The danger is that Musk is technically a non-state actor.
If Trump pisses him off too much, Musk can throw his support and resources behind Putin, e.g. take down or curtailing Starlink for the U.S. and its allies, and give it to Putin (who has his own imperialistic goals...).
Trump has two trump cards over Musk. Since he owns DOJ he can have Musk investigated for violations of his security clearance and have it revoked, then he can nationalize SpaceX and Starlink for national security.
choose which parts to break.. the lying, the prying, the buying, the ass kissing, the crude obvious racism, the being here illegally, or any body part in photo. Fried legs?? with ketchup?
Delete all Meta products off your phone and disable location services on all your Meta profiles. Zuckerfuck doesn’t need to know where I am or what I’m doing.
I'm wondering when would-be Tesla buyers will start to think, "I shouldn't buy a car from an asshole." With any luck there'll be a critical mass that suddenly stands up and says to the fetid man-boy billionaire, "No mas!" Then Telsa will get bought up by China, or someone.
Outside of his money-making (and losing) abilities I believe that Musk is fundamentally an ignorant and stupid person. His money is his only source of credibility, and that's mostly from fear. And now his hubris grows like cancer on America. How long will it take for this to catch up with him? When does the world - sorry, the world knows he's an asshole - America, realize that Elon's wearing no clothes?
Yes. Teslas have always been a status symbol that says "I am rich and love the environment". With the cybertruck that became more in your face. But now that there are so many alternatives with relatively comparable mileage and lower price you have to wonder if it is worth driving a car by the man who sits up all night calling people pedophiles and retards.
I doubt Tesla will be bought by China however. BYD already makes better cars for half the price and is eating Tesla's lunch worldwide. Given that his entire wealth is founded on the overinflated Tesla stock it is likely in the long run that he needs Trump's (and Farage's and AfD's) tarrifs more than they need him.
I agree with you about BYD & China. Though the technology may be of interest; if China can't steal it, they'll buy it. Tesla's rescue will likely come from the West somewhere. A venture capitalist wanting to wring every dollar out of the carcass ("it's wreckable!"). Or a big automaker (Tesla is puny)? As much as I want Musk to show his true self (riding on the coattails of better people), the loss of jobs when Tesla disappears will be sad.
I feel like Tesla is too large at this point to be bought out as puny. I could see a carmaker in another area who does not yet have EVs buying them whole (e.g. a truck maker who wants a whole new line) or someone like BYD who just wants to eat their competition. But I think the more likely candidate would be someone like a VW or Ford buying out their charging business and leaving the rest to be carved up. Big automakers have their own vehicle technologies and manufacturing and fixed distribution channels. I don't think they could or would want to pick up an entirely separate model. But Tesla still has a better charging network than anyone else (for the time being). That may be worth the money.
“Elon Musk is the one person in his orbit that Trump can neither fire nor cancel.” I don’t think this is true. He can’t flick him away, as you say with Widdle Marco. But Musk does have billions of dollars of interests in the federal government. Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg and Bob Iger bend over to protect their businesses’ connections to and interests in the federal government. Musk is as vulnerable there, or maybe more so, as those three. He can make Musk’s life miserable and jeopardize his businesses.
Musk is also more vulnerable on tariffs. Per my comment above most of his real wealth is Tesla stock. Tesla is losing market share both domestically (a bit) and globally (a lot). If Trump want's to make Musk cry all he has to do is be a little less restrictive with the tariffs and watch him bleed out.
The danger is that Musk is technically a non-state actor.
If Trump pisses him off too much, Musk can throw his support and resources behind Putin, e.g. take down or curtailing Starlink for the U.S. and its allies, and give it to Putin (who has his own imperialistic goals...).
Only Trump believes that Putin is on his side.
Putin is only on Putin's side.
Jail?
This is probably a very stupid question, but at what point does Musk raise a private army (or space force)?
IRS and jail
Trump has two trump cards over Musk. Since he owns DOJ he can have Musk investigated for violations of his security clearance and have it revoked, then he can nationalize SpaceX and Starlink for national security.
choose which parts to break.. the lying, the prying, the buying, the ass kissing, the crude obvious racism, the being here illegally, or any body part in photo. Fried legs?? with ketchup?
Looks like musk is in a swastika pose!
The hypocrisy among Donny and his sycophants is becoming deafening.
Great article as always… You honestly –cannot– make this sh*t up!
Can we throw Rudy in prison yet?
Delete all Meta products off your phone and disable location services on all your Meta profiles. Zuckerfuck doesn’t need to know where I am or what I’m doing.
I'm wondering when would-be Tesla buyers will start to think, "I shouldn't buy a car from an asshole." With any luck there'll be a critical mass that suddenly stands up and says to the fetid man-boy billionaire, "No mas!" Then Telsa will get bought up by China, or someone.
Outside of his money-making (and losing) abilities I believe that Musk is fundamentally an ignorant and stupid person. His money is his only source of credibility, and that's mostly from fear. And now his hubris grows like cancer on America. How long will it take for this to catch up with him? When does the world - sorry, the world knows he's an asshole - America, realize that Elon's wearing no clothes?
Yes. Teslas have always been a status symbol that says "I am rich and love the environment". With the cybertruck that became more in your face. But now that there are so many alternatives with relatively comparable mileage and lower price you have to wonder if it is worth driving a car by the man who sits up all night calling people pedophiles and retards.
I doubt Tesla will be bought by China however. BYD already makes better cars for half the price and is eating Tesla's lunch worldwide. Given that his entire wealth is founded on the overinflated Tesla stock it is likely in the long run that he needs Trump's (and Farage's and AfD's) tarrifs more than they need him.
I agree with you about BYD & China. Though the technology may be of interest; if China can't steal it, they'll buy it. Tesla's rescue will likely come from the West somewhere. A venture capitalist wanting to wring every dollar out of the carcass ("it's wreckable!"). Or a big automaker (Tesla is puny)? As much as I want Musk to show his true self (riding on the coattails of better people), the loss of jobs when Tesla disappears will be sad.
I feel like Tesla is too large at this point to be bought out as puny. I could see a carmaker in another area who does not yet have EVs buying them whole (e.g. a truck maker who wants a whole new line) or someone like BYD who just wants to eat their competition. But I think the more likely candidate would be someone like a VW or Ford buying out their charging business and leaving the rest to be carved up. Big automakers have their own vehicle technologies and manufacturing and fixed distribution channels. I don't think they could or would want to pick up an entirely separate model. But Tesla still has a better charging network than anyone else (for the time being). That may be worth the money.
“Elon Musk is the one person in his orbit that Trump can neither fire nor cancel.” I don’t think this is true. He can’t flick him away, as you say with Widdle Marco. But Musk does have billions of dollars of interests in the federal government. Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg and Bob Iger bend over to protect their businesses’ connections to and interests in the federal government. Musk is as vulnerable there, or maybe more so, as those three. He can make Musk’s life miserable and jeopardize his businesses.
Musk is also more vulnerable on tariffs. Per my comment above most of his real wealth is Tesla stock. Tesla is losing market share both domestically (a bit) and globally (a lot). If Trump want's to make Musk cry all he has to do is be a little less restrictive with the tariffs and watch him bleed out.
Deplorable v Deplorable
Deplorable and Deplorabler?
Did Eli climb up the bathtub without knocking anything over? He’s huge, but so dainty with his big paws. ❤️
Like a cat, a BIG cat!
What was that term again, Mr.Sykes? Shit-show!
Let’s see who steps up? GOP Senators will go down as cowards. Musk will do something truly stupid Wednesday. Trump will top it Thursday…rinse, repeat…
What an awful, embarrassing mess.