Musk vs. Trump: A big beautiful brawl

I’m trying not to be too delighted about the new reality TV show starring Elon and Donald, but the dialogue is truly extraordinary (I’m quoting them verbatim but putting their volley in what appears to be its intended order).

ELON (February 7, 2025): “I love @realDonaldTrump as much as a straight man can love another man.”

ELON (June 3, 2025, four days after leaving the Trump regime): “[Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill is a] disgusting abomination” and “shame on those who voted for it” and “In November next year, we fire all politicians who betrayed the American people”

DONALD (June 5, 2025): “You saw a man who was very happy when he stood behind the Oval desk. Even with a black eye. I said, do you want a little makeup? He said, no, I don’t think so. Which is interesting, Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will any more.”

ELON (June 5, 2025): “Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate. … Such ingratitude.

DONALD: “Elon was ‘wearing thin,’ I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!”

ELON: “Such an obvious lie. So sad. … This bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it!”

ELON (in response to a Musk supporter who calls for Trump to be impeached): “Yes.”

DONALD: “The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!”

ELON: “In light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately.”

DONALD: “Elon is suffering from Trump derangement syndrome.”

ELON: “Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonald Trump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT! … Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out.”

ELON: [Reposts video of Trump partying with Epstein in 1992 with a “hmm” emoji.]

ELON [Posts a poll and asks]: “Is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle?”

ELON: “The Trump tariffs will cause a recession in the second half of this year.”

I’ve been predicting the divorce for six months. It was inevitable. Both have massive egos and insatiable needs for money, power, and attention.

I’m not a psychoanalyst, but both had abusive fathers who humiliated them — and I suspect that this contributed to their cruelty. Both turned their rage on the U.S. government and many people dependent on it. And in just a few months they destroyed institutions that had been built over decades or more.

Now, they’re turning their rage on each other.

It’s mutual destruction. Tesla’s market value has fallen 17 percent since the outbreak of hostilities. I assume Trump’s polls are showing similar declines.

Other than their pathological narcissism, the other similarity between Musk and Trump is that both have grown far richer since Election Day by using the government to pad their pockets.

Trump’s corruption has been well documented. Musk’s corruption isn’t far behind: His net worth has increased by more than $100 billion since Election Day. A new report from the staff of Senator Elizabeth Warren shows in remarkable detail how Musk used the U.S. government for personal gain. Musk has also scraped up more government data about every American and much of the rest of the world’s people than any other person controls.

The biggest difference between them? Trump values loyalty above all other attributes. Musk values disruption above all else.

The end of their storied bromance raises three questions:

1. Does Trump’s anger over Musk’s disloyalty toward him exceed Musk’s delight in disrupting Trump’s signature goals?

2. How much will they destroy each other in the process?

3. As Beverley Hollis asks in the comments, how much damage will they do to the world as they destroy each other?

What do you think?

Robert Reich is a professor of public policy at Berkeley and former secretary of labor. His writings can be found at https://robertreich.substack.com/."