Donald Trump and Elon Musk might make peace – but it will never last

By all accounts, Donald Trump and Elon Musk should be lovers for life.

Both command armies of followers who mistake arrogance for authenticity. Both court chaos, despise convention, and have declared war on everything from healthcare to refugees. And both believe, with unwavering certainty, that they alone can fix it.

But the honeymoon is, as literally anyone could’ve predicted, over. So why the fallout? And where does it go from here?

It began with one man’s ego being insufficiently stroked by the other. Musk, for all his anti-woke, anti-regulation bluster, couldn’t back Trump’s signature tax bill.

Trump, who demands unwavering loyalty from anyone within his circle, responded with a tirade on Truth Social that began with musings about the end of a ‘great relationship’ and concluded with accusations that Musk ‘just went CRAZY!’

Read the recap of the full feud here

Musk fired back with memes and mockery. Trump doubled down. Neither man capable of silence. Neither man willing to let the other have the last word.

And so, the circus goes on.

But this isn’t just a sideshow of bruised egos. It’s yet another preview of the fracturing in the coalition that brought Trump to power: the uneasy alliance between old-school reactionaries and new-age tech billionaires.

What once looked like a coordinated assault on liberal democracy is collapsing into something more personal, performative, and dangerous.

Musk isn’t just a billionaire with a phone addiction. He’s the de facto editor-in-chief of one of the most influential news platforms in the world.

Since taking over Twitter (now X), he’s amplified dangerous disinformation and MAGA narratives while suppressing legitimate news and dismantling traditional media gatekeeping – all of which Trump has benefited from.

But Trump sees only two categories: Loyalists and enemies. Musk, by attempting to play kingmaker rather than servant, was always destined to become the latter.

Now, we’re watching two of the most powerful men in America locked in a loop of pathetic pettiness.

Musk will provoke. Trump will explode. Their fan bases will spin, justify, or split. 

Having worked on the losing side of the last presidential campaign, I can’t escape the bitter irony of how both Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton were derided as too emotional, too reactive, too unstable to lead. 

Yet here we are, fewer than 150 days in, watching the man in charge of nuclear weapons throw memes like a toddler and call it leadership. Meanwhile, actual governance has ground to a halt, replaced by a contest of who can go viral fastest.

Sure, you could call it entertaining. But it’s also corrosive. This feud isn’t happening in a vacuum. It’s shaping the future of political discourse, global stability, and right-wing mobilisation.

There are some signs this very public spat could be patched up. A likely exasperated White House official hastily confirmed the two are expected to speak today (June 6).

But I doubt anyone around them seriously thinks it’ll stick – because it can’t. Both men are hardwired to be top dog at the expense of anything and anyone.

The stakes get lower, and the consequences get higher – not just for America, but for the world.

The lasting impact – whether it fizzles or erupts again – is not just the further erosion of seriousness in public life. Musk and Trump have already done that – normalising a style of leadership built on attention-seeking, grievance, and performance over policy.

The real danger is the new premise that if you’re loud enough, you’re right, even – especially – when you’re wrong. And where does that leave the rest of the world?

Trump has already taken swings at Ukraine’s president, threatened NATO, slapped tariffs on key allies, and undermined international institutions.

If the loudest voice always wins, we shouldn’t be surprised when healthcare is rolled back because it suits multi-billion-dollar insurance companies, when Ukraine loses ground because it suits Putin, when truth is drowned out by noise because it suits the algorithm.

This isn’t just dysfunction – it’s design, powered by platforms and personalities who thrive when everything else falls apart.

A president consumed with petty vendettas and algorithm-driven rage is a danger not just to democracy in the US but to stability abroad, particularly with Ukraine still at war and Europe bracing for the fallout.

And the real loser? It’s not Trump. It’s not Musk.

It’s the American people — trapped in a country where the algorithm is king, the grown-ups have left the room, and the future is being decided by two men who never learned how to walk away.

Well, thank God they didn’t elect the woman who laughed too much instead.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk. 

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