Congratulations, President Musk
With Trump’s stunning victory in the presidential election, the spotlight is rightly on how he could pull off such a historic achievement. Finally. If you buy into his rhetoric though, his every action has been historic.
But Trump’s ego and pocketbook are no match for Musk.
Between the breathless claims of Trump’s presumed fascism and the media frenzy about what they continuously claimed would be a “close” election all to designed drive anxiety and ratings to a fever pitch, there has been very little talk about how the world’s richest man — himself ineligible to run for president— bought his way into the White House.
With the purchase of his own propaganda network, Musk launched a charm offensive like no other. But he wasn’t seeking to curry favor with the American public at large on X. And his own meme-drunk cult could care less about politics. Musk set his sights on stroking the ego of one man. The man who could most harm his businesses as the next president.
Before the two were cozy, Trump spoke often and derisively about EVs. But an injection of hundreds of millions of dollars into his campaign suddenly changed his opinion.
Biden has had a recent change of opinion too on the tech once touted as world saving. An antidote for climate change and the future of transportation. Following the most recent automotive strike, it was suddenly declared Americans wanted nothing to do with EVs. They wanted hybrids.
A mode of transportation not part of the Tesla line up.
True, Musk has a host of other businesses to rely on. But they are all heavily exposed to government contracts and regulation. SpaceX’s bread is buttered by the NRO, NASA, and the DoD. Neuralink will only take off at the whim of the FDA.
So far, the “Trump” win has netted him billions of dollars overnight.
All of this is perhaps to be expected. When the electorate of the world’s most prosperous democracy has turned a blind eye to graft and corruption, why wouldn’t the richest man in the world buy a ticket to unlimited wealth?
What’s less talked about is the fact JD Vance, a seemingly overnight success in politics, is the former disciple of Musk’s billionaire buddy, Peter Thiel.
Vance’s brief time spent as a broke venture capitalist from Appalachia catapulted his political career into overdrive on Thiel’s fortune. Thiel pumped 15 million dollars into Vance’s senate run through Protect Ohio Values, a PAC run for Vance.
It was also precisely around the time Vance met Thiel that his once unfavorable views on Trump began to magically soften. From an “idiot” he compared to Hitler to an unwavering defender, his opinion of Trump has come a long way in an incredibly short time.
About as swiftly as his meteoric rise to the Vice Presidency.
Of course, we could call this all conjecture and conspiracy. Whose to say why two former business partners are orbiting so closely to the Trump administration? Perhaps they just love democracy more than power or their vast fortunes.
Thiel and Musk have had a rocky relationship over the years. But they aren’t the only ones at the table looking to pick the bones of the last great superpower clean. David Sacks, Peter Thiel, Rupert Murdoch, Michael Milken, Travis Kalanick, and Steven Mnuchin to name a few.
And money in politics isn’t strictly a Republican problem. Outside spending on both campaigns amounted to $4,478,791,203. Ad spending topped 10 billion dollars. The total cost topped 20 billion, an obscene amount, and the Harris campaign outraised the Trump campaign by a wide margin.
Who knows who would’ve owned the failed Democratic candidate? With current campaign finance rules the dark money is flowing freely. But with the Trump campaign, we at least now openly know who’ll be calling the shots.
Of course, this alliance can only last as long as Musk is capable of putting his own ego aside for Trump’s. The moment he assumes the spotlight reserved only for the orange star, he’s “fired.”
Assuming Trump isn’t completely owned by the guy with fifty times his net worth. Or assuming Musk and Thiel don’t just orchestrate a quiet coup. Trump, after all, is public enemy number one for Democrats. If they can, they’ll almost certainly impeach him again. Be a shame if the Grand ‘Ol Party lets it happen and then hands Thiel’s acolyte, Vance, the reins.
More conspiracy theory? Just ask yourself who will be funding those Republicans re-election campaigns.
Won’t be Trump.
Whatever happens, rest assured it won’t be easy for the presumed president-elect to get rid of a man worth over a quarter* of a trillion dollars. There’s one man to watch in the white house the next four years. It isn’t Donald Trump.
*Post-election, Elon’s net worth jumped to one third of a trillion…
