Two male betta fish can’t share a tank, for fears of them being extremely territorial and aggressive to the purpose of 1’s demise. The White Home may very well be poised for the same showdown, projected Silicon Valley journalist and creator Kara Swisher. In her estimation, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and newly re-elected President Donald Trump may be headed for a fallout based mostly on their personalities.
“They’re both narcissists and there can be only one narcissist as head of the country and that’s Donald Trump, who just won the election,” Swisher, who claimed to “know Elon very well,” stated to CNN.
“Elon Musk and President Trump are great friends and brilliant leaders working together to Make America Great Again,” Trump-Vance Transition spokesperson Karoline Leavitt advised Fortune in an announcement. “Elon Musk is a once in a generation business leader and our federal bureaucracy will certainly benefit from his ideas and efficiency.” Musk didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
A partnership at a worth
The duo has develop into very buddy-buddy all through Trump’s marketing campaign path. Musk arrange $1 million sweepstakes for individuals who signed a petition by American PAC, although he was later sued by misled voters who came upon the winners had been allegedly not randomly chosen. His tremendous PAC backing Trump spent about $200 million in supporting the candidate, a supply advised the Related Press. Musk alone is claimed to have spent greater than $130 million bolstering Trump.
“Elon is running the ground game for the Republicans,” Billionaire Mark Cuban stated in an announcement to Fortune. After all, Musk has vested curiosity in a friendship with Trump, too. Tesla inventory spiked after the election, although has since cooled off.
Musk’s standing because the richest man on the planet is probably going a plus in Trump’s eyes, stated Swisher. . “Of course, Trump’s attracted to the wealth and the glamor around Elon Musk,” Swisher stated, including, “I guess it’s glamor. I don’t quite know what it is, nerd glamor.”
“A star is born—Elon,” Trump stated of Musk the evening he was elected, based on the AP. Sadly for Musk, some stars burn out quick.
Trump and Musk, maybe not finest pals without end
Barely per week after Trump’s election, it seems as if Musk’s method is already rubbing some staffers the mistaken approach.
“He definitely inserts himself all the time. That’s his style, that’s why he’s just suddenly shown up there like the guest that wouldn’t leave,” Swisher stated of Musk. She advised CNN that she’s heard from Trump folks of Musk’s presence already, saying “Oh wow, this is odd.” Swisher assured them that they’re more likely to see extra the place that got here from.
Swisher famous that she’s “told that whoever the last person in the room is for Trump often has control of him” and that he “goes through people like tissues, essentially.”
Noting that each Trump and Musk are “really strong personalities who like to be the center of attention,” Swisher painted an image of a shot clock on their partnership. Every thing is about affect for Musk, she added, explaining that he’ll doubtless be “exerting as much influence as possible in the first critical days.”
However Musk’s presence isn’t more likely to sit effectively with fellow attention-seeker Trump, she stated. Though Trump “owes things to Elon,” the connection may go south if “he takes too much of the attention,” she famous, pointing to how Steven Bannon was edged out after he was on the duvet of {a magazine}.
It stays to be seen whether or not Trump and Musk can maintain their relationship with out it backfiring. “They’re going to clash at some point,” stated Swisher.
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