Fair game: Donald Trump and Elon Musk are getting divorced. A love triangle in US politics is not a big surprise.
The internet is flooded with jokes about the argument between US President Donald Trump and his key ally. Billionaire Elon Musk spent millions of dollars on Trump's campaign and didn't hesitate to covertly buy votes almost directly from voters. For his money, he naturally wanted something in return. However, the interests of Trump and Musk have never been completely identical. Two big egos aren't enough for a happy marriage.
While Elon Musk was tearfully saluting Donald Trump's entry into the presidency a few months ago, he is now flooding social networks, especially those he bought for this purpose, with bitter barks full of poison from divorce proceedings.
Anyone who has been following American politics for a longer period of time may find it difficult to be surprised by such an escalation. Even so, amazement has become a basic tool of American politics in recent months. Sometimes Trump is surprised by Putin, that he doesn't want to end the conflict in Ukraine for his beautiful blonde hair, even though he could have done it at any time before. Other times, the investment markets are surprised when Trump starts announcing tariffs.
The investment markets cheered at the mere election, ignoring the decades when Trump spoke about tariffs as a great political-economic tool. Now, there is a surprise over the end of the great love between Trump and Musk.
On one side, a politician calling for rampant oil drilling, and on the other, the world's largest electric car entrepreneur. One wanted to clamp down hard on China, the other wanted to operate factories in the communist country. But they also had something in common. For example, they both uniformly voted for Democrats in the past before a power gap formed among the Republicans. For American voters, however, moving between parties is nothing extraordinary.
However, more interesting is the moment when Musk began to dabble in Republican politics. Who remembers today the announcement of Ron DeSantis's candidacy for the Republican presidential candidate? There was a lot of talk about the Florida governor in this regard. But MAGA prevailed among Republicans again and the conservative enthusiast, who became famous primarily for banning books in Florida schools.
Moreover, DeSantis did not benefit from even spectacular support on the X network. For Musk, this was one of the most striking moments in trying to create at least serious intra-party competition for Trump. However, he came late and at the same time to a place where there was no room for discussion.
Where there is no room for argumentative discussions, but a bit of room for money remains. Musk thus financially supported Trump's election campaign. His previous political fickleness suggests, however, that it was not about a sudden ideological affinity. Musk wanted to buy political influence. He gained it with his DOGE office. As it turned out, among other things, in the courtroom, Trump is not exactly a faithful partner in the relationship.
This also applies to political relations. Trump likes to repeat opinions that currently please his ear. For a while, their source might be Musk or perhaps Putin, Macron, Rubio, or a random commentator on Fox News. When Musk supported the campaign with his dollars and his considerable influence, there was another reason to listen to him. But when he started his cost-cutting revolution, which of course means layoffs for many Trump voters, his voice in Trump's ear became less pleasing.
However, Musk might not have to stay politically "single" for long. Although Tesla's shares are dropping faster than SpaceX rockets to orbit, it still is a very wealthy bride. And because old love never rusts, the original suitor Ron DeSantis has spoken up. In marriage counseling for politicians, they remind another important lesson.
"The lesson from the whole situation is that you can either work in public administration, or do business. But you can't do both,"
sent via CNN instruction by Bill George from Harvard Business School.
