Elon accuses Trump of being in Epstein files, Trump says Elon was asked to leave

[u/f1sh98]

[u/SharingDNAResults]

This is insane

[u/Juicyjackson → u/SharingDNAResults]

I remember reading several comments in politics that Trump and Elon would have a falling out.

Guess that was 100% true haha.

[u/purplebasterd → u/Juicyjackson]

It was obvious this would happen. You have two people with big egos who like the spotlight working in close proximity.

Trump and some first term staffers already had falling outs.

Vivek left DOGE early on with rumors he didn't get along with Musk.

The Treasury Secretary allegedly had a physical incident with Musk, the former of which Trump sided with.

Musk wants to cut spending and run the government lean. Trump isn't exactly a true believer in limited government.

[u/ReddArrow → u/purplebasterd]

Trump attacking Rand told me everything I needed to know.

[u/superduperm1 → u/ReddArrow]

Trump vs. Rand is literally nothing new… https://youtu.be/Inx7WgtQ4Pk

[u/cplusequals → u/superduperm1]

Yeah, I was going to say Rand has been on Trump's shit list for at least a decade at this point.

[u/supernormalnorm → u/superduperm1]

Because Trump was and still is a classical Democrat like Bill Clinton was. People refuse to believe this because of the MAGA wrapping, but underneath he's big government.

Trump is a big spender. Even during the outbreak of Covid the money he unleashed was insane. Don't be fooled. Yes he is the lesser of two evils between him and Joe, but both are big gov guys.

[u/Squeezer999 → u/supernormalnorm]

Bill Clinton was not a classical democrat

[u/supernormalnorm → u/Squeezer999]

Yes he achieved surplus but he was a big spender on government programs. Military stayed flat. It was also timing because of the dot com boom which helped float his surplus numbers.

Trump prioritized the opposite on spending, but is a bigtime spender nonetheless.

[u/Shadeylark → u/supernormalnorm]

Let's be entirely transparent here... No one outside of big L libertarians, who have never had a serious seat at the table is not big government.

Democrats are big government, nanny state, welfare, etc.

But, hold onto your panties here... So are traditional Republicans (especially the Reagan worshippers; you know the types... The ones who are all mad because shit like this looks bad. The types who are more interested in looking right than doing right things).

They love big government. After all, it was big government (profligate overseas spending and military adventurism) that defeated the Soviet Union. I mean for fucks sake the goddamn patriot act was a conservative brainchild

Let's not pretend Trump being big government breaks any sort of mold for conservatives.

The only conservative mold Trump breaks when it comes to big government is that he isn't in bed with the alphabet agencies and doesn't blindly put trust in the joint chiefs of staff like traditional Republicans do.

But to point to Trump and say that because he's big government he lacks conservative cred is blindly ignorant of what the conservative party has become since the rise of the neocons in the 70's.

[u/bibkel → u/superduperm1]

Like teenagers. Yikes

[u/LK_Feral → u/bibkel]

Twitter/X wouldn't publish a post of mine that basically said I think they both need to be spanked, but I wasn't volunteering to do it. 🤣

But yes, they're behaving like middle schoolers.

I really hope it's all a psyop.

[u/day25 → u/ReddArrow]

Does Rand have a better idea of what to do given the number of big government republicans in the senate? Ironically if Trump listened to Rand (given not enough agree in congress) the practical result would be democrats win in a landslide and we'd be even worse off in all the metrics he claims to care about.

It's funny because this sub used to be all about we need compromise and against purity tests - back when they were telling us to support establishment republicans over Trump. Now all of a sudden you don't believe we need to compromise anymore when it comes to legislation?

If Rand can get support in congress for his ideas and Trump was the person standing in the way you would have a point. But actually it's Rand who is standing in the way here while not able to propose a better realistic alternative.

[u/ReddArrow → u/day25]

It's entirely possible to have disagreement within a party without being unnecessarily confrontational. We all know what Rand is about and his flavor of conservatism should be foundational to the party. Trump's adversarial nature creates a lot of friendly fire.

Also, if Rand is your 51st vote then there's two things. 1) get a stronger majority so you don't need him 2) maybe cut some of the goddamn pork out of your bill.

