Elon Musk has just about professed his timeless like to former president Donald Trump, appearing as a mouthpiece for the presidential candidate on social media and even reportedly spending massive cash on his marketing campaign. Regardless of all this, Trump nonetheless doesn’t actually like Elon Musk. In actual fact, he kind of hates him and thinks he’s bizarre. Ouch.
Musk promptly endorsed Trump after a failed assassination try at a Pennsylvania rally in July, and since then he has raised thousands and thousands for his marketing campaign by way of the America PAC, in response to Rolling Stone. In simply the previous two weeks it has poured $16 million into outreach for the marketing campaign – a giant assist for a candidate with a extremely weak floor sport.
Right here’s a bit extra from Rolling Stone on how Musk and Trump’s relationship is fraught with awkwardness and a mutual understanding that they each want one another (as a result of there are more and more fewer different individuals who will cope with their shit):
Based on an individual near the twice-impeached convicted felon, Trump “thinks he’s bizarre. Sorry to make use of a phrase used so much by Democrats now.” This supply has spoken to the previous president about Musk as just lately as July. One other supply, who has been within the room a number of instances over time when Trump has spoken privately about Musk, relays to Rolling Stone that Trump has at instances, as just lately as prior to now few months, stated that Musk is “boring,” annoying, and vulnerable to temper swings.
Which will sound wealthy, coming from Donald J. Trump, who’s arguably all three of these issues to a galling diploma. Nonetheless, it underscores Trump’s personal capability to acknowledge the inherent weirdness or unpopular traits of a few of his most distinguished political backers. As an example, Trump has lengthy understood, in a manner that many conservative leaders haven’t, that it’s crucial for the GOP’s electoral successes that Republicans relentlessly about what their plans are on abortion, as a result of most Individuals discover their views repulsive.
Prior to now, Trump and Musk have publicly feuded, with the previous gratuitously insulting the latter, partially as a result of Musk stated it was time to maneuver on from Trump in 2022 and supported Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis’ 2024 Republican main bid.
“When Elon Musk got here to the White Home asking me for assistance on all his many backed initiatives,” Trump wrote in 2022, “whether or not it’s electrical vehicles that don’t drive lengthy sufficient, driverless vehicles that crash, or rocketships to nowhere, with out which subsidies he’d be nugatory, and telling me how he was a giant Trump fan and Republican, I might have stated, ‘drop to your knees and beg,’ and he would have accomplished it.”
I’ll be so sincere with you of us – I take into consideration that tweet from Trump nearly day by day of my life. Anyway, lest we overlook that across the similar time as that assembly, Trump additionally referred to as Musk a “bullshit artist.” Damaged clock, and all that.
To be honest, sources inform RS that Trump does say some nicer issues privately about Musk. Nonetheless, Trump’s true (and ruder) emotions nonetheless bubble to the highest. Just lately, Trump described Musk as “a really totally different sort of man,” which is seemingly not a praise.
When requested in regards to the reporting on the harsher personal phrases Trump has had for Musk just lately, Trump marketing campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung merely tells Rolling Stone the previous president and Musk “agree on the large points dealing with our nation, and that Kamala Harris have to be stopped earlier than she fully destroys America,” including: “That’s why so many individuals from all political backgrounds have united behind President Trump to Make America Nice Once more.”
That is all very clearly transactional. Trump and his marketing campaign desperately want cash and support. Musk brings each these issues in spades between the obscene wealth he has amassed and his hoards of deeply passionate followers.
After all, this isn’t all only a one-way avenue. Musk would profit vastly from a second Trump presidency reasonably than Harris, as Rolling Stone explains:
A Trump victory could possibly be a giant monetary win for Musk. Harris has proposed a wealth tax on households price greater than $100 million, in addition to a rise within the company tax fee, which Trump slashed as president. Musk, price a reported $247 billion, posted on X that Harris’ financial agenda “results in bread traces and ugly footwear.”
Trump, in the meantime, is pitching to rich donors that they should fund him so he can defend their tax cuts, and lower the company tax fee even additional.
It’ll be attention-grabbing to see the place this relationship goes previous November. I’m assuming it’ll simply get even stranger earlier than then, however as soon as the election passes and the outcomes are recognized, it’s extremely unlikely Trump will see any actual want for the CEO.
