Elon Musk Is A Danger To His Colleagues – And That Means We're All F**ked

Overriding the White House on his lackey’s departure, Musk’s message to his Trump colleagues represents a dire warning for the American people.

Marko Elez, a 25-year old longtime Elon Musk lackey, had previously posted racist content online, according to The Wall Street Journal, such as advocating "eugenic immigration policy," a call to "normalize Indian hate," and the weird flex, "I was racist before it was cool." Elez resigned as “special government employee” Thursday, and “the White House swiftly announced (his) exit,” Axios noted. Trump’s press team tried to mitigate the bad story and even tried to protect Elon Musk himself.

Musk was so grateful for the White House’s attempt to protect his reputation that he stirred the pot and undermined the White House team in dramatic fashion. The petty retribution of Musk showed no bounds. He put out an unscientific poll on X, asking a biased question to his unscientific sample of 216 million followers. Musk owns X, of course, a white supremacist playground since he took it over and stopped moderating users’ filth. JD Vance (remember him?) quoted Musk’s poll to give him a boost, probably at Musk’s request. Between the two posts, keyboard warriors were so stirred up about getting a racist his job back that the White House had no choice but to rehire the guy.

Notice Musk’s wording: “bring back.” It is not AT ALL normal for an aide to the President of the United States to publicly second-guess a White House action. If Musk were a low-level staffer (who did not spend $290 million on Trump’s campaign) and had posted this poll, he likely would have been fired.

Musk has no shame in using the platform of his private business for even more personal leverage in the Trump administration. If he were to have a future dispute with a colleague, for instance, his 216 million followers gives him an advantage to shape the narrative in his favor. He has the power to destroy the reputation of anyone he wishes. He has more followers than Donald Trump.

Unsurprisingly, Musk himself made the announcement that Elez would be back on the job, undoubtedly giving the White House press team no heads up that it was coming. It is not normal for an administration to make so many announcements followed by un-announcements. The tariffs, the funding freeze, and now the departure of Elez are only three examples of what a communications friend of mine calls “JK LOLs that make reporters say WTF.” It is humiliating as a communications team to be instructed to send information out to the press and then tell reporters you were JK LOL. Credibility with everyone from the media at home to international partners abroad requires the information disseminated to the public is right the first time. But Musk knew this. He wanted this. He engaged in this dramatic retribution to make the White House look amateur. Embarrassing Trump’s White House delivers Musk even more relative favor with Trump.

(gif credit: tenor, adult swim)

Now let me make clear: I do not feel sorry for Trump Administration officials who find themselves with little relative power. In a vacuum I couldn’t care less about Trump aides getting rolled by another Trump aide. Musk is vile, yes, but everyone in the White House also chose to work for Donald Trump and continue working for him as he harms people across the country and around the world.

HOWEVER, what is tragic about this situation is that only one person–one vile, heartless, out-of-touch person, seems to be truly influencing Donald Trump. In Trump’s first administration, for instance, he wanted to flippantly announce the U.S. was pulling out of NATO. Mike Pompeo and General Jim Mattis, thankfully, talked him down. Will anyone in the current Trump White House talk down Musk? Hold him accountable? Prevent him from starting a war we should not fight? Stop him from another funding freeze that will result in death? If they don’t step up and risk Musk’s wrath for the good of the country, two men who think similarly and dangerously alike will be running the show for the next four years. If that happens, we’re all f**ked – not just Democrats or any particular group or community of Americans. Every single one of us.

(photo credit: @vivekgramaswamy/X)

But we know that no one in the Trump administration will challenge Musk’s authority. Remember Musk’s former DOGE bestie Vivek Ramaswamy? It seems like he’s been out of the picture for six months. Ramaswamy challenged Musk, so Musk pushed him out and back to his home state of Ohio. Musk has rarely been challenged in his life and he will not tolerate being challenged by his administration colleagues. Retribution will be swift.

A harsh reality has emerged for the folks at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue who don’t own self-crashing car companies, who have actually worked in government, and who work in real jobs – not at a fake agency named after a cryptocurrency. What Musk is saying to his colleagues without saying it is: This is my administration, and you’re just working in it. After all, they didn’t spend $290 million to buy the election for Trump. And with that money, Musk purchased the ability to run the Trump administration.

Musk is saying to his colleagues (without saying it):

This is my administration, and you’re just working in it.

Even Donald Trump himself is somewhat weary that Musk’s rising influence risks making him look weak, although he will never admit it. On Friday, Trump struggled to hide his annoyance with a reporter’s question about Time Magazine’s cover depicting Musk seated at the Resolute desk as if Musk were the president. After a pregnant pause, Trump made his best attempt at a quip, asking if Time Magazine was still in business. Trump had an interview with the magazine in recent months and brags relentlessly each time he is named Time “Person of the Year.” Trump knows he’s f**ked, too.

