The world is watching with bated breath the fierce showdown between the richest man on earth Elon Musk and the most powerful politician in the globe US President Donald Trump. The fallout could be cataclysmic for the global political-economic system as also for industrial-business productions and space explorations. The vicious feud also underlines the fact that letting excessive political and economic powers be concentrated in the hands of one or two individuals may prove an unmitigated disaster for the entire world. If the individuals are erratic, egoistic, narcissistic and power-loving, the consequences could be bad. After a year of patting each other on the backs and effusive praise & expressions of love for each other, Musk and Trump broke away in an explosive and dramatic fashion. The public split has degenerated to such a level that Musk has started talking about Trump’s association with notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and indicating offense by association. Trump responded to the jab by saying Musk had “lost his mind.” The bitter exchanges during the past few days escalated, leading to Musk’s announcement after a virtual opinion poll on his X handle followed by about 220 million people that he proposes to launch a new party. This creates the impression that once Musk has tasted political power in an attempt to expand his business empire more effectively, he is tempted to wield the power himself. This could spell potential danger of unimaginable consequences since historically the world has so far seen business tycoons influencing economic policies of a country by using politicians from behind, hidden from the public eye. But since the advent of Trump and Musk, the lines of control for political and economic powers have gotten blurred and merged. The devastating effects are already being felt.
As Musk and Trump heaped insults on each other on their respective social networking platforms, they also issued threats fraught with dangerous consequences. Trump suggested that he could cancel all of Musk’s government contracts and subsidies – “the best way to save money,” as he posted. Such a move would have devastating consequences not only on the tech billionaire’s companies but also on the federal agencies that have come to depend on them. Musk immediately responded by announcing that he would start decommissioning the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on which NASA relies for transport missions. The scientific community heaved a sigh of relief when he later reversed the decision. The collaboration between Musk and Trump has also triggered concerns about corruption and calls for investigations into the Tesla CEO’s use of his position in government to benefit his companies. The breakup has highlighted another risk of Musk’s close ties with the government, where the services that he provides can now be a casualty in interpersonal disputes. The fate of tens of billions of dollars hangs in balance due to this fight. “In light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately,” Musk posted without any warning.
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However, when an anonymous user of his social media network suggested to him to “cool off and take a step back for a couple of days”, he responded in less than 24 hours with the words: “Good advice. Ok, we won’t decommission Dragon.” It all looks like a soap opera with too many dramatic elements, but sadly what has happened is real – a stark reality of two super-bloated egos clashing with each other leaving the world economy, politics and technology in grave danger. The present situation was foreshadowed by a development in 2023 when Musk refused to let Ukraine use Starlink in Crimea to launch a surprise attack against Russian forces. It demonstrated for the fi time Musk’s control over global infrastructure. A fallout of this episode is that European governments recently rushed to find alternatives to Starlink amid fears over Musk’s unpredictability. The irony of the Trump-Musk partnership is that while Musk kept provoking foreign governments and acting as an unaccountable global power broker, the US continued to hand him contracts and increase its dependence on his companies. Space operations in particular have become practically synonymous with Musk. There are also talks that Trump and Musk may patch up sooner than later. An ardent believer of such an eventuality is Musk’s father Errol Musk who has said people were sometimes unable to think as clearly as they should in the heat of the moment. He even referred to the “five months of intense stress” Musk and Trump had been under. He predicted the bitterness between the two “will end on a good note – very soon.” Whatever happens, the world has already seen enough of the incalculable harm that the overlapping of economic might and political power wielded by a few individuals can wreak.
