As the Inauguration Day for President-elect Trump draws near, America and the global denizens, not in the MAGA camp, are living in trepidation over the outré pronouncements of Tsar Trump and Moghul Musk.
The new algebra of MAGA( Make America Great Again) plus the tech- tycoon Musk’s X-factor making him a shadow -Prez presents an unsettling political scenario. The spectacle of Elon Musk, the Rich Nerd Bully, tied to the coattails of the soon to be gauche President in a pas-de-deux is a worrisome situation, not just for America.
American voters have to deal with this curious duo now. They got two for the price of one. One is a real -estate takeover tycoon and Musk a ‘virtual-estate’ takeover tech- bro. Elon’s Twitter takeover tantrums generated pure drama on social media before X was birthed.
Trump, who campaigned recently as a bleeding heart for the disadvantaged , is hugely advantaged via the wealth his grandfather amassed through running food joints for miners along with houses of ill-repute during the 19th century gold rush in Yukon. With Donald’s dalliance with porn stars, the trickle down effect prevails. Money is never considered tainted whatever the source.
Trump has the guile of a canny real estate entrepreneur inherited from his father to get a good deal. Now he has to convince the American voters that they’ve got a good deal by electing him for a second innings in the White House. Will the real Donald Trump stand up please !?
Musk with his exceptional futuristic intelligence has set- up a bouquet of companies in diverse cutting edge fields that boggle one’s imagination. From aerospace, neuroscience , automotive engineering to artificial intelligence all are futuristic and disruptive in their technology.
Currently all hopes are pinned on Musk’s SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to bring Sunita Williams and fellow astronaut Butch Wilmore back to Earth in February 2025, after being stranded in the International Space Station since June 2024.Even NASA outsources work to this tech-wizard.
Elon Musk’s appointment as the efficiency tsar to prune extravagance in governance is purely advisory. But with his weapons- grade mind Musk has wormed his way into almost running the transitional government. His intervention along with Trump to scuttle a budget bill negotiated in Congress has drawn flak from Democrats and some Republicans too.
Dan Goldman, an attorney from New York representing the Democratic party turned the knife on the Don by tweeting (a tweet still sounds better)on X:
“As the shadow Pres-Elect, Elon Musk is now calling the shots for House Republicans on government funding while Trump hides in Mar-a- Lago behind his handlers… It increasingly seems like we’re in for 4 years of an unelected oligarch running the country by pulling on his puppet’s strings.”
These comments were bound to wound the egotist in Donald Trump to the quick. He repudiated the criticism that he has ‘ceded the presidency’ to Musk as a hoax spread by his opponents. But Musk, much beyond his remit, has been present at Trump’s meetings with Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni in New York. He’s been accused of meddling in Europe and has had beefs with leaders from U.K, Norway and France. His latest salvo against Keir Starmer is to have him removed from his position before the next general elections. Not just a tech Guru, Musk wants to be a Vishwaguru now. He also endorsed the far-right Alternative for Germany. But Trump has shrugged off these charges with the comment--- “Very smart guy.”
Each day at Mar-a-lago pressers Trump spouts his outlandish plans for cartographic conquests in contiguous areas to make America not just great again but make America greater again in terms of added land mass. His dig at ‘Governor Trudeau’ to make Canada the 51st state of the United States was scoffed at by Justin Trudeau. Musk in his tweet on X mocked Trudeau calling him effeminate and saying that the governorship was not available now that he’s stepped down. Trump also belligerently demanded that Denmark should give up its claims on Greenland as America needs to acquire it for “purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the world.” This has started alarm bells ringing in the Kremlin as Russia has the largest Arctic coastline.
Trump’s revanchist statements to retake the Panama Canal and rename Gulf of Mexico as Gulf of America have made the geo-political community worldwide a little edgy. But the feisty President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico displayed a map of Mexico with US states of Texas, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, California which were part of Mexico once taunting , ‘ Mexican America sounds nice’. Touché!
Putin’s Tsarist impulse of rebuilding the Russian Empire is rubbing off on his putative macho buddy Donald. He certainly can’t duck this charge.
Trump , delusionally , believes that his Presidency is going to be the best in American history. We can not accuse only AI of hallucinations!
Ushi Kak aka Kashpundit, is an author who revels in wordplay and satire couched in humour. At times she deviates into gravitas. Views expressed HERE are the writer’s own.