Trump Muskmageddon Open Thread
The year of our lord 2025 started with a rabid Musk-Trump supporter self-immolating himself in a Cybertruck parked in front of a Trump casino, trying to send us all a message.
The most interesting development in the burgeoning Civil War between two historical narcissists is that Elon unfollowed both Stephen Miller and Charlie Kirk (the latter whom drooled a bit about how wonderful it was Elon decided to platform Nazis after he bought Twitter).
But that’s just one girl’s opinion. Feel free to share yours below!
Elon Rohm.
Next: The night of the long knives. Or possibly needles
The problem with Musk’s actions is that they do nothing to disprove the article that the NYT posted involving his alleged and varied recreational drug habits. Take his Epstein “bomb”. Unless he wants us all to believe he somehow found it on his last day, that means he was at all those events either completely out of it from the drugs or in complete knowledge and complicit approval. The only third option for normal people is coercion, which doesn’t apply to the richest man in the world who almost literally bought trump his presidency.
Two alleged humans having a narcissist p***ing match.
Time for a Trump shiny object, e.g., order military action to appear “strong” to his MAGA base.
The good news is that this time, the wagging of the dog will be seen for what it is — if, that is, the Dems have any mojo left. If there are any blue dog dems themselves getting wagged, that will put the nail in the coffin of the Dem establishment’s scolding of Hogg et al, who are clamoring for primary challenges to those Turd Way Dems.
Kayfabe?
This has a little bit of a whiff of a staged fight. But Musk does have some grievances. He lost EV credits. He lost his suggested replacement for NASA. He lost contracts to Bezos’ Blue Origin. And he doesn’t like the tariffs. And that NY Times Musk on drugs during the campaign story presumably relied on insider sources with an axe to grind, . The timing of the spat is interesting – right after his stint as special government employee terminated.
Your phrase “… has a whiff of …” took me to the Internet where I read some fascinating things about musk (the scent). According to one vendor’s website, Musk was discovered a thousand years ago when we learned that mouse deer developed a particular scent during their rut; the word musk originates from Greek and Persian and means testicle; and it was sometimes necessary to kill the animal to take this gland.
Elon, my man, no one really knows what Donald thinks of you, because his brain wafted (whiffed?) away some time ago; but as for me, I’ll always think of these things when I think of you. Best!
Time for “Musk is a RINO, I knew it all along!” from MAGA incels.
I doubt that, even heavily Ketamine’d, Elon believes folks are going to fall for the “Trump’s in the Epstein files” nonsense. That’s been out in the open for years. Of course Trump is in the Epstein “files”–photos of the two of them have circulated tediously since 2018. Nothing has come of it and nothing will.
The thing that’s most striking to me about this so-called feud is its very dispiritedness, the way no one on either side seems to care if it catches fire or dies out cold. They don’t have to care: they’re rich. Nothing involved here will change that.
Looks more like a shiny object dangled to distract.
Tulsa has it right. This is distraction. The potential for backfiring comes in if the line Trumpists are too dumb to play along
Actually, this *is* a backfiring event. You have no idea how Trumpists are invested in Elon. I was at a wedding in Phoenix a few months ago and my RW brother in law alienated entire swaths of the two families, just by gleefully extolling him apropos of nothing. He was clueless to how he looked and sounded. It was kind of cult-flavored.
Actually, this is more like a crankshaft through the engine block than a backfire.
I’m not sure about that, we all know Trump is mentioned repeatedly throughout the Epstein files (notwithstanding Devlin Barrett’s efforts to downplay those references)—but not all of his voters do. Hearing it from someone like Elon makes it harder to discount, in the age of RW weaponized information.
Maybe this is a dumb question, but it’s 6:15 EDT right now and I’m reading texts from Elon and Alex Jones that are 3 and 4 hours ahead of me. Is this just the stamped time from Marcy in Ireland? So more like breaking news?
Yes. My time stamps–so +5.
Thanks!
So are the DOGE Boys loyal to Trump or Musk? Steven Miller probably wants to know. This is probably the biggest question in the short term. Who’s going to get all that data they are trying to collect and organize, Trump or Musk. Never mind the so called government.
It’s kind of like who gets the parakeet in the divorce.
It’s never been totally clear to me whose boys the Doge Boys are. Elon’s? Thiel’s? I think it’s fair to assume that the plunder of our data continues apace, UNLESS Trump decides to kick DOGE out–or try to, anyway. Meanwhile, rooting for lots of blood on the floor from both sides. (figuratively, of course)
Who is Thiel actually aligned with when push comes to shove – Elon or DonTheCon?
