From Critic to Cheerleader: Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s Tumultuous Relationship Fueled by Power and Politics.

From Critic to Cheerleader: Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s Tumultuous Relationship Fueled by Power and Politics.

(ThyBlackMan.com) “He is not the right guy. He doesn’t seem to have the sort of character that reflects well on the United States.” The “right guy” that mega billionaire Elon Musk referred to during the 2016 presidential campaign was then GOP presidential candidate Trump. Musk did not elaborate on what he meant by not having the right character to sit in the Oval Office. But his jaundiced view of Trump was more than enough for him to publicly back Trump’s rival, Democratic presidential contender, Hillary Clinton.

Once Trump was in office, Musk’s skewer of him didn’t stop him from agreeing to sit on two Trump created business councils. That didn’t last. In June 2017, Musk tweeted, “Am departing presidential councils. Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world.” The last straw for him was Trump pulling the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Control agreement. That wasn’t much of a surprise since Musk made his billions as one of the world’s greatest mouthpieces for a green environment through sales of his Tesla’s EVs.

Two years later, Musk was seemingly back in the Democrat’s fold. He backed the short-lived presidential campaign of Andrew Yang. Trump though was in a forgiving mood. In January 2019 he showered Musk with praise at an international financial conference, “You know, we have to protect Thomas Edison, and we have to protect all of these people that came up with originally the lightbulb and the wheel and all of these things. And he’s one of our very smart people, and we want to cherish those people.”

The “he” was Musk. Trump clearly intended to send a peace keeping signal to Musk that he didn’t hold any ill feelings toward him. He showed it through more than just glowing praise. He publicly backed Musk in his fight to keep his Tesla plant running during the COVID pandemic. He scurried to Kennedy Space Center in Florida to watch the Musk manufactured Space X rocket launch two NASA astronauts.

The real turning point in the Trump-Musk cozy up was Musk’s buy of Twitter. Trump cheered the move as a blow for “liberty and justice and fairness in our country.” Musk sent his own peace overture to Trump after the buy. “I have voted overwhelmingly for Democrats historically. Like, I’m not sure I might never have voted for a Republican, just to be clear. Now, this election, I will.” Musk didn’t say which election. But it was obvious he was talking about the upcoming 2024 presidential election. And there could be only one Republican presidential contender that he intended to vote for.

Yet, the warming of relations didn’t totally end the back-and-forth rancor between the two. In July 2022, Trump hammered Musk’s business accomplishments. He ended with the standard Trump attack boast that as President he could have made Musk “drop to [his] knees and beg.”

Two years later it was a far different story. If anyone was dropping to their knees to beg it wouldn’t be Musk but Trump. Musk had the cash, and Trump needed all that he could get to oil his 2024 presidential bid. Why else invite Musk and a handful of other wealthy potential donors to Mar-a-Lago in March 2024?

There was now a good chance Musk might shell out hefty cash to Trump’s campaign. He had openly blasted Biden for the inflation leap, was peeved at him for not being among the EV auto sellers invited to a White House meeting with Biden and took a personal shot at him calling him strictly a teleprompter reader.

By then things had come full circle for Musk and Trump in there on again off again wary relationship. In August 2024, Trump was officially back on Twitter with a blitz of messages trumpeting his usual make America great theme. The next step for Musk was to follow up on his hint that he’d vote for a Republican in the 2024 presidential election. His first choice, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was long gone from the race. So that left Trump.

He quickly signaled his shift to MAGA. At a Trump campaign rally in Butler Pennsylvania in October 2024, an effusive Mush wearing a MAGA cap jumped around on the stage in full cheerleader mode. He shouted to the crowd that Trump was the one “to preserve democracy in America.” But the real issue in the Trump-Musk love fest was money, lots of it.

That was then. The moment that Trump didn’t need Musk’s money it was only a matter of time before he didn’t need Musk. The only thing missing was an excuse to kick him to the curb. Musk gave him that when he openly assailed Trump’s budget bill. But if it hadn’t been that it would have been something else. That’s always the case when you pair two strange bedfellows. And Trump and Musk were that from day one.

Written By Earl Ofari Hutchinson

One can find more info about Mr. Hutchinson over at the following site; TheHutchinson Report.

Also feel free to connect with him through twitter; http://twitter.com/earlhutchins

He is also an associate editor of New America Media. His forthcoming book is From King to Obama: Witness to a Turbulent History (Middle Passage Press).