Trump and Musk: A powerful but unlikely alliancepublished at 05:47 British Summer Time
Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent
Elon Musk and Donald Trump
had forged a powerful but unlikely alliance, culminating in the tech
billionaire holding a key position of budget-slashing authority in the Trump
administration.
Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or Doge, became one
of the biggest stories of Trump’s first 100 days, as it shuttered entire
agencies and sacked thousands of government workers.
It wasn’t long,
however, before speculation began over when – and how – the two outsized
personalities would ultimately fall out.
For a while, it
seemed like those predictions were off the mark. Trump stood by Musk even as
the latter’s popularity dropped, feuded with administration officials and became a liability in several key elections earlier this year.
Every time it
appeared there would be a break, Musk would…