I’d be shocked if it isn’t Elon – PayPal mafia and Thiel already owns JD.
Will Trump send Pam Bondi after Elon?
This.
While all the lefty pundits are rolling in schadenfreude, I’m deeply worried about Musk loyalists who are still installed in positions of root access to systems and all our data.
Ultimately, somehow it’s gonna be us that get hit by more than shrapnel from this.
That said, I haven’t started reading the news yet…
I must admit I didn’t think it would all fall apart quite so quickly…
How many Scaramuccis was this?
150 Scaramucci units
more like 13.
On the other hand, it looks like Trump is going to need a really big distraction. Quick invasion of Canada perhaps? Hey! I live here!
A BIG BEAUTIFUL BREAKUP!
Pop some corn, pour a drink, and enjoy. Schadenfreude has been scarce these days.
shiny object to drive Ukraine’s
“Millenium Falcon” attack on Russia off the news cycle?
“phallocentric communication” = Dueling dicks. I’d get out the popcorn except I might throw up.
And he doesn’t know that the opposite of gynocentric is androcentric, while the opposite of phallocentric is hysterocentric. In either case he’s a dick.
“The year of our lord 2025”
The year bro-verlords went tweety fight.
Josh Marshal at TPM (paywalled?)
I know this thought is “out there” : but is it possible this give Putin time to keep bombing Ukraine? How does this benefit Putin — it must in some respect.
Good question, I’m not sure it does though—while Putin wants chaos especially in the US (hence his affection for the #1 American Chaos Agent, Tacoman) he needs a strong trump most of all. IMO
The collision of mankind’s greatest publicity hounds, the greatest in history because of modern communications, defies prediction. They thrive on chaos and so do their fans. Do not dismiss an urge for anarchy on both their parts. No ignore the same urge among many people. I’m not saying they want to blow everything up I am saying they might, or perhaps they might choose chaos in the future.
Jack Poso thinks two alphas going at it is the same as a couple spoiled rich kids tweeting mean stuff at each other from their basement bunkers. Jack understands that we’re not used to it. I suppose he is right about that. To me, the tweet fight seems more like something young teenage girls might do.
I do hope some of what Elon’s band of hackers did was grab a copy of the Epstein files in case things went south.
“the tweet fight seems more like something young teenage girls might do.”
Maybe you haven’t heard teen boys going at it during online gaming. I’ve called TFGxMusk “mean girls fighting” but it’s really more like the obnoxious trash talk and slashing teen boys do while gaming.
Yes, the richest boy in the world and the boy president have the emotional maturity of 13 year old teens. America, what a great political and economic system that allows these types of emotionally stunted individuals to percolate to the top. What an embarrassment.
these two “13 year old boys” reveal how racism and misogyny can combine to outweigh individual self interest . . . so many busted lives on the whims of these “men.” what a phucking mess these two cretins have created for us all. giant steps backwards while other nations are plucking the best and racing ahead. not how i envisioned my “golden years” having gained all the rights to watch them disappear. so sad for the nation and the world. nobody moves to Russia or North Korea ffs.
Jack Poso—aka the guy who parrots Putin, promoted the Pizzagate lie and wants desperately to change the subject from the explosive—within MAGA anyway, the rest of the world is well aware of trump’s close, yearlong association with Epstein, including by his own admission—charge that Elon, privy to the government’s most closely-held secrets, has even more incriminating evidence about Krasnov’s activities with and ties to the world’s most notorious child sex trafficker.
*Alpha, to Poso—two heavily make-upped, toupeed doughboy cakeeaters who couldn’t play a sport well if their lives depended on it, lol.
I’m interested in finding out more of what Elon did to help Trump win. Jumping up and down on stage? Paying a few extra voters? Do tell….
But the end result of all this is Trump’s approval rating will probably go up, which is sickening.
Come on, you can surely use a search engine to learn what Musk did to ensure Trump and the GOP won a trifecta taking the White House and both houses of Congress.
Elon Musk donated $288 million in 2024 election, final tally shows
https://electionlawblog.org/?p=148438
Musk was the largest single donor to the GOP in 2024. The amount he contributed was a drop in the bucket compared to what he offered as a donation-in-kind through his $44B acquisition and management of Xitter as a right-wing mouthpiece.
Two of Musk’s companies (Tesla and X) have seen stock prices plummet as a result of his politics. Of course, his other businesses have flourished because of his political connections.
I was being facetious. We all know from what we can read here and elsewhere how Twitter amplifies right wing and fascist propaganda. I’m a regular reader of this site. Obviously Musk dumped money into the campaign but that’s not the help I think he’s referring to.
