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Author: Simon Shuster, Time; Compiled by: Deng Tong, Bitchain Vision
Who did we just elected?There are two names at the top of the Republican vote: Donald Trump and J.D. Vance. But this crazy part of November left the impression that others have mastered our collective destiny.
We’ve gotten to know all kinds of roles he plays—the people who acquired Twitter and fired more than half of their staff, the inventor who brought the space program back to life, his new truck that lets kids snatch on the sidewalks of car-makingbusiness.Suddenly, Elon Musk entered the political arena, presided over the rally, guided the government’s appointments, and formulated the agenda of the next U.S. president.
For more than three years, he has been one of the richest and most powerful people in the world.The market soared and fell due to his tweets.The astronaut flew in his spacecraft.The army used the signals sent by his satellites to advance.Conspiracy theories became mainstream through his embrace.But only in the spotlight of these elections can his influence be fully revealed.
Since William Randolph Hearst’s era, the newspaper tycoon has provided the impetus for Roosevelt’s rise nearly a century ago, and since then, no ordinary citizen has lived like this in the United States.It is so prominent in many aspects that his politics is now incorporated into the field of power of his will.Standing next to him, even Trump seemed almost full of awe. He was more of a companion than a boss, because the planet and its challenges were not big enough for him.
Photo illustrations provided by Time magazine (Source image: NurPhoto/Getty Images)
Currently, they are like partners, connected by the benefits of their trade and the shared desire to undermine government agencies.They may temporarily issue commands in one voice.But their agenda is not consistent in everything.Both are willful, impulsive, and are used to controlling everything.What happens if they start to have conflicts?
Musk may not have the upper hand in this kind of battle.History is full of wreckage of kings who fight against their appointed leaders.No matter how much wealth or influence Musk has accumulated, the tools of state power will remain in the hands of the president, and things will be messy if he decides to use these tools against the billionaires who helped him return to the White House.
final,The durability of their partnership may depend on Musk’s motivation:What prompted him to become a MAGA Prophet?If what he wants is money, then the task is completed.
His wealth soared over $50 billion in the week after the election, reaching a maximum of more than $320 billion due to investors’ crazy pursuit of Tesla stock.butWealth has never been Musk’s obsession.He bets his wealth on lunar passion projects, such as building a greenhouse on Mars, which is enough to prove that his dream is different from the ordinary Klingons on the Trump Starship.(Bitchain Horizon Note: The Klingons are a warlike alien race in the fictional universe of Star Travel.)
People close to Musk said his ultimate goal has not changed since he founded the Rockets company SpaceX in 2002.(Investors in the company include Marc Benioff and Lynne Benioff, owner of Time magazine.) His favorite t-shirt reads: OccupyMars.“It’s all for this mission,” a member of Musk’s social circle recently spoke to him about his plans.”He just realized that controlling the U.S. government budget directly or indirectly would allow us to land on Mars in his lifetime. It would be slower to do it privately.”
This does not mean that U.S. taxpayers will pay for Musk’s dream of interstellar travel.But when quirky dreamers take over the government, the public does tend to pay the price.Millions of Americans, from retired factory workers to heavily indebted graduates and newborns, benefit from the social plans Musk promised to cut.Although Musk posts multiple tweets to 205 million fans a day, he has refused to answer journalists’ questions since he became the president-elect’s adviser, including this time.He did not explain his contacts with American rivals from China, Russia to Iran.He also did not resolve conflicts of interest arising from a critical role in a government where businesses are under investigation by regulators.
So far, Trump seems happy to cooperate.He spent four minutes praising Musk during his Nov. 6 victory speech, the “super genius” helped him run a ground campaign in Pennsylvania, and reportedly paid canvassers to knock them out11 million doors were employed and a van was hired to take the Amish people to the polling station.“We have a new star,” Trump cheered on the Florida stage.”A star was born – Musk!” The president-elect didn’t return to the teleprompter until about 19 minutes after the speech, and remembered to thank his constituents.
