Elon Musk's romantic history provides some keys to understanding Donald Trump's seeming devotion to his "first buddy."
The president appears to be sticking with the tech mogul – derisively called his "co-president" – despite his growing unpopularity and expanding power, and Salon columnist Amanda Marcotte examined Musk's past romantic relationships for clues to explain Trump's loyalty.
"Trump and Musk are consenting adults, of course, but unfortunately, their team-up is ruining lives and threatens to destroy the American economy, so they've made their relationship the public's business," Marcotte wrote. "For months now, it's been baffling how Trump, whose narcissism is boundless, has allowed himself to become a supplicant to Musk, instead of getting annoyed and competitive with the billionaire meglomaniac. Looking over Musk's romantic history, however, offers a strong clue."
"Musk lacks charisma as a public speaker, but his long line of failed and frankly strange relationships with women — which have produced an estimated 14 children — suggests the tech executive is well-versed in the art of interpersonal manipulation," she added. "Musk got a lot of practice on the women in his life, and now appears to be using similar strategies on Trump."
Ex-wife Justine Wilson has said that Musk is "not a man who takes no for an answer" and described how he wooed her with over-the-top financial generosity, and entertainment journalist Kat Tenbarge has examined his strategy of "love-bombing" younger women only to set them up later for humiliation.
"For instance, he famously had a years-long relationship with the musician Grimes, having 3 children with her — while having children with other women, seemingly behind her back," Marcotte wrote. "At one point, his biographer recalls, Musk showed up at a studio while she was recording with a gun and demanded to be included. He dated actress Amber Heard, giving her Teslas as gifts, but she later worried they were bugged, because she said he was 'controlling.' After their break-up, he appeared to taunt her by posting a private photo online."
"Wilson recalled feeling like she and Musk were 'soul mates' and he was her own 'Alexander the Great' in the lead-up to their wedding," she added. "Dancing at their wedding reception, however, she claims he told her, 'I am the alpha in this relationship.' From there on out, she describes a controlling dynamic, where he would even say to her often that if she were his employee, 'I would fire you.' When she stood up to him, she said, he divorced her."
Musk appears to be using the same tactics with Trump, spending more than a quarter billion dollars on his re-election campaign and promising to lavish another $100 million on his political operation, Marcotte said, and she sees his moving into Mar-a-Lago as another example of not taking no for an answer.
"The love-bombing is over-the-top and incredibly public," she wrote. "Musk jumping around like an excited child at a campaign rally in October was embarrassing to most people, bur for an egotist like Trump, it probably felt like the praise he craves. Musk gushes about Trump shamelessly, telling Fox News, 'I love the president; and even tweeting, 'I love@realDonaldTrump as much as a straight man can love another man.'"
Trump is no victim, Marcotte points out, but she said that con artists like him are especially vulnerable to being conned because he's so susceptible to flattery – and Musk is shamelessly showering him with the adulation he craves.
"The cringeworthiness of all this love-bombing is part of the strategy," Marcotte wrote. "Musk has practiced for years on various women, honing the skill of making them feel like he loves them so much he doesn't care if it's embarrassing. Someone like Trump, whose narcissism feeds on a belief that people are bowing for him, is probably a far easier mark than most of the women who fell for Musk's phony groveling."