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Is the Tesla boss really the shadow president of the United States?
Let's go back eight years: In the summer of 2016, Trump's chances of becoming president seemed to be snowballing into hell. His campaign was a mess; he had drained his second campaign manager, Paul Manafort. Then Steve Bannon came along, turned everything around, and surprisingly helped put Trump in the White House.
This has led to the argument that the real strongman in the government is not Trump but Bannon, who has now been appointed chief strategist. It's also a real celebration. Journalist Joshua Green, for example, described Bannon’s genius in his critically acclaimed book Devil’s Deal.
Steve Bannon’s tenure in the Oval Office was brief.Photo credit: AP/AP
The comedy show Saturday Night Live even aired a sketch in which Trump had to give up his seat behind his desk in the Oval Office to sit at the cat desk as soon as he appeared. Star Wars – Bannon walks into the room in disguise. Soon after, Bannon had to leave the White House and retreat into the political desert, living with the nickname “Sloppy Steve.”
Is the film starring Elon Musk in danger of a sequel? Just more exaggerated? After all, we're talking about the world's richest man, who thinks he's a genius and donated over $100 million to Trump's campaign. Like Trump, Musk's behavior is “transactional,” meaning he lives by the motto: If you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. So he now expects something in return.
In addition, Musk’s self-awareness is probably no less than that of the pathological narcissist Trump.
Elon Musk strikes a victory pose.Image: trapezoid
Given Trump's age, the theory suggests that in his second term, he will be seen more on the golf course than in the Oval Office. He is widely expected to hand over day-to-day duties to his deputy, J.D. Vance. As we all know, Vance is the product of Musk's Paypal partner Peter Thiel.
Along with other tech billionaires from Silicon Valley – the most commonly mentioned are Marc Andreessen, creator of the first internet browser, billionaire and venture capitalist Ben Horowitz Horowitz, and David Sachs, who was once a member of the legendary Pay Pal Mafia – they are, in a sense, supposed to form the boards of directors of corporate America and thus hold real power.
This idea does inspire fear. As brilliant as Musk may be as an entrepreneur and engineer, his plans for a future world combine elements from teenage fantasies of omnipotence and the novels of libertarian high priestess Ayn Rand. For some unknown reason, Musk wants to colonize Mars, a hostile planet with almost no oxygen. At the same time, the earth will become a technological paradise ruled by artificial intelligence.
The incredible trio: Peter Thiel, Donald Trump and Elon Musk.Image source: Watson/Keystone SDA
The fantasies of his fellow activists are equally absurd. Thiel believed that democracy was obsolete and sought to immortalize it. About a year ago, Anderson published a pamphlet that shamelessly promoted social Darwinist arguments, misappropriating nature's law of the strongest theory to human society.
Thus, Jonathan Taplin points out in his book The End of Reality: “The combination of unverifiable cryptocurrency wealth, a Mars colony, and the prospect of immortality perfectly encapsulates the technocratic fantasy that they believe They can also fulfill these fantasies.
Before we sink into our deepest depression: Thesis on shadow president Elon Musk and tech oligarchs on US corporate boards is at least premature. She ignored the possibility that Musk, like Bannon, would be thrown away by Trump like a used tissue. The resurgent president may now praise Musk highly and celebrate his emergence as a rising star.
That could change at any time, because, as David Nasso wrote in the New York Times, “There's only room for one genius in the White House.”
Nasso also pointed out that Musk is by no means the first super-rich man to imagine that he can manipulate the president. Legendary steel magnate Andrew Carnegie and William McKinley, publishers Randolph Hearst and Franklin Roosevelt all tried this approach.
As mentioned before, Trump is “transactional.” He understands neither morality nor mutual obligations. This should also apply to the bromance with Musk. It's no secret that he wants to fundamentally dismantle the U.S. government, just like he did with Twitter. He hopes to save two trillion dollars a year, one-third of the entire national budget. This goal is ridiculous. Even if you fired all government employees, you would only save 15% of the budget, and if you did, the government would collapse – unlike Twitter.
He said where to go: Howard Lutnick.Image: trapezoid
Howard Lutnick, co-chairman of the Trump transition team and a veteran financial manager, has made that clear. He explained that Musk “will not be a member of the government” but will simply support the government by writing software.
Therefore, David Nassau advised Musk to bask in the glory of the presidency for as long as possible. On the other hand, we have to hope that he flirts with the idea of a shadow presidency as much as possible to put himself aside as quickly as possible.
Ukraine has called on its supporters to change course ahead of an expected Russian counteroffensive in the Russian border region near Kursk. Ukrainian President Zelensky wrote on Telegram that the United States, Britain and Germany must allow the use of long-range weapons they provide to strike targets deep in Russian territory. “This is crucial. Our missiles and drones can strike The farther away it is, the weaker Russia's actual combat capabilities will be.
