Initiation
I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore.
This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination.
Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 3, 2025
* * *
Escalation
Is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025
Explanations
Elon Musk Urges Americans Take Action to ‘Kill’ Trump Tax Cut Bill Bloomberg
The Tesla Inc. chief executive officer personally appealed to House Speaker Mike Johnson to save the tax credit, the person said, requesting anonymity to discuss a private conversation. The House version of the tax measure calls for largely ending the popular $7,500 electric car subsidies by the end of 2025.
Since losing that battle, Musk ratcheted up his offensive against the president’s signature legislation on Wednesday, urging that Americans contact their lawmakers to “KILL” the legislation, pinning his opposition to the bill’s $2.4 trillion price tag.
It’s been a rough few days for Elon Musk, who appeared at his Oval Office send-off with a black eye he said his son gave him, was the subject of a New York Times profile detailing his messy personal life, and reportedly got into a fight with a Cabinet secretary that at least one person familiar with the matter says became physical. But he would like people to know he is NOT on drugs.
“I am NOT taking drugs!” Musk wrote in a post on X on Saturday, responding to the New York Times story that, in addition to revealing some of the drama that comes with inseminating numerous women as a project to repopulate the earth, alleged copious drug use during Musk’s stint in the political arena. He went on to claim, “The New York Times was lying their ass off,” adding: “I tried *prescription* ketamine a few years ago and said so on X, so this not even news. It helps for getting out of dark mental holes, but haven’t taken it since then.”
The outlet reported that, according to sources familiar with the matter, when Musk jumped on the campaign trail last year, he was “using drugs far more intensely than previously known,” and that he’d “told people he was taking so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that it was affecting his bladder, a known effect of chronic use.” He was also reportedly taking ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms, and “traveled with a daily medication box that held about 20 pills, including ones with the markings of the stimulant Adderall, according to a photo of the box and people who have seen it.”
Reconsideration?
Musk Signals He’s Open to Cooling-Off Period in Trump Feud Bloomberg
Musk called for Trump’s impeachment and insinuated the president was withholding the release of files related to disgraced New York financier Jeffrey Epstein because of his own presence in them. Trump, in turn, proposed cutting off the billionaire’s government contracts, following his onetime adviser’s repeated exhortations for Republicans to vote against the president’s signature tax legislation.
Responses
As my record on the question will clearly attest, I have never bought into the “Musk Is A Genius” evangel.
But it occurs to me that he has simply been “black-pilled” and is indifferent to the consequences of his mutiny.
He may believe he has “other options” to pursue. 🤔
— Will Schryver (@imetatronink) June 6, 2025
We Should Immediately Nationalize SpaceX and Starlink Jacobin
…the threats and counterthreats about Musk’s government contracts have been a vivid demonstration of how deeply enmeshed the billionaire’s business empire is with the American state. We should be able to step back from the immediate absurdities of the Trump Show to recognize that this is a much larger problem. There’s no reason it has to be like this. We don’t need to have a privatized space program propped up by state funding. We don’t need vital satellite internet infrastructure to be controlled, through that company, by a single ultrawealthy individual. We can just nationalize SpaceX.
In Godzilla vs. King Kong, Musk Wins Ken Klippenstein
Trump does not hold the cards. Musk, on the other hand, has lots of them. He has a net worth somewhere north of $400 billion, making him the richest man in the world, and he owns Space X, Tesla, X (formerly Twitter), Neuralink, The Boring Company, and xAI. Even though Musk’s Tesla company lost some 71 percent of its revenue in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year (thanks to citizens voting with their steering wheels), it’s chicken feed for Musk. Trump’s net worth is somewhere around $5 billion, according to Forbes (about one percent of Musk’s wealth). In contrast to Musk, who has pioneered electric vehicles, commercial space, Starlink, AI and now owns a major social media platform, Trump is a real estate “mogul” who has failed at virtually every one of his ventures beyond that.