And Musk turned Twitter into a right-wing propaganda chamber.
Musk has deep connections to Putin – how hard would it have been for Musk to have funneled money from Putin to Trump super PACs? Maybe it wasn’t all his own money.
[Welcome back to emptywheel. Please use the SAME USERNAME and email address each time you comment so that community members get to know you. You attempted to publish this comment as “Uncle_Reggie” triggering auto-moderation; omit the underbar in future comments. Your username on this comment has been edited to reflect your established username. Please check your browser’s cache and autofill; future comments may not publish if username does not match. /~Rayne]
Ohhhh Lord, I’ve been offline all day. The Internet must be going nutz. With a z.
Well, if Elon is upset about the deficits in the bill, it’s simple. Remove the billionaire tax breaks. Estimated at $3.7 Billion over 3 years. Probably enough to not cut Medicare. And it would stop from triggering deficit based Medicare cuts. Of course that is not what he wants, but might be a good way for Dems to weigh in.
Another note, Elon can manipulate the shitter algorithms to totally screw Donny
Musk endorses call to “Drop the tax cuts”
I could not paste from shitter so I am typing in Verbatim below
“Elon reposted
Naval @naval -4h
Elon’s stance is principled.
Trump’s stance is practical.
Republicans need tech for the future.
Drop the tax cuts, cut some pork, get the bill through.
That’s Elon offhandedly telling Congress to negotiate with him. A direct affront to Trump’s position of power. Let’s see how that goes.
Thursday! Thursday! Thursday! If you thrilled to Don “The Snake” Prudhomme go at it against Tom “The Mongoose” McEwen in Funny Car Match Racing you ain’t seen nothin’ yet! Because Thursday! Thursday! Thursday! We’ve got Elon “The Ketamine Kid” , “The Apartheid Avenger”, “The Muskinator” Musk vs Donald “The Weave”, “Mister 34 Felonies and the Bitch Ain’t Done”, and “POTUS Bigus Dickus’ Trump going at it, live and in public, on X, on Twitter, and even on BlueSky, it’s Musk vs Trump 2025! If you like middle-school sarcasm, if you like death by a thousand tax cuts, if you like combovers and facial fillers, you’ll love Musk vs Trump.
“We’ll sell you the whole seat but you’ll only need the edge!”
-An actual tagline for monster truck radio ads 30-odd years ago.
I have the DOGE guys more loyal to Musk than to Trump.
They have had enough time poking around in Government computer systems to compromise security and/or establish ways for Outsiders to penetrate those systems quite easily.
With the buzz going around of declaring Elon an Illegal Alien and deporting him, that would make him ripe for recruitment by the Intelligence agencies of foreign countries. Those Intelligence agencies put a huge amount of effort trying to penetrate US government computer systems and Elon could give them a boost to getting inside those systems.
DHS, FBI etc are focused on the wrong folks because Musk could cause much more damage to the US than the restaurant, construction etc workers that ICE has been snatching up. Trump is the one who created this huge risk for the US by letting Elon & Co into government spaces.
If only we had a functioning press which would point out how much of a national security threat musk and trump have become. This has all been enabled by a party which believes it is doing gods work. Unfortunately for us, they believe this to be the end of times. If we survive this, we must never allow ourselves to forget exactly how awful they are.
there is no press. the Guardian is good. Rolling Stone has become amazing. better to use an aggregator like Yahoo or go to AP because all the major papers in the US are pretty much in the sack with the felon.
Philadelphia Inquirer is most definitely NOT in the sack with the felon.
Enjoy the fireworks with popcorn and beverage of your choice. However, do not expect any major political upheaval. These dudes have a symbiotic relationship with no quick ending. In the long run, Trump will squeeze Elon’s wealth out and throw out the skin and bones. That’s what happens to oligarchs – they have money but very limited power. Elon seems to be very simple in his strategic moves. Maybe it’s the drugs. Whatever be the reason, he’s not fit for these power games.
[Welcome back to emptywheel. SECOND REQUEST: Please use the SAME USERNAME and email address each time you comment so that community members get to know you. You attempted to publish this comment as “KayCee1975” triggering auto-moderation; it is your third username to date. Your username on this comment has been edited to reflect your established username. Please check your browser’s cache and autofill; future comments may not publish if username does not match. /~Rayne]
“Trump will squeeze Elon’s wealth out and throw out the skin and bones.”
Explain it to me like I’m five years old. How will Trump economically defenestrate Musk when Musk is one of if not the wealthiest man in the world with considerable wealth offshore.
