How long will Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s lovefest last?

The bromance between Donald Trump and Elon Musk is one of the strangest outcomes of the 2024 presidential election cycle, with Musk stumping for Trump on the latter’s successful presidential campaign, and pushing Trump to voters through X, his social network. Postelection, the bromance has continued, with Musk sitting in on a call last week between Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The partnership is set to persist into the White House, with Trump announcing Musk as a co-head of a newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, (DOGE for short, a reference to the popular meme coin).

But how long can two combustible personalities peacefully co-exist alongside one another?

“It currently appears that Trump and Musk are now best friends with Trump seeming to rely on Musk’s council regarding various administration appointments,” says Steven Buckley, a lecturer in digital media sociology at City, University of London, who specializes in U.S. politics. “Musk is far more in need of Trump’s friendship than Trump is of Musk’s.”

The two share a number of qualities, says mental health expert and The Cult of Trump author Steven Hassan, who argues both men exhibit traits of “malignant narcissism”—a shared personality trait that prove tricky given Musk will be required to play second fiddle to the president. “As long as Musk kowtows in that framework, I see that as working,” says Hassan. How long Musk will play along, though, is another matter entirely.

Social media expert Matt Navarra points out that both Trump and Musk have a track record of fallouts with business partners or public officials—just look at Musk’s arguments with Brazil and the U.K. in recent months. “Ruffling feathers is probably a polite way to put it,” says Navarra. While the two men certainly share some views around innovation and wokeness, “their shared need for dominance could turn alignment into rivalry faster than anticipated,” Navarra says.

On the other hand, Navarra adds, both men know the stakes involved for their own reputations, and the mutual benefits their partnership can yield. “It might mean that the relationship lasts longer than people might initially expect it to, given the track record of both of these figures,” he says.

Still, one need only look at Trump’s own writing to see how distrustful he can be of his peers. “One of the problems when you become successful is that jealousy and envy inevitably follow,” the president-elect wrote in his 1987 business-advice book The Art of the Deal. Indeed, when two successful individuals try to share the limelight and the reins of power, toxicity can often ensue.

https://www.fastcompany.com/91228113/how-long-will-elon-musk-and-donald-trumps-lovefest-last?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss

Creată 5mo | 13 nov. 2024, 20:50:05


Autentifică-te pentru a adăuga comentarii

Alte posturi din acest grup

Why Amazon is doubling down on movie theaters

Amazon is betting big on movie theaters—even if it isn’t counting on mega profits.

The Silicon Valley giant

8 apr. 2025, 13:20:04 | Fast company - tech
Meet the Space Resistance Companies

If you’re at all unsettled by the amount of power that Elon Musk wields on Earth, don’t look up. There are now essentially three big players controlling what goes into space and who gets access to

8 apr. 2025, 13:20:03 | Fast company - tech
How ChatGPT is helping bend websites to my will

I’m a writer, not a programmer, so until recently a lot of the hype around ChatGPT’s abitilies as a coding tool went over my head.

But then I realized generative

8 apr. 2025, 10:50:06 | Fast company - tech
Meta is bringing stricter parental controls to Facebook and Messenger

Meta is bringing its Teen Accounts, which have stricter parental controls, to its Facebook and Messenger platforms on Tuesday, expanding its teen service from just Instagram.

The social

8 apr. 2025, 10:50:05 | Fast company - tech
Europe considers new tariffs that could punish tech companies like Google, Meta, and Apple

As the European Union looks at how best to respond to Donald Trump’s trade war, officials are considering f

7 apr. 2025, 21:10:06 | Fast company - tech