Trump / Musk (other than DOGE)

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Perhaps this has been discussed already, somewhere within the bowels of 590+ pages, and I guess this is the appropriate thread on which to ponder this... but here goes...

1) Musk's Teslas are 100% electric, correct? Were they not first thought to be "green" and something a progressive, climate conscious person may like? You know, dirt munching tree hugging Druids, who are almost all - to a man/woman - liberal, worldly, progressives.

2) Trump wants to "drill baby drill" and placate the fossil fuel oligarchs and companies. The EXACT opposite of EV's and what Musk has going on at Tesla. Correct?
Strange bed-fellows in that regard, to be sure.

3) So why on earth would Musk want to back Trump? I mean "tax-breaks" sure... but with Musk's Gazillions - should he really care that much if his tax bracket goes up a nudge? He can afford it, surely. It just seems antithetical for him NOT to back a "green" candidate so he can sell more "green" cars. Now look at him. He's at complete odds with Trump, Navarro and the other gas guzzling arseholes.

4) With the in-fighting now between the Musk bros and Trump (and the off-his-rocker tariffs which are decimating the Tesla brand), one would think old Elon may be having buyer's remorse in backing the wrong horse.

5) Should Trump finally, and ultimately solidify his Dictatorship a la Putin and Russia - is Elon going to be one of the first oligarchs to "fall out of a window" should the in-fighting get worse - and Musk decides to pull his money and his backing of MAGA and Trump?

It just seem like an EV auto maker wouldn't want to bankroll a drill baby drill candidate who wants to impose tariffs to supposedly shore up the American gas eating auto industry. That's a disconnect in anybody's book. And on the other side of that coin, it's easy to see where a trump prick would want to "say" anything to get the financial backing of an oligarch - regardless of his EV making "save the whales" business. Tell him what he wants to hear; get his money to win the election, and then shit on him and stab him and his business in the back. It certainly follows the trump narrative... but why did Elon fall for that schtick? I guess he's not as smart as he thinks he is.
 
Centerpiece said:
Perhaps this has been discussed already, somewhere within the bowels of 590+ pages, and I guess this is the appropriate thread on which to ponder this... but here goes...

1) Musk's Teslas are 100% electric, correct? Were they not first thought to be "green" and something a progressive, climate conscious person may like? You know, dirt munching tree hugging Druids, who are almost all - to a man/woman - liberal, worldly, progressives.

2) Trump wants to "drill baby drill" and placate the fossil fuel oligarchs and companies. The EXACT opposite of EV's and what Musk has going on at Tesla. Correct?
Strange bed-fellows in that regard, to be sure.

3) So why on earth would Musk want to back Trump? I mean "tax-breaks" sure... but with Musk's Gazillions - should he really care that much if his tax bracket goes up a nudge? He can afford it, surely. It just seems antithetical for him NOT to back a "green" candidate so he can sell more "green" cars. Now look at him. He's at complete odds with Trump, Navarro and the other gas guzzling arseholes.

4) With the in-fighting now between the Musk bros and Trump (and the off-his-rocker tariffs which are decimating the Tesla brand), one would think old Elon may be having buyer's remorse in backing the wrong horse.

5) Should Trump finally, and ultimately solidify his Dictatorship a la Putin and Russia - is Elon going to be one of the first oligarchs to "fall out of a window" should the in-fighting get worse - and Musk decides to pull his money and his backing of MAGA and Trump?

It just seem like an EV auto maker wouldn't want to bankroll a drill baby drill candidate who wants to impose tariffs to supposedly shore up the American gas eating auto industry. That's a disconnect in anybody's book. And on the other side of that coin, it's easy to see where a trump prick would want to "say" anything to get the financial backing of an oligarch - regardless of his EV making "save the whales" business. Tell him what he wants to hear; get his money to win the election, and then shit on him and stab him and his business in the back. It certainly follows the trump narrative... but why did Elon fall for that schtick? I guess he's not as smart as he thinks he is.
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I think Musk has given up on Tesla. He should have hired a real CEO years ago. At the moment, Tesla is a wreck. Its cars have major quality issues these days; there's no innovation going on, other than their idiotic non-functional self-driving features. The only reason Musk is still there, I suspect, is that the stock would crater upon his departure, because the stock market has gotten really stupid.

So Musk supports Trump, who will give him the tariffs his business needs to survive. Sure, he won't sell much in China these days, but they already weren't selling much in China because the Chinese make better cars for 1/3 the price. The only market where Tesla is a leader is the US market, and that's not going to last forever.

The other factor is that Musk seems increasingly infatuated with his space business. As I understand it, SpaceX was his real love. Tesla was the day job, so to speak, to finance SpaceX. Remember: Musk loves his companies to be on the public dole, racking up subsidies they don't need or are even eligible for without cheating. And if that's your goal, Trump is your guy.

Finally, Musk does seem like a drug addict. His judgment is truly impaired. He seems to have gotten red pilled almost by mistake. I mean, does the guy who brought you the Cybertruck seem like a guy who is responsibly managing a business?
 
superrific said:
I think Musk has given up on Tesla. He should have hired a real CEO years ago. At the moment, Tesla is a wreck. Its cars have major quality issues these days; there's no innovation going on, other than their idiotic non-functional self-driving features. The only reason Musk is still there, I suspect, is that the stock would crater upon his departure, because the stock market has gotten really stupid.

So Musk supports Trump, who will give him the tariffs his business needs to survive. Sure, he won't sell much in China these days, but they already weren't selling much in China because the Chinese make better cars for 1/3 the price. The only market where Tesla is a leader is the US market, and that's not going to last forever.