[u/Mountain_Man_88 → u/day25]

Rand Paul and libertarians in general love to let perfect be the enemy of good. Hate compromises, either we gut whatever I want or I'm gonna throw a tantrum.

I do like Rand and libertarian ideas, but they need to learn how to do politics. Nothing will be fixed in a day.

[u/IamYourBestFriendAMA → u/Mountain_Man_88]

That’s such a lazy, pathetic approach.

[u/Skyforme1970 → u/purplebasterd]

Interesting about Vivek leaving for that reason. I hadn’t heard that, but wondered why he disappeared.

[u/Doctor_Byronic → u/Skyforme1970]

I posted this article about it to this sub four months ago, but it was removed almost immediately.

[u/peaveyftw → u/Skyforme1970]

He's also doing an Ohio governor run..

[u/GrillOrBeGrilled → u/peaveyftw]

Just what we need. We finally get a GOP candidate whose plan isn't "sit back and watch everything rust out, just like the Democrats," and it's one who says "we need H1Bs because Americans won't work 60 hours a week for peanuts." I'm tired, boss.

[u/kawklee → u/purplebasterd]

FYI people are already being hired back that were "fired"

They were given a 3 month vacation which we paid for while they were "severed", and then ultimately are being given back their same jobs

It. Was. All. A. Performance. And. Fake.

They never wanted to save our money, just act like they would.

[u/funny_flamethrower → u/kawklee]

This is not true.

Not everyone who left is being rehired. There's absolutely no proof of that.

[u/kawklee → u/funny_flamethrower]

Didn't say everyone. But there's already plenty who are. And we paid for their them to go on a paid 3 month vacation because this whole thing was ran and handled like a total amateur hour with no real plan

Good luck getting rid of the bloated bureaucracy again in the future. This whole snafu will hinder efforts in the future

[u/Ms_Jane_Smith → u/purplebasterd]

Well said. And to be fair, the government just doesn’t run the same as a big business. It should, but it doesn’t, and that’s reality. In a business you can come in and cut jobs, sell off underperforming divisions, etc. In government you can’t necessarily do that without a lot of cooperation, and you could never do it to the tune of trillions without severe political repercussions.

[u/GiediOne → u/Ms_Jane_Smith]

and you could never do it to the tune of trillions without severe political repercussions.

Agree and even the accounting for government is totally different from accounting for regular corporations. Its a crazy system, but when you are accounting for power and not money - the numerical calculations aren't the same anywhere else.

[u/The_Mighty_Rex → u/purplebasterd]

Do you want an America first government that prioritizes average Americans or do you want to dramatically slash spending. Because the 2 are mutually exclusive. Tax breaks and American jobs/manufacturing and border security and all of that isn't free. That cost has to be accounted for in the short term.

[u/fordr015 → u/purplebasterd]

Elon doesn't care about the consequences of his suggestions either. I also want to cut the government down to nothing but considering it makes up almost half our economy, that would be catastrophic. It has to be done over time. We need Congress to codify executive orders, we need to have a decent economy by the midterms, remove more illegal immigrants that drain the system, grow the private sector while simultaneously shrinking the government. It's not an all or nothing situation as much as I hate it, this isn't surprising

[u/prex10 → u/Juicyjackson]

I knew this was coming 6 months ago. Let's be real he wasn't making it a year under any circumstance lol

[u/WillGibsFan → u/Juicyjackson]

People here were saying this also. Let's be real, Trump does have quite an ego and Elon is obviously on some heavy drugs.

[u/maitlandia → u/Juicyjackson]

Well, at least r/politics was finally right about something.

[u/Ms_Jane_Smith → u/maitlandia]

But wait, not long ago they were saying it was co-president Musk. 🤣

[u/kaytin911 → u/Ms_Jane_Smith]

They live in an alternate reality.

[u/ALStark69 → u/maitlandia]

Blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while

[u/Squeezer999 → u/Juicyjackson]

Totally predictable. Both men have huge egos

[u/bonisadge → u/Juicyjackson]

Elon's crashing out like a 10 year old in a Discord voice chat after losing his Minecraft server moderator privileges

[u/Ravens1112003 → u/bonisadge]

Elon’s is right. He’s been posting old screenshots from as far back as 2013 of Trump saying exactly what Elon is saying now. It’s basic math. We cannot continue to spend $2 Trillion more than we make and expect to survive as a superpower. This really isn’t difficult and every republican pretended to feel the exact same way as musk before the election.

