Trump vs. Musk, the Emperor and the Oligarch
Published in Le Journal de Montreal
(Canada) on 6 June 2025
by Mathieu Bock-Côté (link to
original)
Donald Trump and Elon Musk have just declared nuclear war on each other. Many expected this improbable political couple to implode, but few predicted it would happen so quickly.
The reason for the breakup: the budget.
Musk, a libertarian, was hoping for a budget that slashed government expenses. He set himself to the task with his Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, with results that failed to meet his expectations.
War
It was inevitable. An administrative state put into place, layer by layer, over nearly a century cannot be dismantled in three months.
Trump, for his part, never claimed to be a libertarian, even if he has allied himself with this trend. Trump is, rather, to apply an exact category, a national populist, less hostile to the state than resolved to use political power for his own national project.
This clash of attitudes corresponds with a real rift in the American right. Whatever the case, these two were bound to butt heads.
A general rule can even be derived from this.
Regardless of the era, emperors never like oligarchs who aspire to oversee them; oligarchs do not tolerate those who do not meet their demands. They wind up killing one another.
Returning to the violence of the current clash, where Musk accused Trump of being no stranger to the infamous Jeffrey Epstein list, it is difficult to see, when such allegations are flung, how any reconciliation could be possible.
Decline
This is no longer just a political confrontation, but an urge for political and symbolic execution, associating Trump with the worst of abominations.
The empire of modern times is cracking at the top.
How can this not be seen as one more sign of American decline and, maybe, just maybe, the sign of an abortion after just over 100 days into the Trumpian revolution?
The reason for the breakup: the budget.
Musk, a libertarian, was hoping for a budget that slashed government expenses. He set himself to the task with his Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, with results that failed to meet his expectations.
War
It was inevitable. An administrative state put into place, layer by layer, over nearly a century cannot be dismantled in three months.
Trump, for his part, never claimed to be a libertarian, even if he has allied himself with this trend. Trump is, rather, to apply an exact category, a national populist, less hostile to the state than resolved to use political power for his own national project.
This clash of attitudes corresponds with a real rift in the American right. Whatever the case, these two were bound to butt heads.
A general rule can even be derived from this.
Regardless of the era, emperors never like oligarchs who aspire to oversee them; oligarchs do not tolerate those who do not meet their demands. They wind up killing one another.
Returning to the violence of the current clash, where Musk accused Trump of being no stranger to the infamous Jeffrey Epstein list, it is difficult to see, when such allegations are flung, how any reconciliation could be possible.
Decline
This is no longer just a political confrontation, but an urge for political and symbolic execution, associating Trump with the worst of abominations.
The empire of modern times is cracking at the top.
How can this not be seen as one more sign of American decline and, maybe, just maybe, the sign of an abortion after just over 100 days into the Trumpian revolution?
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