Trump-Musk tandem: when old friends decided that America definitely needed a space president

The closer to Trump’s inauguration, the stronger the feeling that it is not so much the newly elected president who will come to power as his “first super friend” Elon Musk. What’s more, he is already in power, judging by his statements, political activities, and the chaos he is wreaking on US and world politics. The Trump-Musk tandem has recently received a lot of attention from the leading Western media. The analysis concerns the role that Elon will play under the new US president, and the abuses of “friendship” that the technology magnate is already demonstrating by leading beyond his authority.

The underrated “big guy” Musk

Noted historian Timothy Snyder calls Trump the “little guy” and Musk the “big guy” in situations where money is involved.

“I think we overestimate Trump and underestimate Musk, Snyder said in an interview with a quality British publication “The Guardian”. – People can’t help but think that Trump has money, but he doesn’t. He never had them. He never even really claimed to have them. His whole concept is to make you believe he has money. But he could never pay his debts. And he never financed his own campaigns.”. It’s no secret that Musk financed Trump’s election campaign. According to the publication The New York Times, he spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars to elect Trump president and now plays a key role in his activities, acting not only as a financial partner but also as an ideological ally. Musk’s constant presence next to Trump, from private residences to international meetings, is visible to the naked eye. The tandem of Zelensky and Bohdan used to talk so much that it caused numerous discussions and rumors about the adviser’s excessive influence on the president. So now, already in the case of Trump and Musk, who have become “not spilled water”, analysts express concern about their close partnership. Such dependence can create a situation where Trump will turn to Musk for financial support in any of his initiatives, and Musk, in turn, will have a disproportionate influence on public policy. This dynamic of relations has already led to the fact that Musk received a significant role in the administration, leading a specially created group to reduce federal spending.

According to experts, this partnership can become a source of conflicts and contradictions in the future, because Trump risks losing his independence in decision-making, becoming increasingly dependent on Musk both financially and politically.

Social media diplomacy is making a comeback

What brings Trump and Musk together? Their excessive ambitions and desire to exert influence on a global scale on everything that affects them directly, as well as on what they are not directly related to. As joked BBC correspondent James Landale, during the last term of Trump’s presidency, world leaders anxiously awaited his morning posts – which policies would be canceled, who would get insults or insults. However, Trump version 1.0 was taken seriously, but not literally. He brandished weapons on Twitter, scaring Kim Jong Un, promising to withdraw from NATO and throw Hillary Clinton behind bars. None of this was implemented by Trump. Nowadays, the newly elected president of the USA is not the only one tapping away at the keyboard. Next to him is an equally experienced specialist in public influence, eager for global hype.

Using his own X platform, Musk is trying his best to influence British politics, publicly criticizing the government for its actions in various areas. In particular, he has already condemned the approach to dealing with last summer’s riots, the management of the economy and, in particular, the handling of child abuse scandals.

Musk has published numerous posts in which he directly attacks British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, accusing him of failing to prosecute groups involved in abuses when he led the prosecution.

While British politicians have no way to stop the attacks coming from across the Atlantic, they are trying to control their response. The experience of Trump’s first term as president has taught governments and newsrooms to react cautiously – to pause and carefully consider responses to such statements. Meanwhile, Musk continues to increase his influence, using social media as a lever to pressure the British leadership. Elon directs his increasingly harsh statements not only at British politicians. He angrily criticized German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, calling him a “fool” and accused President Frank-Walter Steinmeier of “anti-democratic tyranny.” Canada did not escape his attention – Musk called Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “an intolerable tool” and expressed his belief that Trudeau “will soon lose his position.”

Multifunctional “super friend” Musk

Edition The New York Times it is ironic that under Trump, Elon Musk simultaneously fulfills several key roles – a major donor, an influential popularizer in social networks, and an adviser on policy and personnel issues. After the election, he also rented the Banyan Cottage at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence, located near the main house, and became Donald Trump’s primary tenant, allowing him to be with Trump almost 24/7.

As soon as Musk left the residence, Trump dedicated him a post on the Truth Social platform that looked like a personal appeal to Elon:

“Where are you? When are you coming to the Center of the Universe, Mar-a-Lago? Bill Gates asked to come tonight. We miss you and x! New Years is going to be AMAZING!!! DJT.”

