Trump-Musk bromance is on the rocks as feuds erupt
Daily Kos Staff
More signs are beginning to emerge of a fracture in the relationship between Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, who dumped money into Trump’s successful presidential bid. Even before Trump’s inauguration, there are indications he is rebelling at the notion that Musk wields disproportionate influence over his decision-making or, even worse, is truly the one in control.
The decision of whom to nominate as treasury secretary will be one of Trump’s most important calls since that official will determine fiscal policy and have an enormous impact on the domestic and global economy. In Trump’s last go-round, he left office with high unemployment and the worst net job loss of any president since the statistic has been tracked.
Musk favors the appointment of Howard Lutnick, co-chair of Trump’s transition team, for the job. He went public with his position and contrasted it with the possible pick of Scott Bessent, posting, “My view [for what it’s worth] is that Bessent is a business-as-usual choice, whereas [Lutnick] will actually enact change.”
The public statement has apparently given Trump second thoughts, and he is now considering other candidates for the position. The Washington Post cites sources in the Trump camp pointing to Musk’s statement as a problem.
“People are not happy,” the source told the paper, explaining that Trump’s circle is displeased with the perception that Musk has been operating as a “co-president.”
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/11/18/2287040/-Trump-Musk-bromance-is-on-the-rocks-as-feuds-erupt
Axios is also on the case and adds a little colour:
...
Zoom in: Their rocky relationship came to a head last Wednesday during a heated discussion at a dinner table in front of other guests at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club, three people familiar with the episode told Axios.
* At one point during what the sources described as a "massive blowup" and a "huge explosion," Musk accused Epshteyn of leaking details of Trump's transition — including personnel picks — to the media.
* Epshteyn responded by telling Musk that he didn't know what he was talking about.
...
State of play: Many people in Trump's orbit like having Musk around, or have found ways to work with him. Musk is well-liked by Vice President-elect JD Vance, conservative commentator Tucker Carlson and Trump's family members, including his sons Don Jr. and Eric.
* Trump's granddaughter, Kai Trump, even posted that Musk had reached "uncle status" along with a photo of Kai, Musk and Musk's son on a golf course.
* But Musk's involvement in the transition process and near-constant presence at Mar-a-Lago has begun to wear on some who've been in Trump's inner circle longer than he has — and who see him as overstepping his role in the transition, NBC reported this week.
https://www.axios.com/2024/11/18/trump-cabinet-musk-adviser-clash
Just what every family needs - a spare dysfunctional creepy uncle, to go with the creepy dysfunctional aunts, dads, moms and grandpa and assorted hangers-on - what with Thanksgiving coming around. National Lampoon couldn't set it up better.
I posted about tales of similar friction among other muppets in the Trumposphere yesterday: Trump's Transition Chair Howard Lutnick Keeps Shooting Himself in the Foot - https://www.democraticunderground.com/100219735024
= new reply since forum marked as read
The co-presidents disagree on who deserves the first butt-smoochies.
hadn't he heard.. NO ONE IS SMARTER THAN TSF 
It sounds like by "going public" that musk feels like trump Owes him and he OWNS trump. 
I can see how the Sacred Cow would get Pissed at that. lol 
were telling him that, and he didn't discourage them, even though he isn't eligible to be president unless the Constitution is amended - and it's a safe bet he's given some thought to whether that's possible in a time frame that would interest him.
And it's been obvious this year that his intent was to buy/control Trump as much as possible. While Trump thinks he's using Musk. And both of them are apparently influenced by Putin, who might be the reason we haven't already seen more direct feuding between them.
Trump, Musk and Putin are a very dangerous alliance, but an unstable one. The Christofascists with Vance are another faction, and Vance is sort of balanced between the Christofascists and the technofascists, with his long-term sponsor, Peter Thiel, and Musk also wanting Vance as VP. Trump shouldn't trust Vance, and for that matter Vance has changed opinions so often I'm not sure anyone should ever trust him.
But Trump, Musk and Putin are the main players here. All delusional megalomaniacs. If this were a miniseries, I'd binge. In real life...