A former Republican Representative has warned that Donald Trump and Elon Musk are “two monsters” who are only “growing stronger” as the pair’s blossoming bromance sparks chaos in US politics.Together, two of the world’s most powerful men have spent weeks overhauling the US government with a series of sweeping changes targeting the federal workforce, diversity policies, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Musk, who has been dubbed the “First Buddy” by Lara Trump, has been rapidly expanding his power in Washington
The tech billionaire’s influence has been clear – Trump has attempted to plow ahead with Musk’s idea to persuade tens of thousands of federal employees to quit with a buyout program, has given his blessing for the Space X founder to eviscerate USAID, and most recently has followed his recommendation to halt the production of the penny.
As critics grow increasingly concerned about the unprecedented power Trump has handed to Musk, an unelected official, former Republican representative Joe Walsh warned there are no signs of their chaos-inducing bromance coming to an end. “They’re the two most powerful people on the planet right now. They desperately need each other,” he told The Guardian.
The Trump critic added: “They’re in this for the long haul so people who think this thing’s going to bust up in a month or two are smoking something. We’re looking at four years of these two doing this. They are like two monsters and every day they’re growing stronger.”The two men haven’t always gotten along, in 2016 Musk said Trump “doesn’t seem to have the sort of character that reflects well on the United States”, while in 2022 the president called the Tesla CEO a “bulls**t artist” for supporting his opponents. But in the run-up to the 2024 election, their stances had changed and a bromance between the pair quickly developed.
Musk couldn’t have been any clearer in his support for the Republican candidate, he became his biggest donor, spoke at Trump’s campaign rallies, used his X platform to promote his candidacy and was even a guest at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate on election night. Following Trump’s inauguration, Musk was promptly rewarded for his loyalty as the president declared him a “special government employee” and even put him in charge of his own task force, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Musk has openly declared his passionate love for Trump, writing on X: “I love @realDonaldTrump as much as a straight man can love another man”. At the same time, Trump has praised Musk’s work in dismantling government agencies as he revealed during an interview with Bret Baier on FOX ahead of Super Bowl LIX that Musk has more to do.He declared: “I’m going to tell him very soon, like maybe in 24 hours, to go check the Department of Education… Then I’m going to go, go to the military. Let’s check the military.” He added: “We’re going to find billions, hundreds of millions of dollars of fraud and abuse.”