Musk means far more to the Trump campaign than the $120 million he invests, the field projects he builds or the social media drive he provides.Musk is an ideal embodiment for many young people who have poured into Trump.He injects originality and possibilities into familiar nostalgia.If Trump’s promise to destroy corrupt institutions has excited supporters, Musk represents a commitment to create new things and solve difficult problems.Trump didn’t look that old at the rally, and the lord of the brink who played Diablo jumped around him.When Trump’s opponents portray his team as a bunch of fools, the greatest innovator of our era, with a record of achieving quirky plans, promised to cut $2 trillion in spending, which made his opponents becomeMore difficult.
No matter how frequently Democrats remind us that Trump’s wealth comes from inherited wealth, repeated bankruptcies and decades of corporate mischief, they cannot deny Musk’s achievements as a businessman.Even the scourge of the billionaire class Senator Bernie Sanders shys his criticism in a recent podcast: “Elon Musk is a very, very enterprising, capable businessman, what he has achievedIt’s impressive. He said he was right in some ways,” he said.
As people’s confidence in the government falls into a trough, many voters want to see a capable outsider, cold and independent, knowing how to use a huge machine to make it streamlined, faster, and more efficient.Musk’s commitment to the U.S. bureaucracy has created momentum and cover for cost cuts, a scale that Washington has never seen in years.During Trump’s first presidency, the agenda has not made much progress.Millions of people rely on government work, as well as the protections provided by regulators to prevent predatory businesses, such as those that have us abuse opioids and cigarettes to treat asthma.But small-government Republicans will be eager to follow in Musk’s footsteps and get caught up in an ugly budget war about federal waste and bloated welfare.Many Americans will support them.
During the campaign, Musk’s most persuasive argument was not on Joe Rogan’s show, nor on the stage of Trump’s rally.It was on the launch pad in Bocachika, Texas, where Musk’s aerospace company captured the return rocket with a pair of robotic arms, marveling the world.If the people who do so enthusiastically support Trump, can’t Trump accomplish some of the things he promised?
Many voters seem to think so, especially the young men Musk is aiming for by bluff.”The most important factor here is that men need to vote,” Musk told Logan on the eve of the election.The next day, when 60% of whites voted for Trump, Musk tweeted: “The cavalry has arrived.” But his appeal is far beyond manosphere(Bitlink Vision Note: manosphere can be understood as a blog and website oriented towards men’s rights).It also touched a large number of voters who were bored by Trump’s character but excited about his policies.Television experts say these people need a “licensing structure”; Musk offers that to suburban women like Betsy Stecz.When she lined up for his October rally in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, she said: Well, I can look up and say: I’m not ashamed to vote for Donald Trump.”In her opinion, the reason is Musk.
Given his role in this victory, Musk may expect some reward.But his position during Trump’s transition has reportedly disturbed some entourage.Musk spent much of November camping at Mar-Lago, weighing cabinet candidates and advising Trump on policy priorities.He played golf with the president-elect, sat on the sidelines with him in an ultimate fighting championship game, and took photos with the Trump family; a grandson praised Musk for having obtained “uncle status” on social media.Musk coined a different term for his position: “first partner.”
On November 16, 2024, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Donald Trump Jr. (right) watched the UFC 309 game at Madison Square Garden in New York.Kena Betancur-AFP /Getty Images
Even such a statement is an understatement.Türkiye and Ukrainian leaders asked Musk to listen to their calls with Trump.An Iranian envoy accused of trying to assassinate Trump reportedly met with Musk to discuss easing tensions.(Iran’s Foreign Ministry denied the meeting.) Musk followed him as House Republicans invited Trump to attend a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill, with him sticking on the window in Trump’s convoy with “GUEST 1” tag.
At that time, Trump appointed him to lead a nameMinistry of Government Efficiencynew entity.Its abbreviation DOGE is a tribute to Musk’s dog-themed cryptocurrency promoted in a form of joke.But its mission is serious.Trump claims to “disband” the federal bureaucracy and “reorganize” its institutions.“This will send shock waves to the entire system,”Musk said.
