he doesn't understand and he's tearing it down.
Musk and his ilk actually have a real plan beyond just tearing shit down meaninglessly, Trumps plan never went farther than where we are now.
I'd say he should be because E has more money.
Musks money is honestly more of a house of cards than Trumps. It relies heavily on subsidies and stock market hype.
Tesla sales are tanking and they hardly make any cars. The stock is painfully obviously manipulated and pumped to an insane degree. It's valuation is not based in reality.
SpaceX is deeply US government funded, and I'm almost positive Musk is going to dump the pretense of going to Mars and make it clear all his work is going to go towards new ICBMs.
As much as it is garbage, Trump actually has a real estate empire. Trumps is a house of cards to an extent as well, but Musk has the much bigger fall to make if reality catches up to his companies.
Indeed. I don't think fElon understands media at all. It's why he bought xitter - to push his posts by force. He doesn't understand anything other than money can buy you a platform, which is rather obvious.
I think that's part of the trouble, Trump really *doesn't* understand all the systems that allowed his wealth to grow in the USA. He's busy tearing down the same systems that allowed him to be such a worthless waste that failed upward for eight decades.
You’re talking about Trump here, but really it describes the US as a whole. Americans don’t understand how the whole international system and “them paying for it” is really the basis for American hegemony, wealth and indispensability. ‘American exceptionalism’ is made possible by the global system they’re now tearing down.
The complex emergent nature of this world is to much for any person or group to truly understand.
The documentary “HyperNormalization” covers this and assesses that the global elite have stopped trying to do so to instead focus on perception management into the facade that everything is normal and no one knows whats real anymore.
The easiest way to get trump to backstab elon is to continue running stories like this and getting trump to see posts etc aboutnhow hes scared of elon and how elon owns him and is richer and more powerful than him
Trump is a coward. Full stop.
He's afraid all the time, of everything and everyone.
That's what makes him so dangerous.
Trump had been in deep debt after the legal battles and Musk funded his election campaigns. Of course Musk controls Trump.
Musk isn’t Trump’s lackey—he’s the feral AI in the room. Imagine the panic when your “useful idiot” outpaces your chaos. Trump’s a carnival barker; Musk’s building the ride and rigging the safety protocols. DOGE to D.C.? Just a beta test for his federal takeover.
Trump’s sweating because Musk’s X account is the real bully pulpit now—no filters, no advisors, just raw id and rockets. The GOP’s golden goose is getting upstaged by a guy who invented upstaging.
Tolerate him? Sure. Until Neuralink wires the base directly into Musk’s brainfeed. Trump’s terrified—he finally met a monster he can’t meme into submission.
You know what would be the funniest thing? Trump, please arrest elon for literally anything.
He should be. Most of the people who follow Trump do so because they are being manipulated by him and idolize him.
Musk on the other hand, he's only there because he has an agenda. And the dumbass is giving him all the power.
Of those actually in power, as a rule they don't idolize Trump and I would say are manipulating Trump more than Trump is manipulating them.
Trump's straightforward enough, he's a megalomaniac. Make him rich and/or stroke his ego and you are golden. Trump doesn't really have a lot of ideology outside of self-worship.
Much of his executive administration is the brainchild of the Project 2025 folks. Those folks are basically being like Dick Cheney, all agenda zero interest in "taking credit". Trump is useful, they just have to say "Trump is great" and feed him a mountain of executive orders to sign and he'll happily do it, while asking for a one liner vaguely describing the order, marveling about it and signing it and moving on.
Musk is different because while the PJ2025 people are all too happy to yield the spotlight, Musk is very loud as he is also a megalomaniac. He's fine with buying and placating Trump's ego, but he also must be front and center screaming "look at me".
To the extent these folks are working together it's because their interests don't conflict. RFK Jr. wants to play with a health system that no other stakeholder in this game cares about, but otherwise doesn't care. The PJ2025 people might not have gone this viciously after USAID as Musk's vendetta is taking him, but they certainly don't mind.
So what happens when interests collide? Well see when Trump declared the US was going to go in, take over Gaza, and spend shit tons of US resources on rebuilding that for resort development while doing an ethnic cleanse. That's a lot of evil to try to hide, more than I think they like trying to pull off this soon, but more importantly to them that's an expensive thing they don't want to pay for. So they just pretended that Trump never said the things he said and invented a new narrative retroactively and acting like the media was stupid for failing to understand. The manipulation continues, and Trump is fine because they played it so that he was always right, even as they retroactively changed what he said about US troops and investment. Netanyahu's manipulation worked, but then his administration manipulated a different way.
