- The spat between President Trump and Elon Musk begs for less drama and more boredom in American politics.
On Thursday, simmering tensions between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk erupted into a war of words on social media platforms owned by each of the billionaires.
You know that redneck cousin of yours that posts every sordid detail of her life online? Her husband’s cheating. Her cousin got arrested for fighting dogs. Her son is addicted to meth.
Well, like that, but between the leader of the free world and its richest man after a whirlwind bromance.
First, a peculiar story about Musk’s drug use while DOGE-ing found its way into the New York Times a few days ago. Ketamine, anyone?
Then, subtle jabs by Musk at the President’s signature legislation — The One Big Beautiful Bill — escalating to calling it an “abomination” and actively working to kill it.
The brewing rancor came to a boil yesterday, in a tit-for-tat that saw Trump suggests Congress cancel contracts between Musk’s companies and the U.S. government, and Musk drop Epstein Island bombs.
Anyone who’s watched either man for any length of time knew this day would come. Both have egos. Neither is particularly well known for impulse control. Proportionate response isn’t really a part of their lexicon, either. Still the exercise was striking.
For the chronically online, the back and forth offered a series of dopamine hits and a chance to “get the popcorn.” But for the few among us who still believe the “how” is as important as the “what,” Thursday was a reminder of how unserious we’ve become.
One can only wonder what Putin or Xi thought in the moment.
Serious Reforms in First Term
For all of the media bellyaching during President Trump’s first term, he advanced serious conservative reform.
2017’s Tax Cut & Jobs Act, while not perfect, had the clear goal of simplifying America’s horribly complex tax code, eliminating special interest carve outs, and lowering the tax burden on workers, up and down the income ladder.
Despite naysayers, the law achieved its purpose, leading to one of the lowest unemployment numbers on record pre-COVID, with revenue that exceeded estimates.
Trump’s administrative efforts to peel back bureaucracy, such as requiring the elimination of two regulations for every new one added, was effective in at least slowing the dramatic over regulation that plagues our economy.
And his remaking of the courts, along with pals Senator Mitch McConnell and the Federalist Society, yielded generational wins for constitutional originalists.
In a very short period, we saw Roe v. Wade overturned, religious freedom regain its prominence and protection under the First Amendment, the end of judicial deference to administrative bureaucracies (Chevron deference), and defense of historical Second Amendment rights.
The Supreme Court even upheld presidential immunity in a way that effectively ended “lawfare” against the President.
A New, Slightly More Chaotic Agenda
If the first term looked a bit like Reagan conservatism come to fruition, the second term feels more like an effort to redefine what it means to be conservative — and at times like someone got into Elon’s alleged Adderall supply.
The White House clearly wants to shift America’s foreign policy away from intervention and end America’s commitment to free trade in favor of early 20th Century protectionism.
The former is worth a meaningful discussion — the U.S. arguably sticks its nose into too many other people’s business at great cost to American taxpayers. Still, regularly blaming Ukraine for the offense of being invaded feels a lot like blaming the victim of spousal abuse.
The latter is dangerous to the American economy. But even if you agree with the goals set for the tariffs, the execution has been erratic. A series of fits and starts, threats and rollbacks, with almost nothing resembling a deal or end in sight.
Japanese media yesterday reported that a deal could not be struck with U.S. trade representatives Scott Bessent, Howard Lutnick, and Jamieson Greer because the trio spent time arguing among themselves over what the U.S. position on trade was — in front of the Japanese delegation. If true, that speaks to a level of disjointedness that is hard to fathom.
The effort to cut government spending through DOGE was a good idea, long overdue, but the parameters made success impossible. There is no way to address the unsustainable growth of the national debt without reforming the entitlement programs that have been taken off the table by Trump and Senators like Josh Hawley.
This leads us to the One Big Beautiful Bill. Congress absolutely should extend the Tax Cut & Jobs Act. Without it, Americans will face the largest tax hike in modern history. Congress should also rollback the “Green New Deal” spending that was jammed in President Biden’s Orwellian “Inflation Reduction Act.”
But Musk is not wrong that the bill, as written, will increase the national debt. Nor is he wrong about all of the other junk shoved into it that make it a turd sandwich. The question simply is how much turd are we willing to eat to get the good stuff? The answer may be “quite a lot,” but it didn’t have to be that way.
How We Get There Matters
In this writer’s view, Trump has done some good things in the past. He has some good goals now, and a few wacky ones, too. Where the S.S. Trump will float or sink over the next few years is on execution.
Poor execution of good ideas — like DOGE — can forever sully the good idea.
To do big things you have to invite big confidence. People need to know there’s a steady hand on the rudder, with a set destination, and not just someone chasing the wind on social media.
Certainty, maturity, and stability matter. To make America great again, we need to make America a little boring again.
