A new era in US politics? Donald Trump vs Elon Musk and the rise of platform power

What started as a high-profile partnership between a president and the world’s richest man has collapsed into a live-streamed feud. 

Trump and Musk are now attacking each other through the screens of millions. 

Threats are being issued through memes. National policy is being argued in posts and polls.

The US President is using his social media platform as a foreign policy too.

Something fundamental has changed in how power is exercised in America.

What happens when a President and the richest man on earth go to war?

Until last week, Elon Musk was one of Trump’s most valuable allies. 

Tesla’s CEO donated nearly $288 million to Trump and Republican candidates during the 2024 cycle.

He amplified Trump’s campaign on X.

He helped build a digital infrastructure of right-wing influence and even took an informal role in the White House as the leader of the DOGE, a now-dismantled task force aimed at cutting government waste.

Their partnership appeared seamless. Musk wore his MAGA hat and Trump awarded him a ceremonial key in the Oval Office. 

Musk hosted him on X live audio events and flooded the platform with AI-generated posts targeting Trump’s opponents. 

They shaped messaging, policy, and media cycles together, often within hours.

But it ended as quickly as it began.

The turning point came on June 3, when Musk called Trump’s flagship tax and spending bill a “disgusting abomination” and warned it would increase the national deficit. 

By June 5, the situation had exploded into a full-scale public fight.

A digital warfare

What happened next wasn’t a normal policy dispute. It was a digital collapse, complete with real-time attacks, counterattacks, and market fallout. 

On Thursday morning, Musk reposted Trump’s old tweets about debt ceilings and fiscal responsibility, suggesting the president had abandoned his own values. 

By noon, Trump responded during a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

He accused Musk of being angry about losing electric vehicle subsidies in the bill, then hinted that their relationship was likely over.

Musk escalated. He claimed he had never seen the bill’s text and posted that Trump would have lost the election without him. 

By mid-afternoon, Trump threatened to cancel all federal contracts with Musk’s companies, including Tesla and SpaceX. 

Tesla’s stock dropped 14% on Thursday, its worst single-day loss since March.

The stock is now down more than 30% since Inauguration Day.

Is social media now more powerful than the Presidency?

Trump has posted 2,262 times on Truth Social in his second term alone, according to The Washington Post. That’s more than triple the rate of his first-term Twitter activity. 

His posts mix policy, propaganda, and personal vendettas. They are often in all caps, filled with hyperbole, and echo across right-wing media before the day is over.

Musk controls X which reaches over 220 million followers. He controls the algorithm, the monetization system, and the rules. 

He has repeatedly amplified accounts that praise him, suspended those that oppose him, and used polls to make real-time decisions that affect public discourse.

Together, these two figures have reshaped the relationship between tech, politics, and the media. 

For months, their platforms operated as extensions of each other, amplifying shared goals and silencing dissent.

But now, their platforms have become weapons aimed at each other. Both control enormous reach. Neither answers to traditional institutions.

This is no longer just about politics. It’s about who controls attention.

Could social media become a weapon of State?

This feud is not just embarrassing. It’s dangerous. 

America has entered a phase where social media platforms are no longer just tools of communication but instruments of political force. 

Elon Musk and Donald Trump, each commanding their own networks, are bypassing institutions, oversight, and even internal checks. 

What once would have been managed through backchannels or official briefings is now fought out in front of hundreds of millions of users, in real time. And truth be told, the public loves it.

But the lines between governance and entertainment have collapsed.

A sitting president and the world’s richest man are weaponizing posts, memes, and polls to push narratives, settle scores, and sway public opinion, with markets, legislation, and national security hanging in the balance.

This is not politics amplified by social media. This is politics replaced by it.

When a president governs through capital-lettered “truths” and a billionaire legislates through crowd-sourced polls, the political system is unraveling into a gamified, trillion-dollar content war.

What can we expect next?

The fallout could be far more than reputational. Trump is known for turning on former allies. He may pursue regulatory retaliation or push for federal investigations into Musk’s companies.

SpaceX and Tesla, which together rely on billions in federal contracts and subsidies, are now exposed..

Musk’s recent X poll about creating a new centrist political party suggests he’s testing the waters for an ideological pivot, or perhaps a movement of his own.

This would splinter an already fractured base: MAGA populists on one side, tech libertarians on the other.

Alternatively, this could all be a facade. The two of them have now reportedly agreed to meet on Friday to temper their public feud. 

At the end of the day, the trust Americans once placed in institutions is now diffused across feeds, echo chambers, and influencer networks. 

This new type of power is one that answers only to engagement metrics.

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