Why Trump probably can’t cut Musk loose Vox
…unwinding the government’s relationship with Musk’s companies is a near impossibility right now, particularly when it comes to SpaceX. The company is simply better at launching massive numbers of objects into space than any of its competitors, and it’s not close: SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket was responsible for 84 percent of all satellite launches last year, and the constellation of more than 7,000 Starlink communications satellites accounts for around 65 percent of all operational satellites in orbit.
The US military is also increasingly reliant on SpaceX for mobile internet connectivity via a specialized military-only version of Starlink known as Starshield.
A true Trump-Musk rift would also have implications for “Golden Dome,” the ambitious plan to “protect the homeland” from ballistic missiles, drones, hypersonic cruise missiles, and other aerial threats.
Plans for Golden Dome are still a little vague and no contracts for its construction have been awarded yet, but SpaceX is reportedly a frontrunner to build a constellation of hundreds of new satellites to detect missile launches and determine if they are headed toward the United States, and possibly even intercept them from space.
According to Reuters, SpaceX is bidding for portions of the project in partnership with Anduril and Palantir, two other defense tech companies also led by staunch Trump backers. SpaceX’s vision for the satellite network reportedly envisions it as a “subscription service,” in which the government would pay for access, rather than owning the system outright, a model that would presumably give Musk much more leverage over how Golden Dome is developed and deployed.
How Dems Can Capitalize on the Musk-Trump Catfight The Bulwark
This is how Trump wants to run everything, of course—from the broadest-swath international trade policy down to the nitty-gritty level of individual government contracts. His lodestar is rewarding friends and punishing foes. It’s not even clear that, in his megalomania, he sees this as a different thing from rewarding good work and punishing bad work. Of course it was previously good for the country for the computer and business genius Elon Musk to run everything—it’s obvious what a good, patriotic guy he is from how much he loves Trump. Of course it’s good for the country now to pull the plug on everything Musk touches—tragically, you can tell he’s gone crazy by the fact he criticizes Trump.
Beyond the Trump-Musk fallout? Victor Davis Hanson
What will likely follow? Hopefully a social media truce—followed by intermediaries restoring the friendship but spelling out the limitations and constraints on each that will result in a new less volatile, less intense, but more sustainable and mutually beneficial relationship. Trump is now engaged in high-stakes diplomacy with some of the toughest, slyest, and meanest leaders in the world with Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, and the Iranian lunatic theocrats. He cannot afford to reach out to Musk and thereby appear to his enemies that he backs down. But if Musk reaches out and wishes to look ahead and not nurse wounds, Trump can certainly be magnanimous and to his credit state that he holds no grudges for what was said in the heat of passion, as he too looks forward to where and when he can help and be helped by Musk in the many areas where their aims are similar. The sane tech crowd, and most of the MAGA base want an end to this aberrant Trump-Musk eruption. Over half the country concurs.
The Elon-Trump Bromance Crashes and Burns The Free Press
Musk’s “disappointment” with the Big Beautiful Bill and the GOP’s enthusiasm for DOGE, it turns out, is a distraction from the real story, which is of a series of conflicts of interest that gets at the heart of the delicate tech bro-MAGA marriage. Indeed, Musk leaving the White House in a flame war shouldn’t be surprising, for Musk’s agenda has—from DOGE’s inception—been at odds with the MAGA platform. On immigration, foreign policy, and economic policy, Musk’s interests, which we have reason to believe he pursued behind the scenes, were always on a collision course with what President Trump viewed as the interests of the United States.
Hell Hath No Fury Like an Elon Scorned Sasha Stone
I have defended Elon Musk so many times on this site. I’ve written about, praised him, and given him so much credit for buying X to give a voice to the voiceless. I have condemned him when he exhibited his emotional immaturity, as he did when he threw yet another hissy fit because Matt Taibbi would not produce work at X. He also threw a hissy fit at Bari Weiss for reporting the truth about him, though the details escape me. Somehow, I could overlook these things. I understood him as a complicated person, but look at him now. He is giving the Democrats everything they need for a blue wave. He never cared about “gender affirming care” or the “woke mind virus” at all. He cares about his fragile widdle boy ego. What a huge disappointment.
