When Musk left Trump’s side, he seemed suddenly cleared of any sense of loyalty. He started lobbing his problems with House Republicans’ "One Big Beautiful Bill." He called it an abomination, a debt bomb, a mistake that would cost incumbents their jobs if they didn’t reverse course. He said Trump would never have been elected without his financial help. (That one is probably right, as Musk was the single largest patron of efforts to get Trump back in power.) And, for good measure, in a social media post mid-afternoon Thursday, Musk said Trump is in the unreleased dossier about those involved in a sex trafficking operation of disgraced billionaire Jeffrey Epstein.
As Trump responded in kind, the world was left watching a brawl involving two masters of the universe who, given their power and resources, could better the course of human history if only they would focus. Trump said Musk “went CRAZY!” Trump threatened to take away all contracts from Musk’s companies, including the SpaceX firm that has quickly become a critical player for NASA. (Musk’s orbit benefits from at least $38 billion in loans, subsidies, tax credits, and outright contracts, according to a Washington Post analysis.) And as the spat went into its third day, Trump decided that holding his tongue was no longer working for him: “Suddenly he had a problem, and he only developed the problem when he found out we’re going to cut the EV mandate that’s billions and billions of dollars,” Trump said, mentioning the electric vehicle provisions that stand to benefit Musk’s Tesla auto brand.
- The most powerful man on Earth versus the richest man in the world. I checked, nothing like this ever happened in the U.S. before. World? Can't find a equivalent. The implications are consequential.
- Started simply yesterday. The timeline:
- Musk: on X at 10:52AM ET, then 11:20AM ET, and again at 11:45AM ET...not much, really, but just rubbing it in.
- At 12:01PM, Trump calmly expressed disappointment. Watch this video. He was in a press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who remarked that tomorrow will be June 6, D-Day. Trump, who was said to keep a book about Hitler at his bedside to read, stumbled over how to respond about D-Day, when brought up by Merz. For today is exactly 81 years since his country, Germany, lost momentum, and became the most disgraced country in modern history. Could June 5 be Trump's fall from grace?
- Musk responds with 18 more X remarks, from 12:46 PM to 2:36 PM.
- Trump chimes on this Truth platform at 2:37 ET, where he says Musk "just went CRAZY!" Then again saying that the US government could save billions just by terminating Musk contracts and subsidies.
- At 2:48PM Musk refutes Trump about EVs.
- Then at 3:10PM Musk drops the big bomb that now makes this personal, possibly ending any thoughts of a later make-up:
Musk claims Trump is "in" the Jeffrey Epstein files.
- At 3:20PM, Musk adds about the pedophile Epstein that "the truth will come out."
- This goes on and on with others also commenting. You can read this all here.
- From NBC news.
- Or watch this CBS News video this morning.
- Caught in the middle are the Republican members of Congress.
- The Senate set a self-imposed deadline of July 4 to pass Trump's Big Beautiful Bill.
- In the meantime, congresspeople are not taking any sides. Both Trump and Musk are too important for their future.
- Remember that in 2020 Musk voted for Biden.
- If Musk switches again and helps Democrats in 2026, Republicans will be doomed, especially as they have already alienated most of the working class and a good number of Independents.
- The wild card Trump has, though, and I have only repeated this in my blog a half dozen times, is to postpone the mid-term elections, and prevent Americans from voting again. How can he do that? Merely by ignoring any major ruling by the Supreme Court. The makers of the Constitution screwed up on at least one matter. Trump controls the Departments of Justice and Defense. The courts have no enforcement power. Trump, by ignoring them, suddenly becomes a dictator. People will of course protest, but if that gets too severe, all the reason next summer to cancel those elections.
- Examples of Names Mentioned:
- Bill Gates
- Michael Jackson
- Alec Baldwin
- Mick Jagger
- Naomi Campbell
- Ethel Kennedy
- Prince Andrew
- Bill Clinton
- Donald Trump
- David Copperfield
- Stephen Hawking
And many others.
Trump's friendship with Epstein (who had a net worth of around $560
million) goes far back. Here is that video from 1992. Of course, it
was a third of a century ago. In 1992 Trump was a bachelor between
divorcing his first wife (mother of Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric) in 1990
and marrying Maria Maples in 1993 (mother of Tiffany). Divorced her
in 1999 and married Melania Knauss in 2005 (mother of Barron).
Michael Wolff's best seller, Fire and Fury, hints that the
Trump-Epstein link persisted at least until 2004, and more likely,
long after that.
I'll end with two entertainment opportunities available this weekend on your TV set.
- Tonight on your PBS channel (in Hawaii at 8PM), Celebrating 50 years of Broadway's Best.
Enjoy a revue of milestone Broadway shows and songs from 1973 to 2023 hosted by two-time Tony Award winner Sutton Foster. Features performances by André De Shields, Chita Rivera, Vanessa Williams and more from Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater.
- On Saturday, CNN will air a first-ever live Broadway play, Goodnight, and Good Luck, at 7PM ET. Starring George Clooney as CBS newscaster Edward R. Murrow, he takes a stand against the anti-communist witch hunts of the 1950s. Based on the the 2005 film of the same name, directed by Clooney. Brings back David Straihairn, who was Murrow in this movie. Clooney was Fred Friendly. Also included Patricia Clarkson, Jeff Daniels and Robert Downey Jr. Rotten Tomatoes ratings of 93/83.
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