“Photo: FB Donald Trump The new team of Donald Trump is preparing for a major change in the centers of influence in America. The appearance of billionaire Elon Musk in it can lead to the fact that he will gain unlimited influence on the president and, as a result, on the entire domestic and foreign policy of the United States, including Ukraine. After all, Musk, like Trump himself, has powerful ambitions. [ā¦]ā, ā write: businessua.com.ua
Photo: FB Donald Trump
The new team of Donald Trump is preparing for a major change in the centers of influence in America. The appearance of billionaire Elon Musk in it can lead to the fact that he will gain unlimited influence on the president and, as a result, on the entire domestic and foreign policy of the United States, including Ukraine. After all, Mask’s power ambitions, like Trump’s, are insane.
How can these two over-ambitious and charismatic people coexist in one relationship, what does Musk seek in power, how great is his influence – to these and other questions Briefly about responds head of the Center for Applied Political Research “Penta”, political scientist Volodymyr Fesenko.
Trump is like Sauron from Lord of the Rings
Volodymyr Fesenko. Photo: glavred.info
– Everything indicates that Musk is rapidly gaining strength in Trump’s circle and is becoming a kind of “gray cardinal”. Is it so?
– Regarding the “gray cardinal”, what is now seen as Musk’s bonus may later become his “Achilles heel”. The greater his influence will be in the Trump administration, the faster he will fly out of there. Two bears in one den will not get along for a long time. Two such ambitious, vain and rich people will not be able to exist on the same platform for a long time. The conflict and gap between them is inevitable.
– They write that Musk is getting ready to run for president in 2028. He has already achieved everything in business. And his next peak is the president of the most powerful country in the world. Don’t you have that feeling?
– Yes, of course, he has such ambitions. But let’s not forget about Trump’s ambitions and vanity. He, like Sauron in the movie “The Lord of the Rings”, does not share power with anyone. Trump has an authoritarian style of government, with which he breaks all previously accepted canons. After all, before, neither the Democrats nor the Republicans had the dominance of one person in the party. The term of office of one president has ended – a new leader appears. And now, the Republican Party has never had such leadership as Trump. And he will try with all his might to maintain his one-man leadership. Therefore, the appearance of a second ambitious strong leader who will claim influence in the US is a “red rag” for Trump.
– But Trump cannot become president for the third time, let him give way to Musk…
– To decide. whoever comes after Trump will be Trump himself. His ambitions demand it. And Musk may not agree if he chooses another candidate. Then two such ambitious leaders will inevitably come into conflict with each other. And Musk will start to “play” his party.
– But even now there are many contradictions between Trump and Musk. Musk, for example, bets on China, because he has his own factories there for the production of the same “Tesla”. And Trump sees Beijing as his main enemy. Is this enough to “beat the pots” between them?
– Yes, Musk has an interest in China. But Beijing is also now developing its own production of electric cars. So not so Musk and their ally. But at the same time, he is also a supporter of ending the war in Ukraine. Here his interests coincide with Trump. Another thing is that Trump will not share the glory of the main peacemaker with anyone.
– Is China interested in Musk, or could he be a hidden agent of Beijing? For example, he supported the Chinese “peace plan” for Ukraine.
– No more than Trump is an “agent of Moscow.” Both Musk and Trump work for themselves, for their “ego”, for their political and business interests. No, they are not puppets of foreign countries.
Musk has long been more influential than Soros– But isn’t Musk now a threat to American national security itself? After all, he obviously stands above the institutions of power and influences them. Recently, in his network, X called the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Scholz, a fool. Isn’t he bending the stick already?
– No, for now, the unpredictability of Donald Trump is more of a threat. Musk has ambitions, but as I said, he won’t last long in the Trump administration. But he can create his project, a new political force capable of breaking the US two-party system, which has become a brake and a potential risk for political stability in America.
And this is good, because this system should be broken long ago. Let Musk make it more pluralistic and competitive so that no one in the States has a monopoly on power. But it is still too early to perceive Musk as a threat to American power.
– But if he starts to break something, it will lead to political turbulence and instability in the USA. Some people in the world – Beijing, Moscow, Tehran – will like it very much.
– Isn’t there turbulence in America now? After all, the current two-party system splits the country into two opposing camps. This is also a danger. There are, of course, some risks associated with Musk. That he, for example, is prone to too extravagant decisions or that he has his own manifestations of authoritarianism. Plus flirting with authoritarian world leaders, and even outright dictators. But Musk is something similar to Trump, with the same ambitions, hyperego and unprincipledness.
– Previously, people like George Soros or influential people of the Bilderberg Club were considered shadow leaders in the world (according to the conspiracy theory, he secretly rules the world. – Author). Is Musk also approaching this level?
– It is a strong exaggeration that Soros influenced the whole world. He wanted to be such a politically influential actor and figure, but he was never an independent center of power. And Musk has not become and will not become so.
US aid will depend on the willingness of Kyiv and Russia to negotiate– There is another parliamentary crisis in Germany. In February 2025, there will be new elections to the Bundestag, which will determine the new chancellor. What are the chances that the opposition party “Christian Democratic Union” (CDU) will win and that its leader Friedrich Merz will become chancellor and give Ukraine long-range Taurus missiles?
– Believe me, “Taurus” is not of great importance here. How many can they give us – 10, 30? They will not be able to fundamentally change the course of the war. Another important thing for us is that the CDU will retain the support of Ukraine and Mertz, unlike Scholz, is much more determined towards Russia.
– Trump and his team are inclined, if not to refuse, to significantly reduce aid to Ukraine. How dangerous is it for us?
– And now Europe already finances us two or three times more than the USA. As for military aid, we really depend on Sp of the United States because the Europeans do not have the necessary military resources to provide the same military assistance as the United States.
– But what should we prepare for?
– First of all, weapons and equipment will no longer be provided to us for free. It will be a loan – lend-lease, and after the war the equipment will have to be returned or paid for.
Second, these issues are not resolved instantly. As long as the negotiations continue (as Trump insists), the United States should maintain military aid to Ukraine, because it will be the main tool of pressure in the negotiations, both on us and on Russia. If Kyiv does not agree to negotiations, the US will stop military aid. If Russia does not agree, then the Americans will increase military aid to Ukraine. That is, the amount of military aid may vary depending on the situation.
Source: kp.ua