
The entirely predictable Trump-Musk divorce threatens Musk’s business empire
CNN
Elon Musk’s decision to go all-in on Donald Trump never made much sense. His scorched-earth approach to breaking up with Trump is even harder to square.
Elon Musk’s decision to go all in on Donald Trump never made much sense. His scorched-earth approach to breaking up with Trump is even harder to square. As a close Trump ally, Musk’s actions inevitably affected Tesla – the biggest piece of his business empire and the maker of one of the most visible and expensive items that Americans can purchase: electric vehicles. First, Musk turned off Tesla’s core customers, Democrats on the coasts, by pouring money and using his influence to help Trump return to the White House. Then he took a chainsaw to the federal workforce. Trump confirmed their relationship has soured, with Musk repeatedly blasting the president’s sweeping domestic agenda bill in recent days and a public fight on social media on Thursday. Now, Musk’s war of words with the president risk turning off the same Trump voters who may have considered buying a Tesla until this week. Not only that, but Tesla’s ambitions for self-driving vehicles require government approval, something that no longer looks like a sure thing amid the Musk-Trump feud. Other Musk businesses like SpaceX are built on government contracts – contracts that Trump wasted no time threatening on Thursday. The past 12 months – with Musk marrying himself to the polarizing Trump brand and then breaking up with him – look like a textbook example of what a CEO should not do, especially a consumer-facing CEO.