The other factor is that Musk seems increasingly infatuated with his space business. As I understand it, SpaceX was his real love. Tesla was the day job, so to speak, to finance SpaceX. Remember: Musk loves his companies to be on the public dole, racking up subsidies they don't need or are even eligible for without cheating. And if that's your goal, Trump is your guy.

Finally, Musk does seem like a drug addict. His judgment is truly impaired. He seems to have gotten red pilled almost by mistake. I mean, does the guy who brought you the Cybertruck seem like a guy who is responsibly managing a business?
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This might be the only thing that makes sense: Musk/SpaceX/needs a Ronnie Raygun Republican to bankroll it and give him free reins.
Tesla was/is just baggage that only gets in the way. I can buy that.... so why is Musk publicly "crying" to Trump to save Tesla? If that business is a goner and an albatross... let it die on the vine without publicly humiliating yourself and grovelling at Trumps knees in a Blowjob type pose?
 
finesse said:
Not paying attention but I think Space X is the real new toy. I expect Musk wants as much pull as it gets when it comes to negotiating rights in space.
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Centerpiece said:
Perhaps this has been discussed already, somewhere within the bowels of 590+ pages, and I guess this is the appropriate thread on which to ponder this... but here goes...

1) Musk's Teslas are 100% electric, correct? Were they not first thought to be "green" and something a progressive, climate conscious person may like? You know, dirt munching tree hugging Druids, who are almost all - to a man/woman - liberal, worldly, progressives.

2) Trump wants to "drill baby drill" and placate the fossil fuel oligarchs and companies. The EXACT opposite of EV's and what Musk has going on at Tesla. Correct?
Strange bed-fellows in that regard, to be sure.

3) So why on earth would Musk want to back Trump? I mean "tax-breaks" sure... but with Musk's Gazillions - should he really care that much if his tax bracket goes up a nudge? He can afford it, surely. It just seems antithetical for him NOT to back a "green" candidate so he can sell more "green" cars. Now look at him. He's at complete odds with Trump, Navarro and the other gas guzzling arseholes.

4) With the in-fighting now between the Musk bros and Trump (and the off-his-rocker tariffs which are decimating the Tesla brand), one would think old Elon may be having buyer's remorse in backing the wrong horse.

5) Should Trump finally, and ultimately solidify his Dictatorship a la Putin and Russia - is Elon going to be one of the first oligarchs to "fall out of a window" should the in-fighting get worse - and Musk decides to pull his money and his backing of MAGA and Trump?

It just seem like an EV auto maker wouldn't want to bankroll a drill baby drill candidate who wants to impose tariffs to supposedly shore up the American gas eating auto industry. That's a disconnect in anybody's book. And on the other side of that coin, it's easy to see where a trump prick would want to "say" anything to get the financial backing of an oligarch - regardless of his EV making "save the whales" business. Tell him what he wants to hear; get his money to win the election, and then shit on him and stab him and his business in the back. It certainly follows the trump narrative... but why did Elon fall for that schtick? I guess he's not as Tru
Click to expand...
 
www.forbes.com

Elon Musk’s Epic Cybertruck Fail

Elon Musk’s polygonal pickup is a polarizing sales flop that's missed the billionaire’s volume goal by a staggering 84%. And there’s no sign that things are improving.
www.forbes.com www.forbes.com

Judged solely on sales, Musk’s Cybertruck is actually doing a lot worse than Edsel, a name that’s become synonymous with a disastrous product misfire. Ford hoped to sell 200,000 Edsels a year when it hit the market in 1958, but managed just 63,000. Sales plunged in 1959 and the brand was dumped in 1960. Musk predicted that Cybertruck might see 250,000 annual sales. Tesla sold just under 40,000 in 2024, its first full year. There’s no sign that volume is rising this year, with sales trending lower in January and February, according to Cox Automotive.

...

Ultimately, Musk opted for a stainless steel exterior, the same choice Delorean made for his ill-fated sports car four decades earlier. But because Musk isn’t a production engineer, he may not have fully appreciated the challenges it presents versus aluminum or composite materials, the person said. Aside from the fact that stainless steel shows handprints–a common gripe about kitchen appliances–it’s hard to bend and likes to snap back to its original shape, one of the reasons there have been problems with Cybertruck body panels.

“This is where I think they misconstrued the tradeoff,” Mercer said. “They drooled over not spending $200 million on a paint shop, but probably spent that much trying to get the stainless steel to work.”

Developing Cybertruck, including tooling expenses to make it in Austin, probably cost Tesla about $900 million, he estimated. And unlike the company’s other vehicles, like the Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover, it doesn’t appear that the Cybertruck shares any development and production costs with other Tesla products.

“Does it have a demonstrated technology that could be used elsewhere by the company? That is not the case,” Mercer said. “Can the manufacturing plant make all this other stuff based on investments for Cybertruck? No, it can’t. An unpainted stainless steel vehicle just doesn’t have that much broad traction.”
 
And the big thing with Cybertruck buyers is to paint them after the purchase. Matte black is a popular choice. I saw a BRIGHT yellow one in Urtown Charlotte recently, but that might have been Lamelo Ball. He also has a Lamborghini that is bright yellow and a big honkin’ Hummer painted in a camouflage pattern.
 
farce© said:
And the big thing with Cybertruck buyers is to paint them after the purchase. Matte black is a popular choice. I saw a BRIGHT yellow one in Urtown Charlotte recently, but that might have been Lamelo Ball. He also has a Lamborghini that is bright yellow and a big honkin’ Hummer painted in a camouflage pattern.
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I learned today that I don't like Lamelo Ball. I thought he was a good player who had matured since initially bursting on the scene (not surprising given his age at the time of said bursting), but a person who owns a Cybertruck and a Hummer will not obtain my allegiance as a fan.
 
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