Today’s “To the Contrary” Podcast is a lively and wide-ranging conversation with Arc Digital editor Nicholas Grossman. You can listen/watch right here, or: Watch on YouTube / Listen (and subscribe) on Apple/ Spotify / iHeart / RSS Feed.
We start by trying to get our heads around this week’s weird combination of clownishness, menace, and corruption.
On Tuesday, when millions of Americans were getting hammered in the stock market, Donald Trump decided to bail out the world’s richest man… by turning the White House into a car dealership. Our on-again-off again trade wars continue to escalate, although they are changing by the hour… because confusion and uncertainty are so good for the economy. Meanwhile, Trump keeps talking about turning Canada into the 51st state, an obsession that seems to have rattled even he anti-anti-Trumpers at National Review.
I regret to tell you that it gets weirder:
As measles spreads, we have RFK Jr telling Americans that vaccines are overrated and that the best protection against measles is the breast milk of a woman who hasn’t been contaminated by the vaccine.
FFS.
Meanwhile, half the staff of the Department of Education are fired; and the cuts are so deep in the SS Administration that seniors may no longer be able to get anyone on the phone… As Musk muses about slashing both Social Security and Medicare.
Really, what could go wrong? The answer is that Elon doesn’t know. And he really doesn’t give a shit.
And even as we play chicken with a government shutdown, the US has forced Ukraine to agree to a ceasefire. If Trump’s buddy in the Kremlin goes along… (which seems unlikely).
Happy Thursday.
To the Contrary is a reader-supported publication. That means that there are no investors. No sugar daddies. No oligarchs. No billionaires. Just me. And the dogs.
And your generous support.
I know that there are a lot of claims on your time and your pocketbook. But please take a moment to consider supporting us.
You may disagree with me from time to time (and I expect you will, because I’m not promising you a safe space here). But I’ll always try to give it to you straight, sober, sane — with a dash of snark.
To receive new posts — including podcasts and videos— please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Some highlights of our conversation
The Ukrainian “ceasefire”.
No GOP dissent.
The Trump/Musk approach to power.
Nota Bene
Charlie Warzel: “Elon Musk Looks Desperate.”
Squinting in the sun with Elon Musk, Trump stood next to five Tesla vehicles, holding a piece of paper with handwritten notes about their features and costs. Trump said he would purchase a car himself at full price. Then Trump and Musk got into one of the cars. Musk explained that the electric vehicle was “like a golf cart that goes really fast.” Trump offered his own praise to the camera: “Wow. That’s beautiful. This is a different panel than I’ve—everything’s computer!”
This was a stilted, corrupt attempt to juice a friend’s stock, and certainly beneath the office of the presidency. But you ought not to overlook just how embarrassing the spectacle was for Musk. The subtext of the event—during which Trump also declared that the White House would label any acts of violence against Tesla dealerships as domestic terrorism—was the ongoing countrywide protests against Tesla, due to Musk’s role in the Trump administration. In some cities, protesters have defaced or damaged Tesla vehicles and set fire to the company’s charging stations. Tesla’s stock price has fallen sharply—almost 50 percent since its mid-December, postelection peak—on the back of terrible sales numbers in Europe. The hastily assembled White House press event was presented as a show of solidarity, but the optics were quite clear: Musk needed Trump to come in and fix his mess for him.
And Tesla isn’t the only Musk venture that’s struggling. SpaceX’s massive new Starship rocket has exploded twice this year during test flights. And Ontario, Canada, has canceled its contract with his Starlink internet company to provide service to remote communities, citing Trump’s tariffs. According to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, Musk is $148 billion poorer than he was on Inauguration Day (he is currently worth $333.1 billion).
**
Why Ruth Marcus Left the Washington Post | The New Yorker
I asked to speak with Lewis. He declined to see me, instructing an editor to inform me that there was no reason to meet, because his decision was final.
So, too, was mine. I submitted my letter of resignation on Monday, to Bezos and Lewis. “Will’s decision to not run the column that I wrote respectfully dissenting from Jeff’s edict—something that I have not experienced in almost two decades of column-writing—underscores that the traditional freedom of columnists to select the topics they wish to address and say what they think has been dangerously eroded,” I wrote. “I love the Post. It breaks my heart to conclude that I must leave.”
This was not the outcome I sought.
**
Reminder: Don‘t count on CEOs for courage: Via the WSJ: “CEOs Don’t Plan to Openly Question Trump. Ask Again If the Market Crashes 20%..”
Early on Tuesday, dozens of corporate executives and others assembled at a Yale CEO Caucus not far from the White House just as news emerged that the Trump administration planned to potentially double tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada. Those in the room responded with a mix of groans and shocked laughter.
“There was universal revulsion against the Trump economic policies,” said Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a professor at the Yale School of Management, who organized the invite-only summit that included corporate bosses such as JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon, billionaire Michael Dell and Pfizer’s Albert Bourla. “They’re also especially horrified about Canada.”
That sentiment wasn’t apparent hours later, when many of the same chief executives from the Yale event attended a question-and-answer session with President Trump at the Business Roundtable. There, the exchange was largely cordial and executives didn’t ask the president any pointed questions about his tariff strategy, according to people familiar with the event….
In an impromptu poll at the Yale event, the CEOs made it clear that things would have to worsen significantly before they publicly criticized the president. Asked how much the stock market would need to decline for them to speak out collectively, 44% said it would have to fall 20%. Another 22% said stocks would have to fall 30% before they would take a stand.
Thursday dog
Eli is feeling mellow today.
Share this post