Welcome to The Logoff: You may have noticed the Donald Trump-Elon Musk relationship is going through a rough patch. After Musk came out swinging against Trump’s “big beautiful bill” earlier this week, tensions erupted Thursday. It’s been a lot of social media-driven drama — but it could also have serious consequences for the country, and tonight, we’re spelling out what those might (might!) look like.
What could this mean for Musk? Trump has suggested cutting Musk’s contracts; the president's former top aide Steve Bannon has suggested investigating his immigration status. But none of that is certain, and Trump’s capacity to go after Musk might not be as great as he’d like: The government needs Musk’s SpaceX. Any efforts to disentangle the two will be difficult, to say the least.
And what about Trump? Trump is president, but Musk is still the world’s richest man. In posts yesterday, he suggested his financial support is something congressional Republicans should ponder as they continue to debate Trump’s single-bill legislative agenda, which is facing a complicated path to becoming law (even before Musk came out against it).
Trump is also losing an enforcer and an emissary in Musk. The tech CEO had threatened Republican members of Congress with primary challengers on Trump’s behalf, and provided a link to Silicon Valley’s right-wing tech class, some of whom may now have to choose where their loyalties lie.
Anything else I should know? As of Friday, the two men aren’t talking — but both are famously erratic, so who knows what happens next. Stay tuned and we’ll see where things lie next week.
