The Trump-Musk feud shows danger of handing the keys of power to one person
After a year of effusive praise and expressions of love for each other, Elon Musk and Donald Trump exploded their political partnership in dramatic fashion this week.The highly public split included, among other highlights, the world’s richest person accusing the president of the United States of associating with a notorious sex offender.Trump said Musk had “lost his mind”.As Musk and Trump traded insults, each on his own social network, they also issued threats with tangible consequences.Trump suggested that he could cancel all of Musk’s government contracts and subsidies – “the best way to save money”, he posted – a move that would have devastating consequences not only on the tech billionaire’s companies but also on the federal agencies that have come to depend on them.
Musk responded by announcing that he would begin decommissioning the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft that Nasa relies on for transport missions, although he later reversed the decision,While the ongoing episode had the tenor of sensational reality TV, the fight between Trump and Musk once again exposed the danger of putting key public goods in the hands of private companies controlled by erratic billionaires,It highlighted how something like space travel, once a vaunted and collective national enterprise, can now be almost entirely derailed by the emotional whims of a single person,Musk and Trump’s partnership had already fueled months of concern about corruption and calls for investigations into the Tesla CEO’s use of his position in government to benefit his companies,The breakup has highlighted another risk of Musk’s deep ties with the government, where the services that he provides can now become collateral damage in interpersonal disputes.
Tens of billions of dollars hang in the balance of their fight,The messy, public way that the clash has played out also serves as a reminder of how unpredictable their decision-making can be,Musk’s vow to sideline SpaceX’s spacecraft and his reversal, without which the US would have immediately been prevented from reaching the International Space Station (ISS), appeared, for instance, as an emotional lash-out amid a string of other insults against Trump, and it was nearly impossible to discern whether he was serious,“In light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately,” Musk posted without warning on Thursday,“Good advice.
Ok, we won’t decommission Dragon,” Musk followed up less than a day later, responding to an anonymous user with about 5,000 followers who said he should “cool off and take a step back for a couple days”.If Musk and Trump’s fight ends up disrupting government services or further turning them into political leverage, it will not have come without warning.Ever since Musk refused in 2023 to let Ukraine use Starlink in Crimea to launch a surprise attack against Russian forces, governments have dealt with the uncomfortable reality of Musk’s control over global infrastructure.Musk’s claim that he could hobble Ukraine’s “entire front line” by turning off Starlink caused a diplomatic incident earlier this year.Meanwhile, European governments have recently rushed to find alternatives to Starlink amid concerns over Musk’s unpredictability.
While Musk provoked foreign governments and acted as an unaccountable global power broker, the US has by contrast continued to hand him contracts and increase its dependence on his companies.Space operations in particular have become practically synonymous with Musk.Sign up to TechScapeA weekly dive in to how technology is shaping our livesafter newsletter promotionSince SpaceX won its first Nasa contract in 2006, the government has awarded about $15bn worth of contracts to the company and has come to depend on it for ferrying astronauts and cargo into space.Nasa has also contracted SpaceX for its planned crewed mission to the moon, as well as a mission to explore one of Saturn’s moons.Last year, the agency turned to SpaceX when it needed to rescue two astronauts stuck on the ISS.
The government’s reliance on Musk’s empire also extends beyond Nasa.The Pentagon has extensive contracts with Musk, using SpaceX to launch intelligence satellites.SpaceX was also the frontrunner in the Trump administration’s plans to build a “Golden Dome” missile defense shield, which has become a US national defense priority.Starlink, Musk’s satellite communications service, had also made inroads into the government to the point that it was installed this year at the White House.Musk is still accountable to market forces and the investors backing his companies, as was made evident on Thursday after Tesla’s shares plunged roughly 14% during his dustup with Trump.
Musk has previously stated that he is willing to lose money over his ideology, however, and his immense wealth somewhat insulates him against even large shocks to his companies.When Tesla’s shares dropped on Thursday, it wiped about $34bn off his total net worth in a single day – yet he remained the world’s richest person by a gap of more than $90bn.The extensive reliance on Musk and the privatization of government services has always drawn criticism from ethics watchdogs and some aerospace and defense industry experts, but it appears especially risky now that Musk has threatened to hold certain services hostage.It has also served as a counterpoint to the project of slashing and privatizing the federal government that Musk spent his tenure with the Trump administration carrying out.Musk has furiously campaigned against bureaucracy, courts and regulators as impediments to getting things done, but these also exist as a bulwark against exactly the kind of unaccountable personal power and erratic whims that both he and Trump put on display during their clash.
