How long can the appalling Musk-Trump bromance go on? | Margaret Sullivan
How long can the appalling Musk-Trump bromance go on? | Margaret Sullivan
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To say the relationship is symbiotic is an understatement. Trump has the political power; Musk has endless money. Two men, two huge egos, two quests for endless amounts of power and money – joined, for now, in the pursuit of those common goals. That’s the story behind the tight relationship between Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the billionaire who hangs out in the West Wing of the White House and has the ear of the president.
![[Margaret Sullivan]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2023/01/20/margaret_sullivan.png?width=180&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
But there are cracks in the facade of closeness, and – based on Trump’s past intolerance for anything but total loyalty among his allies – one must wonder how long it will last. And should the bromance come apart, it is likely do so with a bang heard ’round the world.
To say the relationship is symbiotic is an understatement. Trump has the political power; Musk has endless money. In today’s environment, these go together better than Buffalo wings and Budweiser at a Super Bowl party. Musk was at Trump’s side at Mar-a-Lago on election night and was soon installed in the White House, leading the “department of government efficiency” (Doge), a special group that Trump has created, with its ominously Orwellian-sounding name. He even reportedly joined a post-election call between Trump and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Barry Blitt’s portrayal on the 20 January cover of the New Yorker, titled Two’s a Crowd, said it all: a widely grinning Musk is sworn in alongside Trump, but getting almost all the spotlight, raising the question of which member of the duo would be the “shadow president”.