Now if PJ2025 and Musk reach a conflict, don't know how that will go.
One of them is going to fall down a stair eventually. Wonder where the betting pool.
Yes. His behavior simple - he bullies and insults people he thinks are weaker or that he can dominate (see: any US ally), and he sucks up to and praises people that intimidate him or, at the very least, he feels kinship with (see: Putin, Xi, etc.). What's he doing here? Praising him and making excuses for him. Ipso flipso...
*Worth also adding that he's quick to turn on anyone he feels slighted him if they don't clearly intimidate him.
Let's be real. 4chan incarnate with more money than god is kind of scary.
This is the sort of news you don't want to upvote because they do nothing but clog the front page with shit.
I reckon 80-90% of “all” is USA political news. Wild stuff. Where is the non-USA (less) internet?
I think so.
For all his showmanship, Trump intimidates. Plus, it’s hard to believe Musk didn’t rig/influence the election. That would be a hell of a power chip. Who, on the “winning” side, would risk that coming out? And on the left it’s highly taboo to even nudge the idea after the way Trump acted in 2020. Musk gets a complete pass from Congress and keys to the entire 6 trillion treasury of the country AND all SS# and other data of Americans. ALL 3 branches of government are rolling over and playing dead on it, for an immigrant (which the GOP dislikes), for a manufacturer of electric cars and solar (which the GOP dislikes), who is entirely unelected by anyone, and does not qualify to be President in name by virtue of our founding documents.
Why? What’s the Occam’s razor on this question?
Back to Trump being intimidated. There’s a vid clip of Trump I cannot seem to dig up again, that shows him exiting from something onto safe ground post N Korea visit. He looks like a man who is shitting himself and not in the standard 80yo loss of bowel control due to “metal fatigue” of the anal sphincter and such over time way, which he apparently does have, but out of fear. The man looks terrified. I’m surprised we got our President, such as he was and is, back that day. I think he was too, judging by his face.
My read of Trump is he only respects people who intimidate him. Putin. Jong Un. Musk.
If you do, please reply to this with it, I'd like to see it
Musk bought him his election so he owes him
Elon is not popular and he weaseled his way into MAGA, Trump could easily depose him. Musk might kick and scream and throw a fit but he won't have anywhere to run to. Though I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to run back to the liberals afterwards.
If there ia a falling out I imagine Elon turning the Twitter machinery pro Democrat and funding democratic candidates. The fight would get ugly...kinda would like to see it. But this shotgun marriage is already lasting longer than I expected, it may go on for linger than we all expect.
At this point i don't think so.
Muskler directly controls government HR and the treasury.Trump likely couldn't stop him now if he wanted to
My source of why I'm confident he can't control Musk:
Trump says Musk is under his authority, and everything Trump says is a lie.
I'm saying theoretically he could, not thay he would. Trump is a coward and would never pick a fair fight. And even if he gor rid of Musk he would no fucking understanding of the damage Musk did le aline how to undo it.
Is Donald Trump
Afraid ofbought by Elon Musk?Yes.
For sure. Trump needs Musk to keep the Republican Congress in line.
During the 2020 through 2024 political cycle, Trump continually voiced support for various candidates who were die-hard Trumpers, and discovered that his mere endorsement didn't move the needle as much as he wished it would: A lot of those candidates lost their races.
What proved to be a larger influence (especially in close races) was massive infusions of cash, which is something that Trump is unwilling or unable to provide. Musk, on the other hand, as the richest man in the world has the cash and the will to spend it. Most important to Trump, Musk has threatened to "primary" any sitting Congress person who does anything that Trump doesn't like. Any Congress person who might raise a stink about the Executive branch usurping their Constitutional powers will likely find themselves facing a well-funded Trump loyalist in their next election -- and they would rather lose the power of their body then their own personal career.
Daddy Putin gave special instructions to obey Elon that's why.
I suspect boss man Putin has given Musk kompromat on little bitch Trump. I've thought this for now.
musk has the peepee tapes.
Donald Trump isn't afraid of anything. the man is invincible. he's going to live to be 197 years old