US President Donald Trump has gotten into a public spat with Elon Musk, and it's left experts wondering what this could mean for next year's midterm elections.
The pair have taken aim at each other on social media, with Trump threatening to cut federal contracts helping Musk and Musk calling for Trump's impeachment - among other accusations.
US correspondent Dan Mitchinson says people are looking to the future - and many have opted to 'stay in the shadows'.
"Especially with so much relying on this tax and domestic policy that the President's trying to pass."
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News Talks EDB, and the war.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Of words between Elon Musk and President Donald Trump continues
with the latest. US correspondent Dan Mitchinson joins me.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Now, good morning, Dan, and good morning to you.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Okay, President Trump and Elon Musk, how could this relationship
and the deterioration of this relationship hurt the Republicans going
into midterm elections next year? Do you think?
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Well? I think that's gonna be a big question right
now too, just because both sides are a little raw.
One of your colleagues recently asked me if there could
be a winner in this battle between this between these two,
and I said, well, maybe, I wasn't sure. But if
you look at the long game and the more I've
had time to think about this, I mean, Trump's in
office for another couple of years, then he's out into
(00:57):
the private sector. Elon Musk he's in this for as
long as he wants to be. And then you've got
all these politicians that are looking ahead to the midterms
next year and are thinking, Okay, maybe we should just
stay in the ship and see how this plays out
for the time being, especially with so much relying on
this tax and domestic policy that the president's trying to pass.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
So Trump is threatening serious consequences if Musk turns and
starts fundraising or supporting the Democrats. First of all, do
you think we could actually see that from Musk?
Speaker 3 (01:27):
I don't know, to tell you the truth. I think
he has enough of an ego where he might just
want to poke the bear. But he did say die
he being Donald Trump. Earlier today he said his relationship
with Musk is over, and he did say, quote, serious
consequences if Musk starts to fund Democrats who are running Republicans,
but he didn't really say what those consequences would be.
(01:49):
And he went on to add that he had not
had any discussions about whether to investigate Musk, and just
yesterday he said, you know what, I haven't even had
a chance to think about him. I'm not even he's
not even on my radar right now. Well obviously he is,
because hours later he's talking about these quote consequences.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
We have seen a little bit of a de escalation
though of the tweets coming from the two of them.
Do you think they both just yes, is this a
temporary pause.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
Do you think, Dad, it might be? I mean it
might be. And you know what I want to circle
back to say. I mean, this is something where I
hate to say I told you so, but I kind
of told you so because six or seven months ago,
when we were talking about this, I said this would
be lucky the last six months, because you've got two
of the biggest egos in the world, and two of
the most powerful people in the world, and two people
(02:38):
who love to say what they're thinking without first thinking
about the consequences. And I don't think this was ever
going to be a long lasting friendship. I think this
was going to be a couple of people trying to
get the most out of each other while they could.
And Musk was never going to stick around for the
long term. I mean, he's got his own company to run, which,
by the way, stock in Tesla has just been tanking
since he turned his attention away from it. And you know,
(02:58):
Trump gave Musk this congratulatory Oval Office send off for
his work leading up to all the cost cutting efforts
in the administration. He gave him a golden key and
the White House insignia on it, and then days later
this whole thing explodes. So it's like watching a couple
of kids on a playground going back and forth, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
It is? Well, it is probably the most predictable thing
to come out of President Trump's you know time so far,
isn't it. As you say, we all kind of were
waiting for it, and then it looked like that we're
almost going to be adults about it, and then it
kind of all blew up a bit. Iglin also mentioned
the need for a third political party in the UE East.
(03:36):
Do you think he's seriously considered funding.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
One, Oh boy, you know, if anybody could, I mean,
he'd be the guy to do it. I mean, he
says it's time for this political party to represent I
think he said the eighty percent in the middle, And
you're right, I mean, we do need a third party.
But the last time that we had anybody of significance
was was decades ago when we had Ross prow who
got any you know, really significant part of the vote.