Vice President JD Vance | This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von #588
J.D. Vance: First of all I’m the vice president to President Trump my loyalties are always going to be with the president. I think that Elon, he’s an incredible entrepreneur. He’s actually done… I think Doge was really good. The sort of effort to root out waste fraud and abuse in our country was really good. Look man I’m always going to be loyal to the president and I hope that eventually Elon kind of comes back into the fold. Maybe that’s not possible now because he’s gone so nuclear.
I think number one, Elon’s new to politics, right? So his businesses are being attacked non-stop. They’re literally like firebombing some of his cars and by the way we’re looking into a lot of the stuff.
I mean some of that stuff we’re looking into is an act of terrorism at the Department of Justice. I think part of it is this guy got into politics and has suffered a lot for it, and I get the frustration there. Look Congress, you got this spending bill, but the main purpose of the bill is not actually spending or cutting spending, though it does cut a lot of spending.
The main purpose of the bill is to prevent the biggest tax increase. It’s a good bill. It’s not a perfect bill. The process in DC, if you’re a business leader you probably get frustrated with that process because it’s more bureaucratic. It’s more slow moving.
But I really think it’s a huge mistake for him to go after the president like that and I think that if he and the president are in some blood feud, most importantly it’s going to be bad for the country. I don’t think it’s going to be good for Elon either.
Elon Musk Has Had PTSD Since Leaving WH, And He’s Just Finding Any Which Way To Get Back At Trump New York Post
MIRANDA DEVINE, NEW YORK POST: No, it’s not at all. And look, it’s not terribly surprising. He’s a hugely intelligent man with a lot of achievements, but he really is a giant baby.
I remember Donald Trump had a sort of paternal relationship with him and said at one point that, he said, I don’t want to be rude, but he is a bit of a child. And he’s acting like a child right now, having a tantrum and lashing out in the nastiest way he possibly can and saying things that he can never undo. And I feel like what really happened was that daddy, Donald Trump, took sides in an argument he was having with Scott Bessent, which apparently got very willing.
Elon Musk shoved Scott Bessent, the Treasury Secretary. They were screaming and shouting and swearing outside the Oval Office, right outside Susie Wiles’ office. And after that, obviously, Donald Trump had to choose sides and he chose Scott Bessent’s side.
Consequences
Elon Musk’s Feud With Trump Spurs One of His Worst Wealth Losses Ever Bloomberg
Minute by minute, post by post, Elon Musk’s very public, extremely online feud with President Donald Trump sliced into his vaunted status as the world’s richest person.
The final damage at day’s end: $34 billion erased from his personal net worth, the second-largest loss ever in the history of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index of the 500 wealthiest people on the planet. The only bigger one: his own wipeout in November 2021.
8 Ways Musk and Trump Could Inflict Pain on Each Other New York Times
What Musk Could Do
- Wield his billions against Mr. Trump, his allies and his agenda.
- Use social media as an irritant.
- Drag Mr. Trump into controversy.
- Use his companies to inconvenience the administration.
What Trump Could Do
- Cut contracts with Mr. Musk’s companies.
- Investigate Mr. Musk’s immigration status and drug use.
- Revoke Mr. Musk’s security clearance.
- Wield the power of the presidency against him.
Triumphing under Trump: the corporate winners and losers Financial Times
Twenty weeks into the second term of a president who promised to make America great again, many of the big stock market winners hail from outside the US. European defence companies and Chinese technology giants are among those prospering from — or despite — Donald Trump’s policies; Silicon Valley contains some winners, but many losers too.
Tesla -$304bn USAutomobiles $1,068bn End market cap -22% Market cap change Trump impact Elon Musk bankrolled Trump’s re-election campaign and Tesla’s stock initially soared on optimism about the First Buddy’s influence in the White House. However, a combination of tariffs hobbling Tesla’s supply chain, an end to electric vehicle subsidies and a visceral consumer backlash to Musk’s antics at Doge have caused sales and shares to plunge. A chastened Musk has stepped back from politics and returned to Texas to revive Tesla, which is pivoting from cars to self-driving “Cybercabs” and humanoid AI-powered robots. But Thursday night’s spectacular blow-up between Musk and Trump sent investors scurrying for the exit.
