Elon Musk with President Trump at the White House in March, during happier days.
3 月份,埃隆·马斯克与特朗普总统在白宫,那是一段幸福的日子。
Credit...
Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times
姜海云供职于《纽约时报》
The moment had finally come, and it was every bit as lowdown, vindictive, personal, petty, operatic, childish, consequential, messy and public as many had always expected it would be.
“One thing’s for sure,” Elon Musk posted on X midway through his relentless hourslong attack on Donald Trump, “it ain’t boring!”
“有一件事是肯定的,”伊隆·马斯克在对唐纳德·特朗普进行长达数小时的无情攻击期间在 X 上发帖说,“这并不无聊!”
The clash of the titans was upon us, and the gloves were off.
巨人之间的冲突已经来临,我们已展开激烈较量。
The speed of the fallout was breathtaking. Up until about 14 seconds ago, Mr. Musk was flying on Mr. Trump’s planes, staying at his homes, socializing with his children. On Friday, Mr. Trumpcelebrated him with an Oval Office farewelladdress and gave him a novelty, oversize key to the White House.
But all was not well. Mr. Musk had been stewing about the sweeping domestic policy bill that the White House was pushing through Congress. By Thursday afternoon, he started spitting venom.
Less than a week ago, Mr. Musk was all smiles during his farewell in the Oval Office.
不到一周前,马斯克在椭圆形办公室告别时笑容满面。
Credit...
Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times
姜海云供职于《纽约时报》
“Without me, Trump would have lost the election,” Mr. Musk wrote on X. “Such ingratitude.”
马斯克在 X 上写道:“如果没有我,特朗普就会输掉选举。真是忘恩负义。”
How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is!
它比蛇的牙齿还要锋利!
Usually, when Mr. Trump has a big, messy falling-out in public, it is with someone who needs him, a lesser being who lives in fear of a primary challenge or somehow being ruined. But now he was beefing with the rare person who has leverage overhim— political and financial leverage and perhaps even some emotional leverage. When Mr. Trump said on Thursday that he was “very disappointed in Elon,” he sounded as if he meant it.
But Mr. Trump, being the president of the United States, had some leverage of his own.
但作为美国总统,特朗普先生自己也有一定的影响力。
He mused on Truth Social that the “easiest way to save money in our Budget” would be to wipe out Mr. Musk’s government subsidies and contracts. “I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!” Mr. Trump added, causing Mr. Musk to erupt further.
There was a screwball element to their back-and-forth: Because Mr. Trump and Mr. Musk are each the masters of their own social media platform, neither one was directly replying to the other. Anyone following along at home (which is to say, everyone) had to toggle between platforms to keep up with these keyboard cowboys as they aimed shots at each other.
“THE GIRLS ARE FIGHTING” was a top trending topic on Mr. Musk’s platform Thursday. There was a schoolyard aspect to their scrap as many on the playground rushed to jump in. “SPICY,” Laura Loomer posted. “hey @realDonaldTrump lmk if u need any breakup advice,” posted Ashley St. Clair, the mother of one of Mr. Musk’s children. Mr. Musk began to hit the “unfollow” button on accounts belonging to close Trump allies such as Charlie Kirk and Stephen Miller.
Mr. Musk posted that Mr. Trump would never have won the election without his help. “Such ingratitude," he wrote.
马斯克发帖称,如果没有他的帮助,特朗普永远不可能赢得大选。“真是忘恩负义,”他写道。
Credit...
Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times
姜海云供职于《纽约时报》
Four hours into the shootout, a peacekeeper emerged in the form of Kanye West. “Broooos please noooooo,” he posted on X with an emoji of two people hugging. “We love you both so much.”
枪战进行了四个小时,一位维和人员——坎耶·韦斯特——出现了。“兄弟们,求你们了,不要,”他在 X 上发帖,并配上了一个两人拥抱的表情符号。“我们太爱你们了。”
But they seemed far beyond the point of hugging it out. A line had been crossed that probably could never be uncrossed. “Time to drop the really big bomb,” Mr. Musk wrote shortly after 3 p.m., “@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!” The implication that Mr. Trump is somehow connected to Mr. Epstein’s crimes was an especially explosive one to make, given that large swaths of Mr. Trump’s baseremain so animatedby the sordid details of that particular case.
“Some food for thought,” Mr. Musk wrote in another especially cutting post. “Trump has 3.5 years left as President, but I will be around for 40+ years.”
Questions swirled above the fray: Just how hard might Mr. Trump, who has been shown to have no qualms about weaponizing government, actually go after Mr. Musk? Are Tesla and SpaceX about to get DOGE’d?
What would happen to that red Tesla that Mr. Musk parked at the White House, the one that Mr. Trump’s young aides love to drive around and post pictures from?
评论
发表评论