It's a MAD, MAD Country

Kayleigh McEnany, who served a brief stint as press secretary in the first Trump Administration, claims

.... No amount of money bought that. What bought that was a movement. And Elon Musk had to decide "I'm either going to fold into this or go away from this. And he chose to go away from this. and its a sad thing to see.

Kayleigh:

For Elon Musk to say I won Trump this election, President Trump won all of the swing states. No amount of money bought that

(?????)
pic.twitter.com/QvoN50sjce

— Lucas Sanders 💙🗳️🌊💪🌈🚺🟧 (@LucasSa56947288) June 5, 2025

Musk has chosen (temporarily) "to go away from this" now, months after the election, after he has done untold damage (which the media will ensure will remain untold) and President Trump's Big Debt Bill is being considered by the United States Congress. However, as CNN reported on March 1

Elon Musk spent a total of more than $290 million on the 2024 election, new federal filings show, boosting President Donald Trump and Republicans in a staggering effort that has helped to secure unprecedented access for the world’s richest person in the new administration...

The majority of that went to the presidential election and Trump was by far- by approximately $120 million- the biggest Republican donor of the election cycle.  Trump may have won the election without Musk's money, just as the Philadelphia Eagles may have won the NFL championship last season without Saquon Barkley.  Possible, not likely.

Musk knows how valuable he was, and still may be, to Donald Trump, tweeting

Such ingratitude

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025

Gratitude cannot be expected by someone who has called himself the "Chosen One" and approvingly quoted someone telling him that he's "the greatest President, overall, that we've ever had." And that was before he declared himself "the king." 

Musk may not have understood that the President would show him no gratitude. However, and although he's an immigrant, he likely understands the concept of mutually assured destruction, which

refers to the concept that two superpowers are capable of annihilating each other with nuclear weapons, regardless of whether they are attacked first.

In theory, under mutual assured destruction, a nuclear attack by one superpower will be met with an overwhelming nuclear counterattack by their target — using early warning systems, automated missiles, airborne nuclear bombs, and missile-armed hidden submarines. This will lead to the complete destruction of both. As such, mutual assured destruction — often abbreviated as MAD — is part of the military strategy of deterrence, in which one adversary threatens another with a reprisal if they attack first.

After the 1960s, mutual assured destruction was the main nuclear doctrine — the stated military principle — of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union in the late 20th century. It is still in operation today between the nuclear forces of the U.S. and Russia...

                                              
        

The politicians, pundits, and others tell us (in different words) that Donald Trump, the undisputed leader of the G.O.P. and subject of undying devotion of the Republican masses, holds all the cards.  (Being known as an authoritarian and fascist does not hurt.) And truth be told, he holds most of them. However, one does not become the wealthiest individuals in the world without having extraordinary influence and the ability to wield it. 

Agreed: if President Trump were to decide to destroy Elon Musk- or at least wipe out most of his wealth- he could do so. But the betting here is that Trump is too smart to set out to do that. he could win Musk over with a small concession on the controversial pending bill. Or he could be steadfast and wait till Musk's fervor dies down. Moreover, Donald Trump is smart enough to know that when he's dealing with such a flammable subject, acting out of spite will do him no good. 

Probably sooner rather than later, these two white supremacists will make peace with each other.  Trump's Big Debt Bill will pass in a form, slightly modified from the one approved by the House of Representatives. Republicans already have made their point with the gullible media and major donors that they care about the deficit and debt, which most don't. 

They conveniently will remember that-as Dick Cheney once noted- deficits don't matter, politically. And they are not done. After all, there is a big country out here, "from the New York island to the California sand" (and beyond), they can work together to continue to destroy.

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