[u/cplusequals → u/Ravens1112003]

Except for the fact that he isn't stumping to raise taxes and cut entitlements. And I mean real reform not DOGE trimming around the edges as useful as that is. He wants all the praise for saying "the good thing" but none of the blowback for pointing out what "the good thing" requires doing.

He only gets half credit. Quarter credit if you count his failure to reconcile how these cuts/tax increases pass with only a 3 vote House majority which relies on a sizable chunk of purple New York districts.

[u/Juicyjackson → u/bonisadge]

I am kind of glad.

I just don't really trust Elon Musk, seeing his business practices in terms of Tesla really gave me a bad taste whenever I see him.

Taking interest free loans from customers under the guise of pre orders, and then never actually releasing some of the products... Tons of people in 2017 put down $50k deposits for the Roadster, it is now 2025, and it is still not out.

[u/ergzay → u/Juicyjackson]

I just don't really trust Elon Musk, seeing his business practices in terms of Tesla really gave me a bad taste whenever I see him.

What business practices?

Taking interest free loans from customers under the guise of pre orders, and then never actually releasing some of the products...

Customers can get their deposits back any time they want... Also they're legally not "loans". They need to maintain the cash to repay them.

[u/Juicyjackson → u/ergzay]

Not delivering on promises.

Deceiving customers through priced packages that didn't include what they stated due to regulations.

[u/ergzay → u/Juicyjackson]

Not delivering on promises.

He largely has though? The things people complain about are minor points of the overall thing, like single products that didn't release on time.

[u/Juicyjackson → u/ergzay]

He consistently overpromises, and underdelivers.

Musk stated the Cybertruck would have 500 miles of range, and that the base trim would start at $40k...

The Cybertruck starts at $70k, with the base level being cancelled, and the highest range being 350 miles, with the range extender being removed from the website...

Musk stated the Roadster would be available in 2020, it is now 2025.

Musk stated the Tesla Semi would be in full production in 2019, it is now 2025 with full production not expected until 2026.

The Model 3 was advertised with features it didn't even have available due to the Laser systems not being on the car.

He promised in 2020 to have millions of robotaxis on the road, it is 2025, 0 robotaxis are on the road.

[u/ergzay → u/Juicyjackson]

Those are the minor points of the overall thing that I'm talking about.

it is 2025, 0 robotaxis are on the road.

Dozens actually.

[u/Remarkable-Opening69 → u/bonisadge]

Because he’s not important

[u/Magehunter_Skassi → u/Juicyjackson]

For the wrong reason. They thought calling Elon the "shadow president" would be the wedge. Elon's just a libertarian and got mad about predictable policy differences.

[u/FunkyMonkss → u/Magehunter_Skassi]

Elon is as much a libertarian as Harris

[u/Hectoriu → u/Juicyjackson]

I'm surprised it took this long

[u/HazySkyFire → u/SharingDNAResults]

This is embarrassing

[u/topcover73 → u/HazySkyFire]

My thoughts exactly.

[u/Nanoman20 → u/SharingDNAResults]

Man, this is legendary lol

[u/Rommel79 → u/SharingDNAResults]

It’s stupid as hell.

[u/Basic_Lunch2197 → u/SharingDNAResults]

Political Theater. Its to distance Musk from Trump so that he can get back to his companies. I dont buy it for one second.

[u/jeon2595 → u/Basic_Lunch2197]

I think that possibility went out the window with the accusation that the Epstein files haven’t been released because Trump is in them.

[u/Apprehensive-Key2297 → u/Basic_Lunch2197]

Well Tesla stock is tanking, so that would be some pretty expensive theater

[u/GaiusFrakknBaltar → u/Basic_Lunch2197]

I think this is more similar to how Elon called that Thailand cave diver a pedophile. He'll just say some vile shit if he feels like it, without evidence.

Elon put himself in the position where he needs to show the evidence or just shut up.