Some of Trump’s advisers on the sidelines have expressed concern about how much influence Musk has over the transition and how close he is to the president-elect.

However, after the inauguration, which will take place on January 20 in Washington, Musk will probably not have such free access to Trump. Getting into the West Wing of the White House or the presidential residence is much more difficult than its private clubs.

Will Musk dominate President Trump’s economic policy?

This is the question asked by a leading British publication The Economist and assumes that not everything will be so simple for Musk under Trump. He will have to face challenges both from supporters of the slogan “America first” and from more conservative political players.

The publication states: a new group of influence has appeared in Donald Trump’s economic team – these are technological tycoons. Among them, the most famous are Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, a billionaire from the field of biotechnology, who previously ran for president from the Republican Party. The pair will head a new advisory commission called the Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE).

Despite the big name, the DOGE will not be an official government body, but will have significant influence thanks to Musk’s close ties to Trump. The task of the commission is to reduce the number of federal employees, simplify regulation and significantly reduce government costs.

The launch of DOGE caused a wave of optimism among some Republicans. They see this initiative as an opportunity for radical change, in which Musk’s determination and influence over the newly elected president will play a key role. One member of Congress, Dan Bishop, even called it a long-awaited turn in policy.

In addition to Musk, there will be other technology tycoons next to Trump. One of them, Marc Andreessen, co-founder of the venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz, is a vocal critic of big tech giants like Meta and Google, accusing them of too much concentration of power and of limiting the space for new, smaller startups. This idea has already significantly influenced Trump’s views, shaping his attitude towards the technology industry.

The more influence, the less responsibility

Recently, as Elon Musk gains more influence, questions about US investigations into his empire have been in the air. Last month, in the final days of the Biden administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) set a hard deadline of several days for Musk to pay compensation or face civil lawsuits over alleged securities law violations in his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter in 2022. Musk himself announced this in a post on social networks: “Oh Gary, how could you do this to me?” – he wrote, addressing SEC Chairman Gary Gensler. Elon added a funny emoticon to the message and accused the Commission of politically motivated persecution of his person. This is not the first time Musk has done this. It is in his style to present himself as a victim of excessive state pressure and to avoid any responsibility.

Both Trump and Musk tend to use aggressive methods to protect their interests, presenting themselves as victims of politically motivated attacks. Both of them often try to shift the responsibility for their problems to the “system”, which allows them to form images of fighters against the corrupt bureaucracy. Musk is likely to follow Trump’s tactics, knowing that it allows him to gain support among those who are disillusioned with government structures or see them as a threat to innovation and entrepreneurship.

Megadestroyer Musk

Television company CNN posted a critical article on her platform, where she called Musk a mega-destroyer, causing chaos in American politics. In particular, I mentioned Walter Isaacson’s phrase, which he used to describe the philosophy of President Trump’s new “super friend”: “Take a risk. Learn by destroying everything around you. Redo it. Repeat.”

French publication Le Monde expressed even more poignant: Trump’s year opens with an anti-democratic, anti-European offensive led by Elon Musk. The publication is outraged by the tactics of Musk, who brazenly interferes in the politics of European countries and allows himself to criticize the leaders of European states in his X network.

Space President Trump?

Elon Musk wants to send people to Mars. He is actively working on this goal through his company SpaceX. Musk dreams of establishing a human colony on Mars, and this is part of his plan to explore space and ensure the long-term survival of humanity. One of his main goals is to launch a mission that will deliver humans to the Red Planet in the future, with the possibility of building a permanent base.

So, even if this plan seems too ambitious, Musk has repeatedly stated his determination to travel to Mars and is doing everything possible to realize this goal through SpaceX technology.

As for Donald Trump, when he was the president of the United States, he supported ambitious space programs, including a flight to the moon and even the creation of a space force. In 2019, he announced the Artemis plan, which would return astronauts to the Moon by 2024 and the possibility of further missions to Mars.

Trump has not expressed specific interest in private projects like Musk’s SpaceX, but he has actively supported the development of the American space program through NASA. He also signed the decree on the creation of the US Space Force (Space Force), which indicates a serious attitude towards space initiatives. Next will be…