Look at this photo of Donald Trump and tell me that the next four years, two months and five days are not going to be the worst and most terrifying ordeal ever. That being said, I still feel strangely peaceful and empty. Tens of millions of Americans wanted this rather than the nice Black lady, so here we are. For the past week, there’s been a lot of “palace intrigue” gossip about how quickly Elon Musk has worn out his welcome at Mar-a-Lago. It’s clear from the reporting that Trump’s people are not happy with Musk, especially since Musk is reportedly “behaving as if he’s a co-president and making sure everyone knows it…And he’s sure taking lots of credit for the president’s victory.” But Trump was asked about Musk and he said supportive things:
Elon Musk may have become the Mar-a-Lago guest who won’t leave, but president-elect Donald Trump apparently has no plans to send him home.
“He likes this place—I just can’t get him out of here,” Trump said in a speech Thursday at his resort in Florida. “And I like having him here. He’s good. He’s done a fantastic job.”
Musk has been a near-constant fixture at Mar-a-Lago since he poured $200 million into the incoming president’s successful re-election bid and jumped around for him non-stop on stage on the campaign trail. The tech tycoon has been golfing and dining with Trump, sitting in on meetings, advising on personnel matters, traveling to Washington, D.C., and even meeting with foreign officials. Members of Trump’s transition team have likened him to a guest who won’t leave after the party ends.
The billionaire owner of social media platform X has also been tapped to co-head a government efficiency “department” with Vivek Ramaswamy that will supposedly identify $2 trillion in wasteful government spending—a plan that even conservative economists have called a “fantasy.”
It’s not that DOGE is a childish idea of how the American government operates and functions, it’s that Elon Musk is apparently too stupid to understand that he was put “in charge” of nothing more than a blue-ribbon busywork panel. Anyway, I find it interesting that Trump is sort of saying that he’s fine with Musk around. I can’t imagine what those rooms smell like.
Meanwhile, the NY Times reports that Trump sent Musk to speak with Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations this week. The Iranian officials were the ones to confirm the meeting to the Times! The purpose of the meeting was “a discussion of how to defuse tensions between Iran and the United States.” I understand that Trump does not attract the best and brightest foreign policy minds (or the best and brightest anything) but holy sh-t, it’s incredibly embarrassing to send MUSKRAT into that f–king meeting. It’s also probably against the law, but hey, nothing matters.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.