It could also have an impact on many institutions that regulate his work.A few weeks before Election Day, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that it was investigating Tesla’s self-driving cars in the wake of a crash.In June, California regulators ordered Tesla to “correct ongoing air quality violations at its Fremont plant.”Tesla said its cars are safe and its facilities meet environmental standards.SpaceX also clashed with the Federal Aviation Administration, where Musk threatened to sue the Federal Aviation Administration in September.A New York Times review found that his company faces regulatory struggles and investigations from at least 20 corners of the government.Musk and several representatives declined to comment or respond to questions raised by Time magazine about this article, including potential conflicts of interest.
He has not explained what principles will guide him to cleanse the bureaucracy.DOGE co-director Vivek Ramaswamy ran on a pro-business, liberal stance in the last Republican primary.In contrast, Musk’s political tendencies are harder to determine.This summer, he called himself a “historical moderate Democrat.”He called climate change a decisive challenge for our time.Musk lined up for six hours to shake his hand when Barack Obama ran for president in 2008.
His relationship with Trump is often unstable.They have very different views on tariffs.Musk resigned for protesting Trump’s climate policy less than six months after serving as a White House adviser in 2017.Five years later, Musk said it was time for Trump to “go into the sunset”, which triggered a strong response.“Musk should focus on getting himself out of Twitter’s chaos because he could owe $44 billion for something that might be worthless,” Trump said.
Trump makes sense.Musk’s acquisition of Twitter has no obvious commercial significance.By 2022, he paid at least twice the company’s value and then spent weeks destroying the company’s revenue stream and cashing out with its talent.Under his leadership, the company’s employees have dropped from 8,000 to around 1,500.Some of his posts on the platform (which he renamed “X”) are considered intermittent in corporate self-harm.Some people call anti-Semitism theory “true truth.”(He apologized later.) Another shared a conspiracy theory about the hammer attack that left House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband hospitalized for a fractured skull.In response, dozens of companies, including Microsoft and Coca-Cola, pulled ads from the platform.“Don’t advertise,” he told them on the stage of a conference last fall.”If someone wants to blackmail me with advertisements and blackmail me with money, then you can get out of here.”Investment firm Fidelity assessed in October that X has lost nearly 80% of its value in the past two years.
Clockwise from the upper left corner: Mark Seliger shoots for Time magazine, Mark Mahaney shoots for Time magazine, Nigel Buchanan illustrated for Time magazine, Tim O’Brien illustrated for Time magazine, and Tim O’Brien illustrated for Time magazine
Musk doesn’t seem to care.Even without most of the employees, the platform continues to operate, often ranking first among the most downloaded news apps in the Apple App Store.The main advertisers are back.For some observers, all of this is enough to cheer for Musk’s acquisition, calling him a masterpiece of corporate efficiency.“What Elon did to Twitter is that he went into Twitter, cleaned the room, and now it runs better than before,” said a member of Musk’s social circle. “So people’s sentiment is, hope Musk can andThe U.S. government does the same thing.”
This is a difficult task.Even the fiscal hawks are hesitant about Musk’s commitment to cancel $2 trillion federal spending.This requires cutting Medicare, Social Security and other parts of the social safety net.Musk warned the whole country that as these cuts take effect, we should prepare for a period of “temporary difficulties.”But it is unclear whether he has the ability to make them.DOGE will remain outside the government and will not have the authority to fire federal employees.Many budget experts predict that it will, like countless blue ribbon groups, try to put pressure on politicians to cut down on voters’ favorite plans, but fail.Congress doesn’t need help when identifying waste, fraud, and abuse: it already has a supervisory unit called the Office of Government Accountability, and it is working to do the work.
Many early fans of DOGE said they recognize the limitations of its potential but still celebrate it.”Yes, the government efficiency department may be a daydream and may end up being as essential as the silly department of the Monty Python Theatre.”But even if Musk’s DOGE just cuts some bloat and saves hundreds of billions of dollars, it’s worth it.”