Pensions report cuts Reeves’ planned growth funds from £160bn to £11bn
Plans to invest £160bn of surplus funds from final salary pension schemes to boost the UK economy over the next 10 years have been dealt a blow by a Whitehall assessment that found there was likely to be little more than £11bn available to spend.In a knock to Rachel Reeves’s growth agenda, a report by civil servants at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) found that the expected surpluses in occupational schemes would be used by businesses to offload their pension liabilities to insurance companies.It could mean that as little as £8.4bn would be available for companies to invest in new equipment or technology, but the figure was likely to be nearer £11bn, the DWP said on Friday.“It is estimated that an additional £11
Trump bill set to add trillions to US debt pile – can America stop it climbing?
Economists are concerned, politicians are angry – but the national debt keeps growing, no matter who’s in chargeIn this febrile political era, few issues command stronger bipartisan support than the need for fiscal responsibility. Barack Obama and Donald Trump committed to curtail the US national debt on their respective roads to the White House.And yet, no matter the party, Americans have been able to count on one thing above most: the national debt will keep climbing.And here we are again. With Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” threatening to add once more to the US’s huge debts, several Republican senators are threatening to block his current spending plans, with Rand Paul of Kentucky among those highly critical
High court tells UK lawyers to stop misuse of AI after fake case-law citations
The high court has told senior lawyers to take urgent action to prevent the misuse of artificial intelligence after dozens of fake case-law citations were put before the courts that were either completely fictitious or contained made-up passages.Lawyers are increasingly using AI systems to help them build legal arguments, but two cases this year were blighted by made-up case-law citations that were either definitely or suspected to have been generated by AI.In a £89m damages case against the Qatar National Bank, the claimants made 45 case-law citations, 18 of which turned out to be fictitious, with quotes in many of the others also bogus. The claimant admitted using publicly available AI tools and his solicitor accepted he cited the sham authorities.When Haringey Law Centre challenged the London borough of Haringey over its alleged failure to provide its client with temporary accommodation, its lawyer cited phantom case law five times
Shopper put on facial ID watchlist after dispute over 39p of paracetamol at Home Bargains
A London woman has made a data complaint after discovering she had been put on a facial recognition camera watchlist at a Home Bargains store after a dispute over 39p worth of paracetamol.She learned of her entry on a database of banned customers when a member of staff at the store in Grove Farm retail park in Chadwell Heath asked her to leave and directed her attention to a Facewatch sign.Facewatch is a facial recognition system used by retailers to identify and deter shoplifters by analysing CCTV footage and comparing faces against a private database of known offenders. It triggers an alert to staff when a match is made by the software.Stores including Asda, Budgens, Sports Direct and Costcutter have used the technology, despite privacy campaigners arguing that the surveillance infringes the rights of shoppers
Leicester 21-16 Sale: Premiership rugby union semi-final – as it happened
Here’s Michael Aylwin’s verdict from Welford Road. Thanks for joining me. All eyes on Twickenham next Saturday, for Bath v Leicester in the final. Until then …As for Dan Cole, who is retiring after the final, he says: “This club means everything to me, really. I used to sit up in the stands as a boy, joined when I was 15, I’ve played with so many fantastic guys
Lambourn wins the 2025 Derby in dominant fashion: horse racing – as it happened
That’s your lot for today, a long one and one that has ended, predictably with an Aidan O’Brien winner in the Derby although maybe not with the horse many were expecting at the start of the week. The soggy ground helped Lambourn who was much the best horse on the day in the end – and was well backed after Epsom got more rain overnight going into the big day. Here is Greg Wood’s report on the big race. See you for Royal Ascot in a fortnight’s time.1 Sondad (Joanna Mason) 12-1 2 Twilight Jet (Joe Leavy) 33-1 3 Badri (Hollie Doyle) 14-1 11 ran Non Runners: 1,45
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