# If/when Trump and Musk fall out, what will it be over? The results? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump, elon-musk\ **Created:** [February 15, 2025, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-when-trump-and-musk-fall-out-what-will-it-be-over-the-results/1014346 "2025-02-15T09:08:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-when-trump-and-musk-fall-out-what-will-it-be-over-the-results/1014346/361 "2025-06-06T22:43:12Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Although now that Musk is out of the government, will he still have access to that information? Are you willing to bet that, in leaving the government, he willingly gave up any illegal back-door access that was placed there? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-when-trump-and-musk-fall-out-what-will-it-be-over-the-results/1014346/362 "2025-06-06T22:43:39Z")
That’s possible though massively illegal. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-when-trump-and-musk-fall-out-what-will-it-be-over-the-results/1014346/363 "2025-06-06T22:43:52Z")
And so? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-when-trump-and-musk-fall-out-what-will-it-be-over-the-results/1014346/364 "2025-06-06T22:46:01Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Elon isn’t saying anything Donald would find unforgiveable. This is what makes me think that the big feud is theater and the two lovebros might reconcile to even more public hoopla and headlines. IME when you break up with someone in a permanently acrimonious way, you say a few things that are truly beyond the pale and unforgivable. IOW you burn your bridges. But if this is a Hollywood-style breakup for the cameras, can a makeup be far behind? Please tell me this is wrong and that the rift is permanent… And that Elon is going to go live in Russia and be Putin’s new boytoy. Please. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-when-trump-and-musk-fall-out-what-will-it-be-over-the-results/1014346/365 "2025-06-06T22:46:42Z")
Well, in the before times, one could be prosecuted for that sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-when-trump-and-musk-fall-out-what-will-it-be-over-the-results/1014346/366 "2025-06-06T22:56:00Z")
If all this is theater, then who do you think created the plan and convinced them to go along? With what goal in mind compelling enough for them to agree? Unless you’re gonna tell me that they conceived and executed all of this themselves. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-when-trump-and-musk-fall-out-what-will-it-be-over-the-results/1014346/367 "2025-06-06T23:06:19Z")
Okay…that’s good. Feeling better now. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-when-trump-and-musk-fall-out-what-will-it-be-over-the-results/1014346/368 "2025-06-06T23:07:00Z")
The New York Times says that Trump’s decision not to appoint Musk’s associate as NASA head sparked the breakup. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2025, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-when-trump-and-musk-fall-out-what-will-it-be-over-the-results/1014346/369 "2025-06-06T23:37:26Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Without me, Trump would have lost the election Is this a confession that he bought votes or is he just trying to argue that it was his charisma? ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2025, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-when-trump-and-musk-fall-out-what-will-it-be-over-the-results/1014346/370 "2025-06-07T00:12:40Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > That’s possible though massively illegal. And I think that’s how Trump will ultimately get Musk. Musk may be the richest person in the world, but that’s peanuts compared to the US government. Trump is going to turn the DOJ loose on Musk, and take everything he has. _Pour Encourager les autres_. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2025, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-when-trump-and-musk-fall-out-what-will-it-be-over-the-results/1014346/371 "2025-06-07T03:16:02Z")
> **[If Elon Musk and Donald Trump Make Up, Don’t Be Surprised](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/06/technology/elon-musk-trump-feud.html?unlocked_article_code=1.NE8.hcjY.mi2yvgLf_I_1&smid=url-share)** > > For all the insults that Mr. Musk and Mr. Trump traded on Thursday, don’t be surprised if they make up again days from now. In the meantime, they both benefit. Gift link > … > Mr. Musk and Mr. Trump did not have a feud five days ago and might not have a feud five days from now. Until proved otherwise, all of this is theater. Think of it as the political version of professional wrestling. For a few hours, everyone was diverted by the spectacle of a brawl between the world’s richest man and its most powerful person. > > … > > It was only a few days ago that Mr. Musk announced he was done in Washington and [returning to his companies](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/02/business/elon-musk-tesla-spacex-x.html). But the demands of show business are relentless. For all the apparent split between him and the president, Thursday showed again just how much like Mr. Trump the entrepreneur has become. They are competing for our attention. > … I have a feeling this is what’s going in. 😠 ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2025, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-when-trump-and-musk-fall-out-what-will-it-be-over-the-results/1014346/372 "2025-06-07T04:19:19Z")
