US voters re-elected Donald Trump. At the moment, it looks like they also elected Elon Musk. He's acting like a shadow president, Peter Kafka writes.

Summary

Elon Musk, having endorsed and campaigned for Donald Trump, is now acting as a “shadow president,” advising on policies and personnel, and joining Trump on calls with world leaders.

This unprecedented relationship between the world’s richest man and the leader of the free world raises concerns about the influence of wealth on government.

While both Trump and Musk have incentives to continue their partnership, their volatile personalities and differing expertise may lead to a breakup in the future.

  • ziggurat@lemmy.world
    381·
    2 days ago

    The US presidency is no longer considered the leader of the free world… Not since 2016

    • Krono@lemmy.today
      292·
      2 days ago

      2016?! My brother in christ, the corporate takeover of American government was finalized with Reagan back in the 80s.

      We may be entering a new phase of Fucking Around with fascism, but most of these modern problems are just us Finding Out how a corporatocracy functions.

      • Queen HawlSera@lemm.eeEnglish
        4·
        13 hours ago

        Remember when every state except for fucking Minnesota voted for him?

        No really, that happened

      • ziggurat@lemmy.world
        12·
        2 days ago

        I have to age my self and say that I am a year younger than the end of the Regan precidency…

        But I can distinctly remember people in the 90s gushing over wanting to have green cards, and getting hand made dolls and dresses from America.

        And if I reflect on recent history, Nixon probably did more than Regan did to turn the helm of the ship strictly towards all the icebergs

        I really like your comment, but I think Trump did what the other bafoons couldn’t. Get normal people not interested in politics to understand this point. And thus both our comments have merit

        • AngryRobot@lemmy.world
          2·
          10 hours ago

          Reagen deregulation our public airwaves and got rid of the rules about how many tv snd radio stations that a single entity could own. This directly led to media corps like Sinclair buying up most stations in many markets and forcing their ness to carry their propaganda.

          We need a new Fairness Doctrine for the digital age. That was specifically a guard abaoponst this shit, and Reagan did away with thst too. In fact, Reagan imple,ended 2/3 of the Heritage Foundation’s policy recommendations in Project 1981.

          • ziggurat@lemmy.world
            1·
            21 minutes ago

            Thanks, I hadn’t read up anything about Regan before, to me he was just the joke unbelievable actor turned president that made it harder for Doc Brown to believe Marth McFly had traveled back in time.

            (Note: I’m not American)

            Was project 81 similar to project 25? This heritage foundation sounds like a pedofile ring