Miguel Sorans, a leader of the Socialist Left and the IWU-FI.
5 June 2025. The estrangement between Donald Trump and Elon Musk has become a global scandal. This scandal is of a magnitude unlike any other we have ever witnessed. It involves the President of the United States, the leading imperialist power, and the richest entrepreneur in the world. Until a few days ago, the South African tycoon was Trump’s right-hand man and chief advisor to the American “chainsaw.” Musk fired thousands of public employees on Trump’s orders.
The dispute exposes Trump administration flaws and US political turmoil.
Musk had resigned from his position days earlier after the failures he suffered. But Musk’s fall made a stir. Critics later described Trump’s spending bill to Congress as a “repugnant abomination.”
“Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we ever will,” the White House chief asserted, after the tycoon fiercely criticised Trump’s budget bill. The discussion, however, took an unexpected and unfortunate turn, escalating into a heated exchange. The president threatened to withdraw government subsidies and contracts from companies linked to Musk as the alliance between the president and the controversial billionaire publicly unravelled. Musk spoke out, claiming Trump appears in Jeffrey Epstein’s files. Epstein, a business executive accused of paedophilia and sexual abuse, allegedly listed accomplices, many “rich and famous.” (Clarin, Argentina, 6 May 2025)
The reason for this scandalous rupture lies in the major setbacks the far-right Trump’s plan is experiencing. The back-and-forth on the tariff issue, for example, shows that there are elements of a serious crisis in his policy, because of the inter-bourgeois friction he has incited and the growth of protests in his country and around the world. Large mobilisations took place in the US. Already in April, there were 1,200 demonstrations in 50 cities. Protests against attacks on healthcare and education followed, including one by the Harvard University community. All of this led to a drop in Trump’s popularity, reflected in the empire’s own polls. In April/May, it fell from 52 per cent to 41 per cent. The imperialist press defined it as the worst decline in image of the first 100 days of a US administration in 70 years, since Eisenhower in the 1950s. Elon Musk’s departure has been another example of Trump’s political unpredictability. The man who staked a fortune on Trump’s election and was the “boss” of DOGE finally fell. Musk lasted just over 100 days.
He resigned, saying he was “disappointed,” but he fell because of the crisis he provoked as Trump’s right-hand man.
A confluence of various elements converged to create the situation. First, his massive layoff plans created clashes with several Trump cabinet ministers. Months earlier, Foreign Secretary Marco Rubio, another far-right figure, attacked him in a cabinet meeting with Trump for wanting to cut his staff too much. The discussion was such that Trump intervened, saying, “Instead of the axe, we’ll use the scalpel.”
Second, Trump’s tariff policy, which Musk endorsed, drew criticism from Tesla’s board of directors. His electric car company, which has its largest production in China, would be subject to tariffs.
Third, and perhaps most importantly, Musk suffered all kinds of protests and boycotts in the US itself. Thousands of people placed protest stickers on their cars.
The result was that Tesla sales in the US plummeted 13 per cent in the first quarter of the year. The rest of the world fared worse. In May, Tesla sales in 32 European countries fell by 49 per cent (Clarin, Argentina, 28 May 2025).
One thing is certain: the Trump-Musk rift scandal will have new episodes.