I think you may not have thought about the possibility Musk could buy nearly every GOP politician. I’m surprised he hasn’t already considered forming a 3rd party as a means to undermine the existing MAGA GOP.
He actually did poll doing so.
And there are awful Dem centrists, plus Ro, who would love to have his patronage.
Most of his polls have ultimately been shit posting so I haven’t taken him seriously on this yet.
As for the Dems who think they’re going to suck up to Musk now — they’re going to own DOGE fallout if they make a move in that direction. They need to know this now and their constituents should tell them that.
1. Start argument
2. Buy Tesla stock after it tanks
3. Make up
4. Sell Tesla stock as it rebounds
5. Repeat
Is it possible this is the purpose of all the (performative) squabbling?
It’s possible but the underlying business is doing very poorly, unlike many businesses affected by Trump’s tariff taxes. Tesla has been a meme stock and at some point it becomes too risky to play.
I 100% think this is a pump and dump. A little demonstration of their ability to control markets, like when they used the death star to nuke a holy site to show it off before starting in on entire planets.
[Welcome to emptywheel. Please choose and use a UNIQUE username with a minimum of 8 letters. We adopted this minimum standard to support community security. More than one commenter has attempted to use “Anonymouse” as a username. For this reason your username will be temporarily changed to match the date/time of your first known comment until you have a new compliant username. /~Rayne]
Just a bump in the road between these two devout Christians. I’m sure by now Paula White has made them realize that their shared faith is too strong a bond and that they cannot serve both God and mammon.
That reminds me: has Trump yet announced a 25% price increase on his Chinese bibles or will he eat that cost? Hmm.
If this is a real, I wonder if Musk was smart enough to bribe various parties in Trump’s inner orbit before he left. I am thinking of Miller in particular, but all of these people are more than willing to take money (or power) in exchange for taking a side and Musk is willing and able to spend a lot of cash to get his way. We will not know if Trump’s White House is filled with Trump turncoats until later, but if there are, this would be like so many Roman emperors who were murdered by their own praetorian guards.
The rat takes the cheese. Katie Miller has strange taste in men. I think Miller ranks ideology above marriage. That whole thing is creepy.
Trump needs something to distract us, Netanyahu needs Iran attacked . . . . I hope Trump is not so stupid as to start something that no one will be able to stop.
Warm up the investigations. Buy Bezos rockets. Elon’s making noise and needs schooling at being a thug? Or – there’s a bill afoot, and some criticize it. Let’s divert attention. How? JD won’t break ranks, going to Greenland when told, so Elon has to be the ranks breaker for redirection of attention. And to perhaps rehabilitate a company whose lunch is being BYD’ed.
D
Since this is an open thread, I’m gonna mention Shenna Bellows, the current ME SoS who, along with the CO and IL folks, tried to apply the 14th Amendment to Trump’s having led an actual insurgency against the USA.
She’s running for ME Gov now, and my wife and I went to a meet-and-greet at the home of perhaps her most fervent supporter, a guy who has known her from the beginning of her run in State politics, beginning with her stint as executive director of ME State ACLU (when he was the chairman of the board), ME marriage equality being one of her big victories in that job. I’ve followed her myself over the years, supported her run against Collins, and have found her extremely approachable and an excellent listener.
But I was blown away at last night’s event, both in watching her interact with folks (some of whom she disagreed with), and in the off-the-cuff 20 minute speech she gave, and the 20 minute Q&A she took. If ME wants to poke Trump in the eye and, in the process, get perhaps the most qualified and serious Governor possible, Shenna is the lady that fits that bill.
Her most formidable opponent (so far) will likely be Angus King’s son, Angus III, who lived at the Blaine House with his parents back in the day, and who otherwise has no serious qualifications himself. Nepo-Gov will likely become a meme, I’m guessing.
She spent 10 minutes at the end, as her team was trying to get her to her ride, taking ideas from me about election integrity strategies (which she’s ably championed as SoS) and with my wife about mental health strategies and allies she could approach. She was typing furiously on her phone as my wife gave her people, programs and ideas to explore. She’s dead serious about what she’s doing, and her CV is massively impressive.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenna_Bellows
I like direct communication. I’m a fan. I also like less direct communication. It has its time and place. Everything has a season.
AND, If you think what is happening in social media is a laudable example of direct communication and something to be emulated, I think you must have had a terrible father. Or maybe no father at all, and you impressed on someone like Hulk Hogan.
Are you addressing Marcy?…
Is that you, Hulk?