Summary

“He wants to be seen as having say in everything (even if he doesn’t),” one person in Trump’s orbit said.

Elon Musk’s growing influence in Donald Trump’s orbit is reportedly irritating members of the former president’s inner circle.

Since his efforts helped secure Trump’s reelection, Musk has been highly visible at Mar-a-Lago, taking credit for Trump’s victory and acting as if he’s a “co-president.”

Musk has joined key diplomatic calls and even attempted to broker peace with Iran.

Despite his appointment to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, some close to Trump feel Musk’s overreach and need for attention may jeopardize his position, as Trump dislikes sharing the spotlight.

  • EnderMB@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    I had predicted this a while back, in that enabling Trump meant victory for the GOP, but the total erosion of Conservative values. This is clear in that any career politician will likely cede power to a bunch of nutjobs or meme lords with money.

    They can either shut up and let Trump do his thing (lol), or they can dig their heels in and fight his decisions from within, grinding government to a halt (also lol). Either way, it’s a win for most, because in the long term the right will bail after Trump and leave a party so weak that it probably won’t be able to fight off the memory of Trump. He’ll never endorse a candidate that’s not himself, especially if the GOP blocks him. His rabid fan base will either die out, or go third-party because the GOP is “too woke” or something.

    • a9cx34udP4ZZ0@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      because in the long term the right will bail after Trump and leave a party so weak that it probably won’t be able to fight off the memory of Trump

      Look at this optimist still assuming there’s going to be another election and that a republican party actually matters. The supreme court has already ruled he can’t be held liable for anything he does while president if it’s an “official act” - if you think he won’t try “officially” ending the public choosing the next president, you might be in for a rude awakening.

      • EnderMB@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        A lot of people favour less government intervention, fiscal responsibility, stronger laws, and strength in the free market. IMO at a base level this isn’t an inherently evil thing to believe/want.

        Obviously, most politicians don’t represent this, but for those that do they find the current party doesn’t represent them. Eight years of Trump is probably enough to destroy many careers.

        • Don_alForno@feddit.org
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          3 days ago

          IMO at a base level this isn’t an inherently evil thing to believe/want.

          Not evil, but misguided. All of these things are euphemisms for destroying (or not having in the first place) social safety nets, letting deregulated corporations run amok and replacing the rule of law with the rule of the richest. And most people who say they want these euphemisms don’t understand that, otherwise they wouldn’t want them. Because the consequences are objectively bad for at least 90% of people in any given country.

          Btw, none of these things you mention are “conservative values”.

  • stringere@sh.itjust.works
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    4 days ago

    Musk has joined key diplomatic calls and even attempted to broker peace with Iran.

    That’s a pretty clear violation of the Logan Act. Gettin’ blue from holding my breath over here.

  • rational_lib@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    Trump has promised a cabinet position to every insufferable asshole in the country who insists that everyone accept their own fringe views and talks over anyone who disagrees, while also knowing nothing about what they’re talking about. This is gonna be funny to watch, but painful to experience.

  • cmhe@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    Trumps administration will likely start out with a lot of power hungry egomaniac freaks, and then with its very high turnover, trump loyalists will be filtered through, like they did in their first term.

    Competence doesn’t really matter.

  • Kite@sh.itjust.works
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    3 days ago

    Even ignoring the fact that he’s a billionaire and that’s what got him where he is, Musk’s personality seems to be such that he is innately annoying as fuck. He’ll always have yes-men around him because of his money, but I do wonder just how long everyone else in his current political circle are going to tolerate him. I’m hoping he’ll be his own annoying downfall.

  • NeoToasty@kbin.melroy.org
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    5 days ago

    It’s going to be 4 years of basically watching all of these imbeciles gnaw at eachother while everyone else’s quality of life just dies around them. Lovely.

    • Jyek@sh.itjust.works
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      3 days ago

      Nah, last time, Trump had entirely fired and hired a new staff by the end of the first year. Elon is too attention hungry and Trump won’t like the spotlight taken off of him constantly. I’m fairly confident Elon will be one of the fastest staff members to be relieved of duty.

  • samus12345@lemmy.world
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    4 days ago

    The only good part of the Trump regime will be watching them infight as we all go up in flames.

  • Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works
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    Republicans: “Billionaires are just better than everyone else and we should all get out of their way and hand them the keys to everything for the betterment of all mankind.”

    Republicans After Being Forced to Spend One (1) Week Around Elon Musk: “No, shit, wait, these guys are fucking idiots!”

  • Queen HawlSera@lemm.ee
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    3 days ago

    I really hope they throw him under the bus, and then later they can fire him and blame him for anything that goes wrong.

  • Etterra@lemmy.world
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    4 days ago

    Oh man I can’t wait for this knot of over-torqued springs to explode apart into pieces. Too bad the shrapnel will probably kill us all.

    • BananaTrifleViolin@lemmy.world
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      4 days ago

      Yeah, one part of the prediction and fears raised about the republicans is it gives them far too much credit to actually run a government.

      They have held the house and the Senate before and then been crippled by infighting as with slim majoroties it only takes a few people to hold everyone hostage.

      Some of Trumps nominations may not get through the Republican controlled Congress.

      People seem to forget the republicans controlled all 3 parts of government in 2016 and didn’t get far. Yes they managed some significant things but tax cuts and supreme Court nominations are the main successes.

      This time Trump is making batshit crazy nominations which are likely to divide their own party in Congress.

      Gaetz nomination is particularly bad as he’s hated by a lot of Republican law makers. There are likely enough republicans who actually care about the legal system that his nomination will not get through. If it does get through then it’ll be a sign of how bad things can be. But it’s likely it will not get through and just sow seeds of discord between Trump and some of the republicans in Congress, poisoning more attempts to change things.

      I predict one hell of a shit show over the next 2 years, but probably not from what they do - instead from what they fail to do and the recriminations that follow. All those Republican law makers telling themselves that Trump is diminished, less of a threat, and that they can control him are in for a hell of a ride.

      • solstice@lemmy.world
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        4 days ago

        That’s basically my only hope. Incompetence, bickering, infighting, and just generally falling apart from within their own hate machine as these kinds of ideologies tend to do.

      • WxFisch@lemmy.world
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        4 days ago

        Add in the congress critters from both houses need to run their own campaigns at some point, in many cases they can’t afford to just kiss the ring. This is especially true in the house where seats are up for grabs “soon” and the voter base is relatively small. If you’re a Representative and won your seat on a small margin, you clearly don’t have a mandate and need to act more moderate. Some senate seats are in the same boat (McCormick in PA, assuming the recount still favors him, is in this boat; he’s run three times now and barely beat out Casey this time, it’s a fair bet he doesn’t have solid footing for his first term and can only toe the party line so far). The only thing we should all bet on is at the end of the day everyone in politics is going to lookout for themselves first. It’s going to be a shitshow for at least the next two years, probably the full four and maybe beyond.