The White House has always been a playground. Theodore Roosevelt hated William Taft, which he had nevertheless designated his successor; Lyndon Johnson hated Robert F. Kennedy, whom he had refused to appoint vice-president. The oval office still resonates from these resentments between former fellow travelers. But these resentments were not always exposed to the light of day. The divorce between Trump and Musk, on the almost exclusive initiative of the second, has broken with this cozy tradition.
Musk was the gifted of the Trump school: admired for his genius, dreaded for his influence, mocked for his extravagances. At the head of the nebulous Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), in charge of “Rationalize the State”he occupied such an informal role that he was never validated by the Congress. Musk wanted to be the equal of Trump. In the eyes of the president, he was only a brilliant performer. And above all, the principal remains Trump: he does not listen to insolent, he punishes them.
Once the storm of scathing tweets, confidences distilled to the press and reciprocal humiliations, will undoubtedly be less to lose than the boss of Tesla in this divorce on X. as if Musk had forgotten in terms of people, Trump excels. The president had the skin of Mike Pence, of Nikki Haley, (practically) that of the governor of Florida Ron Desantis, and even put back in his place the very popular journalist Tucker Carlson. Why would he not have the scalp of the one who had not skimped on the means to weigh, later, on the choices of the White House?
March against fast foods
From the failed bombing of Butler, in July 2024, Elon Musk had put his checkbook in the service of the return of the Republican, just as he had boosted his campaign with his algorithms, believing that with his money and his techno-uutopia, he could later influence Trump. With $ 288 million paid to political action committees supporting the candidate, Musk was, by far, the most generous individual donor.
We remember the spectacle of this alliance, tightly sealed on the butler’s podium, in October 2024, three months after the missed assassination. Musk spoke about it behind a armored window, sometimes jumped into the air, revealing a “occupy Mars” t-shirt, while announcing that “If Trump did not win, then it would be the last election of American democracy”. The crowd applauded him politely, but without the explosive enthusiasm reserved for Trump or other Maga figures. Some spectators even left the scene during his speech, eager to find their car. In the eyes of the public of this popular right, often worker, Musk has always represented a form of dehumanized technocratic liberalism, when Trump embodies the warmth of populism, with his giant meetings, his visceral patriotism, his rough style but close to the people.
The rupture between the eccentric billionaire and the president finally makes it possible to expose the fracture between the right of the Silicon Valley and the one dinner in the Ohio fast foods. Musk never found thanks to the eyes of the Americans. Only a third of them (according to a survey of the National Opinion Research Center for Associated Press, at the end of April) had a good opinion of him before this clash. The popular classes were the least inclined to support it. According to an Ipsos survey for the Washington Post And ABC News, Musk’s disapproval had increased significantly in the past two months in adults without a university diploma, going from 44 % to 54 %. On the evening of the clash, a Yougov survey revealed that 71 % of the Republicans took the side of Trump, against 6 % for the ex-boss of the Doge.
Musk offers him the opportunity to replay the great story of 2016
Elon Musk symbolizes this right of permanent disruption, on the border of libertarianism and techno-messianism. By posing as a champion of freedom of expression, by denouncing wokism, by castigating the omnipotence of the federal administration, Musk knew how to seduce a fringe of the intellectual right tired of republican prudence. For many, he represented a more elegant, more cosmopolitan alternative to Trumpism.
But in the Trumpist imagination, Musk remains a product of the globalized elites. It depends on public subsidies for its space programs, maintains close economic links with China where it builds Tesla, and dreams of Mars more than deep America. His recent criticism of the customs of customs duties says a lot: behind the allegedly rebellious icon, we find the eternal class reflex of a globalized elite which cannot bear to be jostled. Shortly before Trump’s inauguration, Musk defended H-1B visas, which allow American companies to recruit foreign engineers and specialists: “Bringing talents is essential for America to continue to win. »» Figures of Trumpism like Steve Bannon had seen a criticism of American workers. Where Musk talks about algorithms and colonize space, Trump talks about jobs, borders, traditions.
Trump, the man alone
Elon Musk’s avenging insinuations – suggesting that if Epstein’s list, this billionaire at the heart of a large sex trafficking network involving minors, has not been revealed, it is because Trump was there – nourished one of the most powerful springs of Trumpism: the staging of the besieged. Musk offers him on a set the opportunity to replay the great story of 2016, that of man alone against all, conspired by the rich.
This break is not only a quarrel of personalities. It clarifies the front lines in the conservative camp. Trumpism remains a tangible link to reality, a direct address to crushed middle classes, a link that no promise of autonomous cars can replace. By refusing to respond directly to Musk’s attacks, Trump continues to speak the language of rooted America, not that dictated by artificial intelligence.
