By Musa Iqbal

Imperialism has always been a project of excess: excess wealth, excess exploitation, excess war, and excess suffering. In its seemingly deteriorating stages, the excess can be found in its widening contradictions, now on display as embarrassing political theater.

The once celebrated alliance between American tech billionaire Elon Musk and con-man turned US President Donald Trump – two pillars of capitalist excess – has imploded in a pathetic public meltdown and spat, exposing the fragility of their union and the deeper contradictions of the Empire.

The episode also illustrates that even within a seemingly unified political front, the capitalist class is only interested in its own personal financial advancements.

The fallout took place across each billionaire’s own social media projects, with Musk posting jabs on X (which he bought in 2022) and Trump posting his own retorts on Truth Social (launched in 2022).

Musk, a staunch supporter of the Democratic Party until a few years ago, very publicly transformed into an ardent and vocal supporter of Donald Trump and the Republican Party, praising the latter’s so-called “crusade” on liberal policies, both social and political.

His vocal support for the two-time megalomaniac American president turned into financial support, donating an estimated $288 million to the Trump campaign and its allies.

In return for his investment, Trump invited Musk to speak at multiple campaign rallies prior to his election win, and after winning the race, allowed Musk to establish “DOGE” or the “Department of Government Efficiency” – a reactionary project aimed at attacking social spending, scientific research, and dissolving departments holding together what little of a social safety net the US has left remaining.

Musk’s installation as the head of “DOGE” – a mission in what Trump and ilk branded as an initiative to cut government spending and dissolve “big government” – would ironically be the alleged crux of the Trump-Musk fallout, paired with Trump’s trade war against China.

It is important for Musk to position himself as a libertarian champion who is against government spending, justifying his creation of DOGE. But the excess spending is not quite the reason why Musk publicly denounced the bill, calling it “an abomination.” 

The reality of the situation is that, despite the bill serving huge tax cuts to the ultra-wealthy like Musk, the clauses and policies regarding tariffs are what potentially threaten Musk’s many projects, such as Tesla and SpaceX, as they import key material from targeted countries, specifically China.

Trump’s bill would make production at Musk’s many projects quite expensive, potentially even forcing projects into a standstill. The negative impact was already demonstrated early on in April, which resulted in Tesla's stock tumbling. Musk wants a solid policy that would not conflict with his own projects.

With Musk’s open insult and challenge to Trump's legislative agenda, he violated the unspoken rule of their partnership: loyalty to Trump.

Trump, always demanding total and unflinching loyalty, responded by wielding the state’s coercive power, threatening to cripple Musk’s business empire by revoking state contracts (of which Trump rakes in billions through initiatives like SpaceX), slightly revealing the tech-billionaire’s true intentions.

Musk upped the ante, posting on X that Trump did not release the highly sought-after “Epstein Files” because Trump itself is implicated in them, possibly suggesting he was involved in illicit activities with the deceased child trafficker. The post is now deleted.

More eyebrow-raising, Musk tweeted that he would support an impeachment of Trump, and support Vice President JD Vance replacing him. JD Vance is the darling of the Silicon Valley Tech Capitalist ruling class, including Zionists like Peter Thiel.

Musk’s support for Vance signals a growing trend in competition and cooperation between the ruling class in the United States, with tech billionaires being the “new wealth” that seeks to topple the traditional industrial and financial oligarchs. Vance is a direct representative of the tech-billionaire class.  

Thus, the drama is not just around the ego of two childish men. This is a surface-level observation. The true driver in this spat is the same driver as any other initiative under imperialism – the pursuit of personal wealth, uninterrupted.

As long as the Trump agenda did not interfere with Musk’s personal wealth gain, Musk could and would remain a fervent supporter of the Trump agenda.

But, with Trump’s own personal gain being threatened by Chinese advances in significant fields (manufacturing, technology), Trump’s tariffs now collide with Musk’s business adventures.

Though the two billionaires project motivations that are seemingly rooted in political agendas that benefit American business, this is all political cover for their own greedy motivations.

What comes next? Unless the two find common ground to pursue their profits without restriction, the more likely outcome is a prolonged “cold feud” between the two. Musk is already inciting his supporters to support the creation of a “new party,” leveraging his wealth and platform to undermine Trump, and, of course, Trump using the state’s economic and legislative levers to retaliate.

The collateral damage—economic, political, and social—will be borne by the American people, who are mere spectators in this elite power struggle.

Musa Iqbal is a Boston-based researcher and writer with a focus on US domestic and foreign policy.

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