If that were the case, President Trump’s rekindled rivalry with Elon Musk, his estranged “first buddy,” may have something more to worry about.
None of the world’s wealthiest man’s explosive and now-sour political flirting points to his having what it takes to ignite the same creative upheaval within the Republican Party that he did in the electric vehicle and space sectors.
At the outset of Trump’s second government, Musk had the distinguished position of head of the Department of Government Efficiency. However, it is now in the past.
He’s threatening to form a new political party and primary every Republican legislator who voted for Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” which inflated the debt and deficit, and which cleared the Senate on Tuesday.
Indeed, Musk possesses a great deal of political clout. Due to his tremendous wealth, he is able to lavishly fund political campaigns and causes that align with his views. Since Trump received a large portion of the almost $300 million that Musk donated to the 2024 election, he is fully aware of this.
Even though he has been cautious not to specifically target the president over the bill this time, Musk, as the owner and compulsive user of X, has the ability to incite online mobs against politicians and even Trump.
Within the United States space program, Musk has emerged as a major player. It is quite probable that one of Musk’s starships will transport Americans to Mars. And as the conflict in Ukraine demonstrates, technologies like Starlink—developed by Musk—are crucial in the context of the battlefield.
Despite his immense influence, Musk has failed to demonstrate political finesse and has failed to establish a constituency strong enough to seize control of the Republican Party.
At this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference, he symbolically slashed spending by wielding a chainsaw onstage. Considering how he and the president severed ties over Trump’s MAGA megabill, it’s a more fitting metaphor now.
An enormously poor decision made by Musk
At one point, Musk’s partnership with Trump appeared to be a brilliant move, providing an inside channel that may provide even more advantages to his companies beyond his extensive portfolio of government contracts. Trump went so far as to purchase an electric vehicle from Tesla after giving an impressive sales presentation on the brand on the White House’s South Lawn.
Consequently, it should come as no surprise that Musk lost politically and financially as a result of his spat with Trump and his subsequent attempts to provoke him into a social media war of words. His enterprise might be targeted by the president as a result of their newfound animosity.
A foreboding warning from Trump—”DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon”—was issued on Tuesday. For several reasons, this is an astonishing claim. Prior to anything else, it shows how deeply divided the patron and the guy he had only months before elevated to the position of most powerful private individual in the nation are. Furthermore, it captures an exceptional moment in history. Here we have the president threatening to ruin a private individual and businessman through the exercise of executive authority. Despite the fact that this seems to meet the criteria for an impeachable violation, it has been handled with such indifference by this government that it is hardly noteworthy.
Other things went wrong for Musk as a result of his affair with Trump. His electric vehicles were well-liked in Europe, but this decision turned off many of his most ardent fans and caused his company’s stock price to plummet.
With the exception of his 2024 collaboration with Trump, Musk’s most notable attempt at entering electoral politics as an individual was a stinker. The more liberal candidate in a Wisconsin Supreme Court contest defeated him by ten points, despite his massive financial and passionate backing of a conservative. The competition may have been more competitive if Musk had not brought his political baggage with him. Unexpectedly, the battle taught us that money isn’t always king in American politics.
There is no way to weaken Trump’s Republican base
However, Musk faces a formidable obstacle on his path to political prominence: Trump stands alone as the most consequential character in American politics thus far in the 21st century.
For a decade, the president has been the undisputed leader of the Republican Party. Those who dared to challenge him for the throne have had their ambitions crushed by him. With the party base, Trump has a ten-year relationship. He has already accomplished what Musk appears to be aiming for: a radical overhaul of the Republican Party.
On Tuesday’s “HEADLINESFOREVER News Central,” strategist and pollster Lee Carter spoke about how he believes Donald Trump has the largest following. Carter examines the emotional reactions of voters to politicians.
In addition, “Elon Musk definitely aided Donald Trump in the election,” Carter went on to say. It’s certain, no doubt about it. This bolstered his reputation. It helped him win over some undecided votes, but Elon Musk wasn’t the main attraction, and I don’t think the public will rally around him as they did with the MAGA movement.
Though he was everywhere in the first few months of the Trump administration and a brilliant star in the final weeks of last year’s election, Musk has just converted to Trumpism, and his split from Trump has demonstrated that the MAGA movement is concentrated around its leader.
The power dynamic was most visibly measured by Vice President JD Vance. During the major split, he had to decide between Trump, the man responsible for his current fame, and Musk, a potential ally in a future presidential primary race. The president was chosen by him.
Can you tell me who Musk’s backing is?
Is Musk supported by his own political base? That’s another important question.
Earlier last month, Aaron Blake of HEADLINESFOREVER examined polling data that revealed shockingly similar Republican support for Musk and Trump—at least before to their most recent feud.
However, Musk’s support appears to be limited to the tech industry, where he utilized his celebrity to attract young, disillusioned men who voted for Trump.
Since Musk has joined the anti-debt faction of the Republican Party, libertarians like Rand Paul of Kentucky, who opposed the president’s package, view him as a natural ally. Unfortunately, as the failed presidential campaigns of Sen. Paul and his father, former Rep. Ron Paul, showed, fiscal hawkishness and breaking with the GOP spending crowd are not reliable ways to get to the top.
The president blasted Massie for his opposition to the measure, and Massie may now face a primary challenge; yet, Musk has promised to back Massie, which might have a major impact. The riches of Musk might make a difference in just one contest, regardless of the limitations on individual political contributions.
Going nationwide would be more challenging for the Tesla tycoon. One challenge he would have is rallying support for primary candidates who are prepared to challenge lawmakers who are backed by Trump, the most influential major party leader in recent history.
However, Musk has lofty goals.
As soon as the “insane spending bill passes,” he will launch the America Party, he said. “The people actually have a VOICE,” he wrote on X, “but our nation needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty.”
Establishing a third political party is fraught with difficulty. It would need, for starters, breaking the hearts and minds of millions of voters.
Since Musk is younger than Trump, he may be better off waiting for him to run out of steam. When conservatives lose faith in the president’s policies and the political system at large, the CEO may see an opening for a middle ground.
This has occurred before to. Despite losing every state he ran in, Ross Perot, a Texan entrepreneur, received 19% of the vote in 1992 for his populist platform of balancing the budget. Republicans at the time held Perot responsible for Clinton’s election victory and the erosion of support for President George H.W. Bush. The exact events are still a point of contention among political scientists, even after thirty years have passed.
An intermediary is required for Musk. Being a naturalized citizen born abroad precludes him from running for president, unlike Perot.
If he could only find a way to free US elections from the grip of the two main parties, he would achieve a political equivalent of his far-fetched rocket booster, which sends a spacecraft into orbit before crashing back to Earth, where two enormous mechanical arms await its capture.
Amazing, even according to Trump.
“Wow, look at how that thing landed today!” During a campaign event in October, Trump stated. But it was when his bromance with Musk was only beginning.
“No one really cares what he says anymore,” a senior White House insider told HEADLINESFOREVER’s Kristen Holmes on Tuesday.