- Sep 13, 2002
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Puppet President
by William KristolAt midday yesterday, as debate raged about continuing resolutions and debt limits and a government shutdown, President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, put out a statement.
Her important but unnamed topic: Elon Musk.
For the preceding twenty-four hours, Musk had been at the center of the Republican universe. It was he who was getting the credit, the blame, and above all the attention for his decisive role in killing the continuing resolution negotiated by Speaker Mike Johnson. Trump, by contrast, had praised Johnson earlier in the week, and had been relatively silent as Musk wreaked his havoc. Trump only weighed in against the CR after the deed was done.
It seemed, as Nick Catoggio of the Dispatch put it, to be “the first time since Trump took over the party that some other populist has managed to impose his will on it.”
That perception couldn’t be allowed to stand, so Leavitt hurried to set the record straight. “As soon as President Trump released his official stance on the CR, Republicans on Capitol Hill echoed his point of view. President Trump is the leader of the Republican Party. Full stop.”
The lady doth protest too much, methinks.
And in her protest I spy a ray of hope.
As Catoggio writes, what’s striking is that Musk’s incitement of a grassroots rebellion against the CR “succeeded so spectacularly that even Donald Trump was caught off-guard.” Furthermore, “the obsequiousness that some members of Congress showed Musk as he pushed them around was also striking, as that sort of thing is typically reserved for the cult leader.”
Catoggio sums up the implication of what we all saw:
This thought has undoubtedly occurred to Trump. And Musk is undoubtedly aware Trump’s had this thought. That’s why Musk hastened to post, “First of all, I’m not the author of this proposal. Credit to @realDonaldTrump, @JDVance & @SpeakerJohnson.” It’s why, overnight, Musk posted again, accusing Trump’s critics of trying to drive a wedge between him and the president-elect by giving him the title “President Musk.”Never before in the Trump era has another populist commanded the political and financial capital needed to credibly threaten Republican politicians into doing his bidding. This is entirely new. . . . For the first time, there’s a possibility that Trump will be out-Trumped.
The man doth protest too unconvincingly.
So what lies ahead on this front? Can Musk co-exist with Trump? Does Trump try to clip Musk’s wings? Does Musk try to edge Trump aside even as Trump has the Oval Office? Can he? Out in the country, could DOGE gradually replace MAGA as the ascendant authoritarian movement?
Could Musk run, as a Republican or as an independent, for president in 2028? He’s not a natural-born citizen. But why would he and his supporters let a phrase in a centuries-old document stand in his way? The will of the people is what matters. As Musk has tweeted more than once, Vox populi = Vox dei.
Trump seems, judging from his 3:00 am tweets, to be staying awake nights. He should be. It’s his movement. Or, at least, it has been his movement. He’s Lenin. But Stalin loiters in the wings.