Please, just let me have this one thing. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2025, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-when-trump-and-musk-fall-out-what-will-it-be-over-the-results/1014346/373 "2025-06-07T04:41:41Z")
I still have my questions above. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2025, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-when-trump-and-musk-fall-out-what-will-it-be-over-the-results/1014346/374 "2025-06-07T05:41:31Z")
Any hypothesis that this was all a theatrical distraction in which both parties were conscious deliberate actors is a non-starter. There is zero possibility — _zero point zero zero zero to infinity_ — that Trump willingly participates in a stunt in which he is insulted and denigrated. The media observers who speculate about this stuff have been watching too many political potboilers in which the stories depend on complex multilayered conspiracies pursued by brilliant strategists. The Trump administration is not _House of Cards._ It’s _House of Gormless Shitgoblins._ ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2025, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-when-trump-and-musk-fall-out-what-will-it-be-over-the-results/1014346/375 "2025-06-07T05:47:55Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > This is what makes me think that the big feud is theater and the two lovebros might reconcile to even more public hoopla and headlines. > > IME when you break up with someone in a permanently acrimonious way, you say a few things that are truly beyond the pale and unforgivable. IOW you burn your bridges. But if this is a Hollywood-style breakup for the cameras, can a makeup be far behind? > > Please tell me this is wrong and that the rift is permanent… > > And that Elon is going to go live in Russia and be Putin’s new boytoy. Please. It’s so hard to tell because neither of them act or speak like normal human beings. " A disgusting abomination"? That juvenile, redundant comment might have actually been lifted from my eighth grade journal. Trump’s uncharacteristic restraint smacks of ulterior motives, and in all it seems too stoopid to be real. For that matter, Vlad seems full of shite too. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2025, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-when-trump-and-musk-fall-out-what-will-it-be-over-the-results/1014346/376 "2025-06-07T06:29:37Z")
Yeah, I’m inclined to agree. This really isn’t, and never was, 4D chess. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2025, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-when-trump-and-musk-fall-out-what-will-it-be-over-the-results/1014346/377 "2025-06-07T11:31:26Z")
The BBC’s radio news early this morning reported on EM’s proposed new party (perhaps misled by his ‘80% in the middle’ remark) as ‘centrist’. Ego-centrist, perhaps… ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2025, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-when-trump-and-musk-fall-out-what-will-it-be-over-the-results/1014346/378 "2025-06-07T11:54:11Z")
Musk would just buy El Salvador. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2025, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-when-trump-and-musk-fall-out-what-will-it-be-over-the-results/1014346/379 "2025-06-07T15:10:53Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](#): > > It’s so hard to tell because neither of them act or speak like normal human beings. This. * * * > [@Cervaise](#): > > Any hypothesis that this was all a theatrical distraction in which both parties were conscious deliberate actors is a non-starter. Certainly not four-dimensional chess. More like street-level improv. Like theatrical wrestling, that looks like a fight to the death when it’s intention mixed with improvisation. I want to be wrong. I hope I am wrong. I want Elon to move into Putin’s Love Shack. P.S. I’m sure you can’t possibly apply the words _conscious_ and _deliberate_ to either Trump or Musk. Trusk? Mrump? ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2025, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-when-trump-and-musk-fall-out-what-will-it-be-over-the-results/1014346/380 "2025-06-07T16:04:33Z")
I think this will settle down into a sullen detente. Musk is right about the bill, but said public stuff due to sour grapes on not getting more of his own pork in the sausage. Trump won’t easily forgive the comments about not winning the election by himself, but will try to forget, fail, and be sulky. No one is getting purged. But it is not performative. You know anyone with egos this big? Humour and subtlety are not their strong suits. Both tried to use the other and figured they came out ahead. Both thought the other person would appreciate them more than they actually do. Both recall the Chinese expression that “the friendship of a public official is as thin as paper”. This publicity is mainstream media catnip. Ultimately it benefits neither Trump, Musk or the Republicans and both boxers will be hustled back to their stools in the corner. Unless they wrestle at the Roman Colisseum, which would also be cool, and Zuck could referee. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-when-trump-and-musk-fall-out-what-will-it-be-over-the-results/1014346.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-when-trump-and-musk-fall-out-what-will-it-be-over-the-results/1014346.md?page=20)