Politics
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March 10, 2025
Whereas the billionaire messes, illegally, with our federal companies, nobody appears to be minding his retailer.
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Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk leaves a gathering with Home Republicans within the basement of the US Capitol on March 5, 2025, in Washington, DC.
(Samuel Core / Getty Photographs)
Admirers name Tesla CEO Elon Musk a know-how “genius.” Tesla was a real innovation, producing an electrical automotive in 2008 that doubled as a smooth-riding, luxurious standing image. Although he’s now devoted himself to chopping authorities waste, fraud, and abuse, Musk doesn’t a lot speak about how a lot federal cash went into Tesla and his different companies, the interplanetary SpaceX undertaking and Starlink, his world communications empire. The Washington Put up estimates he took in a complete of $38 billion from the federal authorities for these three enterprises.
Now, whereas he’s working the Division of Authorities Effectivity for Donald Trump (although claiming he’s not), Musk is clearly mucking round within the workings of federal companies and placing a lot much less power into his companies. Which may not be paying off for him. Musk’s social media website X, previously Twitter, has been offline most of Monday attributable to a “large cyberattack.” Tesla inventory has misplaced a 3rd of its worth this yr—12 p.c on Monday alone. SpaceX launched one more rocket that exploded, this time throwing off harmful particles and forcing South Florida airports to shut. Who desires Elon Musk in control of staffing the Federal Aviation Company? Not me.
Few Individuals appear to assume Musk is a genius anymore. His approval rankings are underwater, and polls present that Musk, and DOGE’s incursions into federal companies, are unpopular. It’s not simply Musk’s drawback; Congressional Republicans are forgoing dwelling city hallsclaiming that George Soros is paying Democrats to attend. (He’s not.)
May that be including to Musk’s enterprise woes?
The #TeslaTakedown motion is likely to be probably the most vibrant anti-Trump opposition within the nation, and it’s spreading to different nations. (Outdoors Toulouse, Francea Tesla dealership was torched every week in the past.) Right here in Manhattan, a whole bunch of individuals “occupied” a Tesla showroom on Saturday and shut it down. Six have been arrested. The virtually completely nonviolent protests stretch from Boston to Pasadena, Charlotte to Seattle. Liberal Tesla house owners have complained that they’re being recognized as Nazi-adjacent, after they purchased the revolutionary electrical automotive out of concern about local weather change. Some are promoting their automobiles; celebrities like Sheryl Crow are donating theirs to charity.
Musk can be, reportedly, dealing with critical backlash inside Trump’s cupboard. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, final seen on an Oval Workplace couch having his soul sucked out of him throughout Trump’s brutal verbal assault on Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, apparently snapped at Musk for his meddling within the USAID funds. Musk snapped again, telling Rubio that he’s “good on TV,” damning with faint reward. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy accused Musk of attempting to put off air visitors controllers throughout a historic acceleration of aircraft crashes—none of which may be laid at Trump’s ft, however it will likely be if Musk and others proceed slashing the FAA. Musk denied that he was doing that, for what it’s value.
Present Situation
Trump, like a Mafia don, listened to his numerous capos, after which settled them down. He mentioned Musk can’t instantly hearth their personnel, but in addition defended his DOGE boy. After the assembly, on Reality Social, Trump known as for extra exact workers cuts: “We are saying the ‘scalpel’ reasonably than the ‘hatchet.’”
After all, Musk brandished a sequence noticed on the Conservative Political Motion convention. That’s his MO. He exhibits no signal of reaching for a scalpel. He desires to chop as a lot as potential earlier than his time as a short lived White Home staffer involves an finish in roughly 80 days. We’ll see if he destroys his personal corporations earlier than he destroys the federal authorities.
Donald Trump’s merciless and chaotic second time period is simply getting began. In his first month again in workplace, Trump and his lackey Elon Musk (or is it the opposite manner round?) have confirmed that nothing is secure from sacrifice on the altar of unchecked energy and riches.
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Onward,
Katrina Vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Writer, The Nation
Joan Walsh
Joan Walsh, a nationwide affairs correspondent for The Nation, is a coproducer of The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts The Tonight Present and the creator of What’s the Matter With White Individuals? Discovering Our Method within the Subsequent America. Her new e book (with Nick Hanauer and Donald Cohen) is Company Bullsh*t: Exposing the Lies and Half-Truths That Shield Revenue, Energy and Wealth In America.