(photo credit: Time Magazine)

Less than three weeks into Trump’s second term, the administration’s power dynamics are already set; Musk is at the very top and no one else comes even close. Remember during Trump’s first term when Stephen Miller used to make news regularly? He’s back in the White House, but we hear nothing about him because it’s all Elon Musk. Where is – and who is – Trump’s current White House chief-of-staff?? I always need to look her name up to remember. But we all remember Anthony Scaramucci’s 11 days in the White House, because multiple people were relevant then. Now it’s all Elon, the constant face of the administration; the only person with the president’s ear; the guy calling the shots for Trump; the guy who shows up at government agencies as if he owns every one of them; the smartest man on Earth to Trump not because of his smarts but because of his money; and the single person in the administration to have Trump’s undivided attention.

Most terrifying of all, and demonstrated last week in plain sight, Musk is able to get Trump to take actions without any input from other members of the administration. Look at the tomfoolery last week with Musk’s vendetta against the Black-majority leadership in his native South Africa. Trump echoed Musk’s long held rhetoric at Musk’s behest, alleging the mistreatment of white South Africans. Trump’s post didn’t say “white” but the wording to MAGA was clear. Musk and Trump, both white men billionaires, consider themselves victims of a system they believe is unfair to them. They lean into white grievance to rile up MAGA supporters, even though few humans on Earth were born with bigger silver spoons in their mouths.

Tragically, Trump went further than a mere ill-conceived post ordered by Elon Musk. He announced he would end all foreign aid to South Africa. If either man understood geopolitics, he would know the U.S. needs friends on the African continent and Musk would be using his South African identity to make friends instead of enemies. Who gains when our foreign aid runs dry on the continent? China and Russia, of course, as they have their tentacles all over Africa. China and Russia are already members of the BRICS economic alliance along with South Africa. Despite BRICS, South Africa and the United States have maintained friendly relations, at least until Musk came along. Pushing away South Africa strengthens Russia and China considerably.

(photo credit: AP)

The foreign policy priorities discussed in Trump’s daily intelligence briefings are completely removed from the foreign policy priorities discussed in Trump’s daily conversations with Elon Musk. Trump would not have taken the actions he did against South Africa were it not for Musk. And when Musk directed Trump to write his post and announce an end to foreign aid in the country, there’s no chance Trump sought any opinion other than Musk’s. No chance he asked his own White House team to compile a briefing on U.S.-South African relations and the ramifications of picking Musk’s fight. It’s doubtful Marco Rubio even knew what Trump and Musk were up to or that Rubio would have the power to put the brakes on them even if he had known.

Folks, it is frightening beyond all hell that Elon Musk is crafting foreign policy. Trump’s White House press secretary said she doesn’t know if Musk has a security clearance or if he passed a background check. Spoiler alert: Musk has no security clearance and Musk did not go through a background check. No one has truly investigated where Musk’s loyalties lie. Elon Musk has more power than anyone in Trump’s cabinet, but Musk did not need U.S. Senate confirmation. Sure, MAGA Republicans would have confirmed Musk either way, but at least Democratic Senators would have been able to raise hell and raise questions to Musk on behalf of the American people. On the House side, meanwhile, Republicans squashed efforts by House Democrats to call Musk to testify in committee. He’s just given carte blanche to run wild against the United States because of his wealth.

(Musk grew up in Pretoria, South Africa, marked on the map above. He lived in Pretoria from birth in 1971 until 1989, when he moved to Canada.)

Not to sound xenophobic, but Musk, as a dual citizen, born outside the United States and not eligible to be president himself, is controlling the President of the United States. Don’t forget that Donald Trump launched his political career by spreading birtherism, but he’s just fine with someone ACTUALLY born in Africa running the country for him, because Musk is white. I don’t know exactly where Musk’s allegiances lie, but someone should have probably looked into it, no? Eight years ago, Trump’s own son-in-law was criticized for omitting foreign contacts on his security clearance application. Now, Musk is running the entire show and did not even need to apply for that clearance.

The foreign policy community, which includes many lifelong Republicans, is concerned about the consequences of Russia and China gaining an even stronger foothold in Africa. Not Musk, though, he loves doing business with the Chinese Communist Party and loves spouting Kremlin talking points. He loves making money from international players more than he loves protecting America’s national security interests. Musk seems more loyal to South Africans nostalgic for Apartheid than he is to the United States of America. The man controlling the presidency in no way puts America first.

And that is terrifying.