Musk’s DOGE Goons Surreptitiously Transmitted Reams of White House Data Daily Beast
Elon Musk’s goons at the Department of Government Efficiency transmitted a large amount of data—all of it undetected—using a Starlink Wi-Fi terminal they installed on top of the White House, according to a new report.
…insiders suggested that the move was intended to bypass White House systems that track the transmission of data—with names and time stamps—and secure it from spies. “Starlink doesn’t require anything. It allows you to transmit data without any kind of record or tracking,” one insider told the Post. “White House IT systems had very strong controls on network access. You had to be on a full-tunnel VPN at all times. If you are not on the VPN, White House-issued devices can’t connect to the outside.” “With a Starlink connection, that means White House devices could leave the network and go out through gateways,“ the person said. “It’s going to help you bypass security.”
Russian Pundits Worry the Trump-Musk Feud Might Harm Russia
The reaction of Bannon, a man who remains perhaps the main ideologist of Trumpism, is very indicative. He felt a threat, and this is not a threat from the left, this is not a threat from Democrats. This is a threat from the right. This is a threat to split off the right flank from Trump. What this could ultimately lead to and how this could be dangerous for (Russia) …Trump will have to look for a replacement to stabilize his political trajectory, of his political flight. When you break off one wing, you need to urgently take some action.
On whom Trump will lean, well, there is no doubt. He will lean on that very Republican Party. Already in about a year in US midterm elections he needs to save at least one chamber of Congress.
Now that same (“Big Beautiful”) bill is in the Senate and what is today the Senate is a nest of hawks. This is a nest of Russophobes. This is Lindsay Graham from the Republican Party. This is in general one hawkish party.
And the danger here is that a being uh well, let’s say pushed away from Musk, from people who, in general, profess an ideology that is very skeptical of globalists.
We all remember Musk’s statement, including Zelensky. Trump due to such dialectic of the process itself will be forced to unite with the state. Who knows or maybe they will make him an offer which he ultimately will not be able to refuse to accept reality and vote for that same uh law on the introduction of anti-Russian sanctions and then they will slip him a package of continuation of military aid to Ukraine. Yes, Musk also has untied hands. Well, for example, he will be able to do what he has long hinted at and pull off the disabling of Starlink. Who knows if he really will.
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Still fairly tame compared to what Jack Ma (rather deservedly) went through
To all those pundits and prognosticators that think Musk “wins”: against Trump, just look to the events of the past few days.
Power always beats money.
Tesla is still up 73% for the full year with a P/E ratio of 166. The recent decline in value only means it came down from its post-election bubble and is back to its longer-term trend.
Pray tell, why does Tesla, an automotive OEM (stripped of all the hype about AI humanoid robots and robotaxis, that’s what Tesla is, a car company), have a forward P/E 4 – 6 times higher than its Mag7 peers, even the pure play tech ones?
Hint: it’s the cult of personality…
Yes, the Tesla was the only available choice for years. Expensive as these cars are the ‘fit and finish’ is nothing special. There are few rapid charge stations where I live (and the one that is, is outside in full sun with a waiting list). VW’s offerings are a better option, as are other new EV offerings. Tesla will not outperform the growing competition for an increasingly saturated market.
That’s where tariffs come in.
One way or another our tech titans get their monopoly.
Their product may suck, but they bought the law so it doesn’t matter.
Is Ken Klippenstein even for real?
Is he joking?
DJT could nationalize his empire, deport him to SA let him stew a while.
Finally send him to a black site.
Sorry GF, we already have our hands full dealing with father residing here full time, we couldn’t possibly deal with another member of the Musk clan on our shores. Sure, it’s his home country and all but he’s America’s problem now (and he’s caused us a lot of grief by willfully spreading misinformation about our country, so thanks but no thanks).
