Short answer: Not yet. But something is afoot.
On today’s podcast, I’m joined by Jonathan Martin, the politics bureau chief and senior political columnist at Politico. He was co-author of The New York Times bestseller “This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America’s Future” — a must-read book about the 2020 election.
You can listen/watch right here, or: Watch on YouTube / Listen (and subscribe) on Apple/ Spotify / iHeart / RSS Feed.
We discuss the remarkable clash between Trump’s cabinet members and his co-president; Trump’s exhaustion factor; the Munich Security Conference; and the 2024 campaign… which includes my confession to Father Jonathan.
Happy Sunday.
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Trouble in MAGA Paradise
Nota Bene four things: (1) Trump World is rattled and in CYA-mode about Musk’s cuts; (2) Trump gave a green light to cabinet members to go after Musk, blame him for reckless cuts, and call him a liar; (3) Trump may have clipped his fellow megalomaniac’s wings; and (4) the whole story leaked out.
Some background:
Jonathan Lemire: Is DOGE Losing Steam? The Department of Government Efficiency lives. But Donald Trump is reining in Elon Musk.
Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman: Inside the Explosive Meeting Where Trump Officials Clashed With Elon Musk
The NYT had the blow by blow:
Mr. Rubio had been privately furious with Mr. Musk for weeks, ever since his team effectively shuttered an entire agency that was supposedly under Mr. Rubio’s control: the United States Agency for International Development. But, in the extraordinary cabinet meeting on Thursday in front of President Trump and around 20 others — details of which have not been reported before — Mr. Rubio got his grievances off his chest.
Mr. Musk was not being truthful, Mr. Rubio said. What about the more than 1,500 State Department officials who took early retirement in buyouts? Didn’t they count as layoffs? He asked, sarcastically, whether Mr. Musk wanted him to rehire all those people just so he could make a show of firing them again. Then he laid out his detailed plans for reorganizing the State Department.
Mr. Musk was unimpressed. He told Mr. Rubio he was “good on TV,” with the clear subtext being that he was not good for much else. Throughout all of this, the president sat back in his chair, arms folded, as if he were watching a tennis match….
The meeting was a potential turning point after the frenetic first weeks of Mr. Trump’s second term. It yielded the first significant indication that Mr. Trump was willing to put some limits on Mr. Musk, whose efforts have become the subject of several lawsuits and prompted concerns from Republican lawmakers, some of whom have complained directly to the president.
Sean Duffy may be dumber than a box of rocks, but he is desperately trying not to get blamed the next time there’s a plane crash:
Just moments before the blowup with Mr. Rubio, Mr. Musk and the transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, went back and forth about the state of the Federal Aviation Administration’s equipment for tracking airplanes and what kind of fix was needed. Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, jumped in to support Mr. Musk.
Mr. Duffy said the young staff of Mr. Musk’s team was trying to lay off air traffic controllers. What am I supposed to do? Mr. Duffy said. I have multiple plane crashes to deal with now, and your people want me to fire air traffic controllers?
Mr. Musk told Mr. Duffy that his assertion was a “lie.” Mr. Duffy insisted it was not; he had heard it from them directly. Mr. Musk, asking who had been fired, said: Give me their names. Tell me their names.
Some of this was inevitable, because the laws of human gravity make it impossible for two sociopathic megalomaniacs to occupy the same space, so maybe the only surprise is that it has taken so long.
Some highlights of our conversation
Jonathan explains: This day was coming…
The whole thing was clearly orchestrated…
There is no Trumpism besides good publicity for Donald Trump….
The Trump exhaustion factor…
Sunday dogs
Eli…
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Auggie’s pose: the World’s Most Interesting Dog.
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Yes, I’m going to throw it. As soon as I’m done with today’s newsletter…
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