Elon Musk is not America’s
new king.
But he might
be its new Thomas Cromwell
Elon Musk is not America’s new king. But he might be its new Thomas Cromwell
John Naughton
The billionaire was indispensable to Trump’s campaign and now has a senior
job. He is about to become dangerously useful
Sat 16 Nov 2024 16.00 GMT
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P icture, if you will, the scene in Mar-a-Lago on election night at the moment
when it’s become clear that Trump has won . The atmosphere is hysterical.
Trump is in expansive form. He stands surrounded by his ghastly tribe of
dependants, plus AN Other. In his victory speech, the president-elect praises
his campaign staff, his prospective vice-president, and his family. Each gets
a few seconds of adulation.
But AN Other gets a whole four minutes. He is Elon Musk , the richest manchild
in history. Trump calls him a “super genius”, a “special guy” and a “star”. He
has flown straight from Texas in his Gulfstream to bask in the adulation of
his new lord and master. He has also paid several hundred million dollars,
plus a month of his time, to be here. But now his time has come.
Hold that thought. We will return to it later.
Now imagine what Musk’s peers in Silicon Valley were thinking, as they sat
chewing their pencils composing slavish messages of congratulation to The
Donald. And believe me, they were toe-curlingly obsequious . All around the
valley, though, the prevailing sound was of teeth being gnashed. After all,
most of these tech titans had spent months wondering how to curry favour with
Trump in case he actually won. And there was Musk, who had done an end-run
around them and inserted himself into the heart of the new administration. It
must have been maddening.
Spool forward a few days and we find that it gets worse: Trump has chosen Musk
and a wannabe titan, Vivek Ramaswamy, to lead a “department of government
efficiency” (or “Doge”, after Musk’s favourite cryptocurrency• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Платежные системы интернета » Криптовалюта, Dogecoin• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Платежные системы интернета » Криптовалюта » Dogecoin),
thereby putting the two dudes in charge of a concerted effort to slash rules,
bureaucracy and spending throughout the federal government. “Together, these
two wonderful Americans,” declared their new boss, “will pave the way for my
administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations,
cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies.”
Presumably he was impressed by Musk’s claim that he could cut at least $2
trillion from the government’s $6.8tn budget, and by Ramaswamy’s promise, made
during his failed campaign for the Republican nomination, to eliminate the
FBI, the Department of Education and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Although this new outfit is called a “department ”, it won’t actually be a
government agency. If it were, Musk would have innumerable conflicts of
interest that would cause legal difficulties if he started slashing the
regulators with which he is currently in conflict. These include the Federal
Aviation Authority, the National Labor Relations Board, the Securities and
Exchange Commission, the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal
Trade Commission. Also, last year his various companies had $3bn worth of
government contracts from 17 federal agencies. But if he’s “outside” the
system, he’ll be freer to slash and burn as he likes. skip past newsletter
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