We had the same problem with Rupert Murdoch – so we sent him to the US for them to deal with him. Unfortunately he has been too much for the US to deal with and has caused a lot of damage.
He could literally shoot him dead and his base would love him even more. ”
Such a shame. I had to shoot Elon in his big, beautiful but broken brain. It was for his own good. He was suffering so much and He looked me in the eyes, pleading: ‘Please Mr President, do it, put me out of my misery. I beg you.’ So I did it, folks. I shot him here (pointing to middle of his forehead). I’m actually a pretty good shot and knew it would be quick. He had a smile on his lips and I knew that in that moment he loved me. So sad. We’re bringing out a crypto coin to commemorate him. Get them quick, a great momento. “
But I didn’t shoot the deputy.
That would be the White House scene that would top Nixon asking Kissinger to get on his knees and pray with him. When he was sober, did Nixon still believe that prayers from war criminal Kissinger would possibly have a positive effect?
Yeah, I don’t see Musk holding any “cards”. Even his “truth bomb” about the Epstein list is old news and, at this point, what’s he going to do about it? Musk has much more to lose here, and given his change of tone and tweet deleting, I’d say he had a moment of sobriety long enough to recognize that.
That Dragon crew ship, which is the only way to get to the space station is an ace.
I get that people around here hate Musk but I think Klippenstein is right and TACO Trump will not lower any booms. Easier to pick on immigrants who don’t have 400 billion.
The only way to get to the space station, that is not the only way to get to the space station because Russians still exist.
I’m generally sympathetic to Klippenstein but I agree this is weird. Trump is POTUS. The federal government can deal with anyone if it sets to. Anyone. It generally doesn’t need to break laws to do so and doesn’t mind breaking laws if that’s more convenient. Klippenstein surely knows this.
So it’s not surprising that Musk’s reflex, facing his MBK moment, was to threaten Trump with blackmail. What other leverage does Musk have facing the wrath of a POTUS? But we all know how much Trump appears in “the Epstein Files” such as they are known. I do not believe that Musk has access to and knowledge of the FBI’s many unpublished Epstein investigation docs or if/how Trump figures in them. It’s at the level of Musk calling Trump “pedo guy” as he did with Vernon Unsworth in the Tham Luang cave rescue. It’s laughable.
” I do not believe that Musk has access to and knowledge of the FBI’s many unpublished Epstein investigation docs”
For anyone else I’d agree, but what about all the data DOGE had been uploading from nearly every Gov’t department? I’m not sure DOGE had the opportunity to hover up the Pentagon, FBI and Homeland Security but maybe they have… there could be other docs extracted involving Trumps tax returns for example, past business dealings…
I’m with you GF. To loosely quote someone or other that I can’t at the moment recall:
If I have to chose between those that have the money and those that have the guns, I’ll choose the latter.
We have a saying in my native Setswana “Dipoo ga nke di nna pedi mo sakeng” which translates into “You can’t have two bulls in the same kraal”.
This bromance was always going to flame out in spectacular fashion, the only question was how long they’d be gushing over each other before their giant egos collided. It’s Elon’s buddies like Chamath Palihapitiya that are in a tough spot now because they spent the first few months of Trump 2.0 blowing superlatives up Trump’s a**e but will now have to pick a side. Pick Elon and the whirlwind tours of the White House and DC interviewing administration insiders come to an end, David Sacks gets defenestrated from his AI and Crypto Czar position and they get cast out out from the insider orbit. Pick Trump and… Actually, there’s no way they’ll pick Trump, Elon is the closest thing these guys have to a demiGod. They more than a lot of other people are probably scrambling furiously behind the scenes to smooth things over between the warring parties.
In the Wild West they say: “This town is not big enough for the two of us.”
A slugfest? No, a slugfest is what they celebrate in Seattle, from January 1st to December 31st. Slugs aplenty. Banana slugs are monsters.
https://slatermuseum.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-pacific-northwest-is-slug-country.html
This is certainly an entertaining feud, and it has a real possibility of becoming much more entertaining.
