‘There Can Be Only One Narcissist As Head of The Country’
Journalist predicts trouble between Trump and Musk
Although the pair of billionaires have been close allies during the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump and Elon Musk are likely to come to a falling out, according to a noted journalist who has covered the owner of Tesla, X, and other businesses.
Musk very publicly backed Trump’s successful bid to return to the White House, appearing together at campaign rallies, in online forums on Musk’s social media platform, X, once known as Twitter and by giving Trump $100 million of his personal money to the Republican’s campaign.
And in the days since he defeated Vice President Kamala Harris last week, Trump not only referred to Musk as a “super genius,” but allowed Musk to sit in on calls with at least two foreign leaders.
That Musk will have influence in the new Trump administration should be obvious, according to Kara Swisher, a longtime journalist and podcaster covering tech and other matters.
Less certain is how long this White House bromance will last, she added.
“I haven’t covered Trump. I know Elon very well. But I’m told that whoever the last person in the room is for Trump often has control of him. And of course, Trump’s attracted to the wealth and the glamour around Elon Musk. I guess it’s glamour. I don’t quite know what it is. Nerd glamour. And so he’s going to have some influence,” Swisher said. “He definitely inserts himself all the time. That’s his style. That’s why he’s just suddenly shown up there like the guest that wouldn’t leave. And I’ve heard from Trump people calling me saying, ‘Oh, wow, this is odd.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, it is.’ You’ll see much more of it.
“But he’s not going anywhere until Trump throws him out, which could happen because they’re both really strong personalities who like to be at the center of attention,” Swisher said Monday in an interview with CNN.
And it’s likely Trump will come to that point with his new BFF, she predicted.
“Well, you know, they’re both narcissists, and there’s there can be only one narcissist as head of the country. And that’s Donald Trump, who just won the election. I think, you know, he owes things to Elon,” Swisher said. “But at some point, if he takes too much of the attention, think about Steve Bannon.
“You remember, he’s on the cover of that magazine and how quickly he got out, even though he was critical to Trump’s first campaign. And he was right in the middle of the White House. And then he wasn’t,” she said, referring to the one-time Trump advisor who left early in Trump’s first term. “And so Trump, you know, goes through people like tissues, essentially. And I think even if it’s Elon Musk — and Elon has a lot of money and means and things like that — they’re going to clash at some point.
“There’s also a lot of people around Musk who are — you know, they’re going to get increasingly nervous,” Swisher said. “Again, as I said, I’ve heard from a number of them that, they they were like, ‘Oh, you’re kind of right about this guy.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I told you. He wants influence.’
“And since he can’t run for president, because he comes from South Africa, he’s going to try to exert as much influence as possible in these first critical days to get what he wants, which is that. It’s always about what Elon Musk wants. Just remember that.”
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