During the campaign, Musk talked about the necessity of the United States many times.Live “honestly” and “living within one’s means”.But if his social media platform has any guidance, his goals may not be about efficiency but about ideology.His claimed goal of acquiring Twitter is in line with one of his favorite reasons for supporting Trump: He said he wanted to save American freedom of speech.“Free speech is the cornerstone of democracy,”He told Joe Rogan on the eve of the election.“Once you lose your freedom of speech, you lose your democracy. The game is over. That’s why I bought Twitter.”Several reports and studies concluded that under his management, the platform has become a safe haven for hateful and harmful content, in part because he fired his content review team.
When asked to explain his right, Musk often referred to the “work mind virus”, a term he had on the left-leaning of American society, which, in his opinion, triggered identity politics, cancel culture and allegedly rampantNetwork censorship system.His resentment towards these forces is not just political.During the pandemic, one of his children sought gender-affirming medical services, and Musk said he was cheated before he approved it.His trans daughter, 20, is estranged from her father, and she legally changed her name to Vivian Jenna Wilson in 2022.In the July podcast, Musk said his child was “dead and killed by the awakening virus. I swear to eliminate the work mind virus from now on.”
Wilson posted her response the next day: “As a dead bitch, I look pretty good.” On November 5, as the election results gradually became clear, Wilson posted another message: “It’s all the blame for this.”damn politicians and oligarchs,” she wrote.”Relax your anger to them.”
In ancient Greek, the word oligarchy means “rule of a few”.Its earliest critic was Aristotle.In the 4th century B.C., the philosopher described it as a situation where “property holds the government.”In medieval Venice, the leader of the oligarchy practiced lifelong rule, and his title was the same as the title Musk gave him: the Governor.
Elon Musk speaks at a rally for former U.S. president and presidential candidate Donald Trump.Sasha Lycra – Rolling Stone/Getty Images
The purest manifestation of this system in modern times was in Russia in the 1990s, when a few businessmen acquired control of the national economy during the chaotic transition to capitalism.The Russian term for oligarchy is semibankirshchina—the rule of seven bankers.
The most powerful of them is Boris Berezovsky, who used his media assets to help Putin win the first election in 2000, hoping that the new president would share the trophy of power.Instead, the two began to argue.The Russian government quickly forced Berezovsky to go into exile and confiscated his television network.The oligarch, bankrupt and lonely, died in 2013 in his mansion in rural England.Authorities determined that he committed suicide.To this day, his former media channels still convey the Kremlin’s message.
Alex Goldfarb, one of Berezovsky’s close companions, now lives in New Jersey, follows Musk and Trump’s footsteps with familiarity and fear.“It seems that oligarchy is forming here, too,” he said.“In the early years under Putin’s leadership, the oligarchs tried their best to fight the country,” Goldfarb said.”Here, we seem to have two oligarchs, Musk and Trump, who are working together to take over the country.”
The outcome may depend on how this new duopoly treats the institutions they are about to control.If the goal is to hone them into leaner and more effective governance tools, the public can benefit from reshaping a system that has long been dragged down by bureaucratic weakness.But Trump also uses these tools like Putin did in Russia—to benefit his friends and exclude enemies.
Musk can benefit greatly from this arrangement.As long as he insists on playing the role of “first partner”, he may expect to easily get rid of the influence of Trump’s appointments throughout the administration.Therefore, his clearest path to Mars can be directly through the Oval Office.But what other benefits can an average American get besides watching his wonder of success?
Institutions that provide us with health care, keep water clean and educate our children should not operate like businesses.They are not built for profit, but that doesn’t reduce their value, especially for citizens who are least able to pay for it.If these institutions are phased out in Musk’s process of promoting efficiency, then the difficulties will not be temporary for those who rely on government support.For them, this pain could be devastating, and Musk’s commitment to the interstellar future will not help them solve their problems today.
