In recent days, many have remarked that there won’t be the same kind of audience for Donald Trump’s palace intrigue this time around. I’m not so sure – it seems more terrifying to think that Trump might staff the White House with low-drama professionals who get sh-t done, as opposed to staffing himself with an assortment of narcissists, clowns, incompetents, sycophants and Kellyanne Conway. Interestingly enough, Elon Musk has been camped out at Mar-a-Lago for the past week. He hasn’t left. Elon is in every meeting, Trump is putting him on calls with world leaders, and Musk is making staffing decisions too. Gross.
After all that election night excitement, it seems Elon Musk just doesn’t want to go home. Multiple sources have told CNN that amid the post-victory buzz around Mar-a-Lago, the Tesla CEO has been at Donald Trump’s Florida resort almost every single day over the past week, with Instagram posts under the location tag showing him dining with the president-elect and his wife on Sunday, as well as spending time on the grounds with his son over the weekend.
“Dining with him on the patio at times, today they were seen on the golf course together,” network anchor Katilan Collins said in a broadcast on Sunday. “Musk has been in the room when world leaders have called, and tonight we have learned he’s also weighing in on staffing decisions, making clear his preference for certain roles even. While Musk himself is still not expected to take any kind of formal position inside Trump’s administration, given how complicated it would be with his companies, what’s becoming clearer tonight is that he doesn’t really need to,” Collins added. “One source told me, Elon Musk is having just as much influence from the outside.”
Other commentators have noted that Musk’s persistent presence at the resort over the past few days appears to be unnerving some members of Trump’s transition team, who have reportedly already come to view the tech tycoon as something of the “guest who wouldn’t leave” after the party.
“He definitely inserts himself all the time, that’s his style,” tech journalist Kara Swisher told CNN on Monday morning. “I’ve heard from Trump people, calling me saying, ‘Oh, wow. This is odd’. And it is.”
Swisher goes further to speculate that Trump and Musk’s bromance likely won’t survive the pressure of two planetary-sized egos vying for space in the halls of power.
“They’re both narcissists, and there can be only one narcissist as head of the country, and that’s Donald Trump,” Swisher said. “Trump goes through people like tissues, essentially. And even if it’s Musk, they’re going to clash at some point.”
Pre-election, I remember someone saying that Musk and Peter Thiel were vying to see which of the Apartheid-loving fascists would become Trump’s favorite. What’s even crazier is that I agree with Kara Swisher – Trump will get tired of Elon’s BS really quickly. Elon will become the least favored Large Adult Son. Notice who they’re not talking about – where is the other surrogate Large Adult Son, JD Vance?
Meanwhile, Trump has made some staffing decisions. He will appoint Susie Wiles as his chief of staff, which would make her the first woman in history to take that role in the White House. Wiles is a longtime Republican strategist and she looks like the biggest Karen in history. Terrifying. Reportedly, Trump will tap Joseph Goebbels-wannabe Stephen Miller as his deputy chief of staff and chief policy advisor. Trump will also appoint Thomas Homan as his “border czar.” Last month, 60 Minutes interviewed Homan and he is a stone-cold psychopath who wants to deport every person with a Spanish-sounding surname.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.