Donald Trump and Elon Musk had a full-blown breakup. They need to meet and patch things up.
In my sole opportunity to sit at the very front of a KLM 747 (Seat 1A), I had a very interesting seatmate. The fellow next to me had been General George Patton’s driver in World War II. Being a history buff, I tried to suck as much information as I could out of him during our flight from Amsterdam to the Twin Cities. During our chat, he mentioned the dislike that existed between his boss and his boss’s boss, namely Dwight D. Eisenhower. He made certain claims held by Patton in regards to Eisenhower. I don’t know if the accusations are true, and as such, I will not record them here. That which history shows is that the two men found a way to work together. Patton, one of the greatest fighting generals in U.S. history, was mercurial and hard to manage. Eisenhower, the great logistics man, was a team player and wanted his officers to play ball according to his rules. Eisenhower kept Patton from the initial Normandy landings but immediately called on him to save the troops trapped in Bastogne when the Battle of the Bulge was looking bleak. Though they were rivals and probably could not stand each other, Ike and Patton found a way to work together to complete the victory over the Nazis.
On the other side of the spectrum, we come to my sad sack Chicago Bears. After their one season of dominance and victory, they fell apart, never to win a Super Bowl again. Mike Ditka and Buddy Ryan were two good coaches, but Ryan’s ego did not let him be subordinate to Ditka. Ditka was the head coach, while Ryan was the undisputed author of the killer Chicago defense. One could have built a funeral home across from Soldier Field, with the choreographed violence of the Chicago defenders. Immediately after the victory in the Super Bowl, players lifted on their shoulders Ditka—and Ryan. Coming into the next season, Ryan felt that he should be given more credit for success; the offensive and defensive units coalesced around their coaches but not around the team. The Bears made an early playoff exit that season and only returned once since 1986 to the Super Bowl, where they lost to Tom Dungy and his Indianapolis Colts.
In the dustup between Trump and Musk, both could claim the mantle of being right. Elon Musk is correct that uncontrolled federal spending is becoming a real danger to the financial security of the country. He is right that the current spending bill adds lots of debt and cuts very little, especially in light of the DOGE cuts that he and his team identified. Musk’s anger is not at some personal slight or at the prospect of losing the federal EV credits; he is furious that the people want Washington to get spending under control, and the spending bill does little to accomplish that goal short-term.
Donald Trump is also right in knowing what can actually pass the Congress. He believes that the bill and the new tariffs will help address the debt long-term and the tax cuts and other features in the bill are absolutely necessary now. He knows that a Musk-perfect bill cannot pass the Congress; Musk knows that Trump’s bill is projected to add $2.5 trillion in debt. So what do they do?
The first thing they need to do is—like Ike and Patton—realize that the United States is bigger than both of them. The needs of the country require Trump’s leadership and Musk’s efforts to modernize and make the government more efficient. Trump is the boss, period. But Musk’s knowledge, his skills, his tireless work, and his love of country are factors that can make the U.S. a much better country in the long-run. Getting rid of dead people from Social Security was a great start. There is much that needs to be done to make the Pentagon and Medicare more efficient. Most of the waste in the U.S. government comes from massive entitlement programs that have been off-limits due to fears of the revenge of the seniors. The waste needs to be pared if there is any chance of reducing deficits.
The men do not need to apologize or dissect who is right. They need to have a working relationship that is based on respect. One can argue that Trump is president and does not need Musk. That’s true. Sure, Musk’s opening of X and massive financial support helped Donald Trump get elected; but that was then and right now Donald Trump can do fine without Musk. But Elon Musk has a lot of people, generally younger and tech savvy, who see in him a leader. He can go set up his America Party and guarantee Democratic victories and the complete destruction of what’s left of the United States. He can go back to his companies and keep busy. But the best path for the country is for the two to work together. They don’t have to be friends and they don’t have to like each other; they simply need to put the country before all else.
General Leslie Groves and Dr. Robert Oppenheimer could not have been more different in physical appearance, attitude, and general disposition. But the two of them put the need for an atomic bomb front and center and had an exemplary working relationship. When scientists suggested not using the bomb intended for Hitler on Japan, it was Oppenheimer who reminded his colleagues that their project was Army-funded and for the purpose of producing a working nuclear weapon. George H. Bush called Ronald Reagan’s economic plan “voodoo economics,” yet when the time came he ran and served as a loyal vice-president. There are many examples in the other direction, especially in sports where one star refuses to bend to his coach and the team goes south.
Donald Trump has made the greatest political comeback in American history. From attempts to throw him in jail, kill him, and have him removed from state ballots, he came storming back to make an enormous victory over Kamala Harris. Elon Musk was there every step of the way. Donald Trump can run the country without Musk, and Musk can grow his companies without Trump. But together they can make a revolution in the U.S. that would take the country forward for decades to come and keep the nihilist Democrats away from the levers of power.