Nationalizing Space-X makes sense from a National Security standpoint and it would definitely inspire Musk to speak more frankly than is prudent.
No word whether Elon was doing lines of smelling salts, and you hate to see a breakup, I feel certain the dynamic duo had such plans for us, now reliant upon perhaps only one petty tyrant.
These contemporary reality shows are really getting out of hand.
The only notable incident in this otherwise mundane political spat is Musk’s claim that without him the Democrats would have won the election. This will come back to haunt Musk as Democrats will seize on it and demand answers and access to x.com records and internal systems in the name of election interference investigations. As will the EU. This will lead to a lockdown of X in the not so distant future.
I think the ship has sailed on investigations changing public opinion or even being held at all and expecting them to have legal effects of any real import anymore. Rule of law is sort of a joke at this point. Looking at what I just read convinces me even more. As for the, EU it can’t even pry the corrupt succubus tick Van der Leyen off its jugular vein.
It is only serious if the Starlink-Ukraine system is switched off.
reminded me of Mark Rutte last week
https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/opinions_235761.htm
“I did not have sex with that woman.” (This also to Lefty’s comment below, “No one of consequence…”)
Watching #ShitLibs ready to “bring Elon over to team Blue” is confirmation of this country’s uni-party reality. So DOGEv2 stands to come to fruition just like Trump2.0™, but this time Elon will be embraced (along with the likes of Mark Cuban & Eric Schmidt) as a benevolent billionaire. Can’t wait to see Elon in the White House again in January 2029, this time standing behind President Newsom.
LMAO
“The United States is also a one-party state but, with typical American extravagance, they have two of them.” (via andiquote.org)
“And the danger here is that a being uh well, let’s say pushed away from Musk, from people who, in general, profess an ideology that is very skeptical of globalists.”
I doubt that.
More showbiz. They will have a dramatic reconciliation just in time for Musk to pump money into Republican Congressional campaign coffers before the midterms. Everybody with half a brain knew Trump was in the Epstein files anyway. No one of consequence in DC will ever pay any price for their sexual antics any more than any of the obviously bribed supermajority in Congress will ever get charged with bribery. Corruption is the rule.
Musk’s billions are on paper. Some of the headlines and commentary keep referencing that. A stock price can go to zero. Stock price is not the same as cash in the bank.
Factor in loans for which Musk has probably pledged stock as collateral, and I suspect much of his fortune is illusory. Sure, he’d still be unimaginably wealthy if things went due south, but it would be humbling and politically undermining for him.
Let’s hope Godzilla and Mothra let their passions, appetites and egos destroy each other.
As for Musk and his “colleagues” specifically: The first “peace talks” between Trump and Musk are already underway, and Donald John is sure showing his ex-buddy Elon Reeve his torture tools (“I’ll have you followed, to your grave if necessary; what will you do when electric cars are taxed to subsidize the oil industry and we – with a little delay – fly into space with Boeing or Bezos, huh?”). Trump’s warning to all oligarchs is: “Politics: Me! The rest: Me too! What’s left: You! And if you don’t comply, I’ll do a Khodorkovsky on you!”
I have read a theory that Musk got what he already wanted out of this. He got the several agencies investigating his possible crimes to be disabled and abolished, so no more investigations. He stole bunches of our public data from every department and agency and office his little vampire squidlings were ushered into and it is al his now, to monetize, sell, etc. to his heart’s content. And his little DOGEbags may have installed hacker backdoors into every federal computer they touched.
However, his statement that maybe America needs a political party for the ” 80% in the middle” is potentially intriguing if exploited and reframed the right way. Is there even time to do that?
Back in the 1930s when the Overton Window was far to the left of where it is today, the Communists were the left, the Fascists were the right, and the New Deal was in the center. The New Dealers were the Centrists of their day. Could today’s “80% in the middle” all be made aware of that fact and take that awareness to heart and all join a New Deal America Party if such a thing were to emerge?
MANDA! Make America New Deal Again.