Before Donald Trump’s conflict with Elon Musk turned into a raging dumpster fire, the president shared some thoughts with reporters about why his top campaign donor was moving away from him. The Republican specifically said:
I’ll be honest, I think he misses the place. I think he got out there and all of a sudden, he wasn’t in this beautiful Oval Office. I’ll tell you, he’s not the first. People leave my administration, and they love us, and then at some point, they miss it so badly, and some of them embrace it, and some of them actually become hostile. I don’t know what it is.
It was in his next breath when the president suggested that Musk, whom Trump praised and celebrated just a few days earlier, had contracted a case of “Trump derangement syndrome.”
In other words, as far as the president is concerned, Musk enjoyed the glamor and prestige of White House work; one day after exiting the complex he discovered that he missed the place; and this in turn led the billionaire to condemn the Republican Party’s domestic policy megabill — the inaptly named “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” — as “a disgusting abomination.”
If that sounds to you like an implausible explanation of the ugly Trump-Musk breakup, you’re not alone.
But let’s not brush past a detail that the president made in passing: Referencing the former DOGE chief’s newfound opposition to the GOP agenda, Trump said, “[H]e’s not the first.”
That’s true, and it’s a point worth dwelling on.
The president’s public comments suggested that he’s aware of the extraordinary number of people from his team who have become, to borrow his word, “hostile.” He added, however, “I don’t know what it is.”
Perhaps I can help.
As regular readers know, members of a presidential team have a unique perspective on an American presidency. After a chief executive chooses them for their powerful positions, these officials routinely work closely with the person behind the desk in the Oval Office, learning firsthand how a president thinks, works, prioritizes, processes information and leads.
In Trump’s case, an astonishing number of people who worked at his side, witnessing his leadership style up close, came to believe that he was the wrong man for the job. He has, after all, been condemned in no uncertain terms by retired Gen. John Kelly, Trump’s former White House chief of staff; retired Gen. James Mattis, Trump’s first defense secretary; Mark Esper, Trump’s second defense secretary, and retired Gen. Mark Milley, Trump’s choice to serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Several of these men warned the public that they saw Trump as a “fascist,” a “threat to democracy” and a man “unfit” for public office.
But they aren’t alone. Stephanie Grisham, Trump’s former White House press secretary, not only condemned him after working with him, she also spoke at the Democratic National Convention and urged the public to vote against her former boss. John Bolton, Trump’s former White House national security adviser, issued similar warnings to Americans. Even Mike Pence, Trump’s own former vice president, has become one of Trump’s most prominent Republican critics. This week, Musk unexpectedly joined the club, shortly after his failed tenure on Team Trump ended with a whimper. The president would have Americans believe that these former members of his team turned on him because they missed the White House and the status. By that reasoning, every modern president would be in a similar position, watching their former aides trash them on a regular basis. Except, that hasn’t happened at all. The opposition and condemnations that Trump has faced from leading members of his own team is unprecedented in American history. The Republican doesn’t know “what it is.” Could it have something to do with the fact that these officials got an up-close look at his work — and came away disgusted?
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
Latest Post
Recommended
