‘People are not happy’: It’s been like a week and Elon Musk is already close to causing an implosion within Trump’s team

It was only a matter of time before all the egos on the Trump train ran out of room to manspread as they backseat-drive Trump’s presidency. It didn’t take long to get here — The New Republic is already reporting that other members of the Trump train can no longer stand Elon Musk.

As will likely continue to be the case in this reversion of a nation run through tweets, Elon reportedly ruffled feathers within Trump’s inner circle by reposting a duo of tweets that rubbed members of the incoming regime the wrong way. The first post was Musk praising Argentine President Javier Milei for cutting tariffs in Argentina. Musk seemingly believes that’s the most sound economic policy. However, Trump, who largely ran a campaign financially supported by Musk himself, was very direct about implementing tariffs on Chinese goods entering the country.

This post didn’t sit well with his new colleagues, who, unlike Musk, are largely used to being answerable to someone else in the room. Musk didn’t stop there, either. He posted an endorsement of Howard Lutnick for treasury secretary, opposing the team’s preferred candidate, Scott Bessent. Musk is seemingly acting in his own best interests, and isn’t interested in making niceties with team members who dare to disagree with him. Musk is obviously quite aware that the power dynamics between him and his new co-workers are not even, and he quite clearly is keen on fully exploiting that.

An insider shared with The Washington Post, “People are not happy,” referring to Musk’s sudden overbearing presence in the team’s every move. Musk even reportedly went head-to-head with Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn over the candidates Epshteyn is picking for the Trump cabinet. Musk also suspects Epshteyn is the leak in Trump’s outfit, directly blaming him for the insider information the press is getting about Trump’s new setup. 

While we’d like to feign shock — this was expected by anyone who paid attention to Trump’s first term. Trump has no true, consistent vision for running the country. His approach simply involves gathering as many people as possible to help him edge closer to his goal of obtaining power, regardless of whether they agree with him. He then turns to the public and tells them whatever he believes they want to hear. This inevitably leads to a cacophony of chaos where implosion is a matter of when, not if.

Elon Musk’s true intentions with the Trump campaign remain undetermined at this point — and it seems even some Trump insiders themselves don’t know what he’s planning, or why he prefers specific cabinet picks. But one thing is certain: Donald Trump himself sees Elon Musk as a true loyalist. Trump is not only traveling almost everywhere with the tech titan, but is also letting Musk sit in on discussions with the Ukrainian president and Iranian ambassadors. These are obviously red-hot war zones in the world right now, so, in a sense, world peace at this point is at least partially dependent on Elon Musk’s advice and temperament. Quite grim.