(04:00):
But I think he's going to want to. I think
he's going to want to repair his relationship with Trump
as things cooled down between the two little bit circling
back to what you asked, me a little bit. And
if he were to go ahead with the third party,
even with Trump not able to run again after this,
I think Trump would just do everything in his power
to try and put a damper on that and scare Republicans,
(04:20):
just like he did before he ran for a second term.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
We mentioned before. You know, Trumps is strong out these
two words. You know, serious consequences. You'd have to presume
that that would be around Musk's business interests and talking
about regulations and investigations and things, wouldn't you.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
I think so. I mean, you've had people that have said, Okay,
you've got to look into Musk's background, let's let's kick
him out of the country. But you've also got Trump
talking about revoking his Musk's ally Jared Isacman to head
the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration. And apparently the
reason why that happened was because somebody had said, hey,
(05:02):
mister Trump, this guy had donated in the past to Democrats,
and that kind of let this fuse. In all fairness,
I think has been pretty obvious that he wanted to
buy his way into the US space program such as
it is since day one with this relationship. So you're right.
I think if Trump really wants to hurt Musk, it's
by saying, Okay, we're not going to use use you
for this anymore. And if Musk wants to hurt the US,
(05:23):
because right now NASA is not in a great position,
it's to say, Okay, well, if you're going to be
like this, then I'm going to pull my space Dragon
or my SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, which is the only one
that we have right now capable of sending astronauts to
the International Space Station, although Musk has backed off that
just a little bit.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Dan at the end of the day, I don't that
we're going to have it outright when or aren't we.
They've both got a certain amount of power and a
lot of money and a social media platform in their pocket,
haven't they.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
Well, they do, they do. I mean, who knows what
Trump's going to do when he's out of office. I'm sure
he's going to remain very high profile. And if we're
talking the long game, I mean, Musk is can ride
this out as long as he wants with a few
bumps in the current administration. So I think he's going
to come all right, but we'll still have some maybe
some bruises from going up against Trump, who never likes
to back down or admit he's wrong, even when he is.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
I think we probably will. Thank you so much that
with you, his correspondent Dan Mitchison.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks it'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News Talks EDB, and the war.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Of words between Elon Musk and President Donald Trump continues
with the latest. US correspondent Dan Mitchinson joins me.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Now, good morning, Dan, and good morning to you.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Okay, President Trump and Elon Musk, how could this relationship
and the deterioration of this relationship hurt the Republicans going
into midterm elections next year? Do you think?
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Well? I think that's gonna be a big question right
now too, just because both sides are a little raw.
One of your colleagues recently asked me if there could
be a winner in this battle between this between these two,
and I said, well, maybe, I wasn't sure. But if
you look at the long game and the more I've
had time to think about this, I mean, Trump's in
office for another couple of years, then he's out into
(00:57):
the private sector. Elon Musk he's in this for as
long as he wants to be. And then you've got
all these politicians that are looking ahead to the midterms
next year and are thinking, Okay, maybe we should just
stay in the ship and see how this plays out
for the time being, especially with so much relying on
this tax and domestic policy that the president's trying to pass.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
So Trump is threatening serious consequences if Musk turns and
starts fundraising or supporting the Democrats. First of all, do
you think we could actually see that from Musk?
Speaker 3 (01:27):
I don't know, to tell you the truth. I think
he has enough of an ego where he might just
want to poke the bear. But he did say die
he being Donald Trump. Earlier today he said his relationship
with Musk is over, and he did say, quote, serious
consequences if Musk starts to fund Democrats who are running Republicans,
but he didn't really say what those consequences would be.
(01:49):
And he went on to add that he had not
had any discussions about whether to investigate Musk, and just
yesterday he said, you know what, I haven't even had
a chance to think about him. I'm not even he's
not even on my radar right now. Well obviously he is,
because hours later he's talking about these quote consequences.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
We have seen a little bit of a de escalation
though of the tweets coming from the two of them.
Do you think they both just yes, is this a
temporary pause.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
Do you think, Dad, it might be? I mean it
might be. And you know what I want to circle
back to say. I mean, this is something where I
hate to say I told you so, but I kind
of told you so because six or seven months ago,
when we were talking about this, I said this would
be lucky the last six months, because you've got two
of the biggest egos in the world, and two of
the most powerful people in the world, and two people
(02:38):
who love to say what they're thinking without first thinking
about the consequences. And I don't think this was ever
going to be a long lasting friendship. I think this
was going to be a couple of people trying to
get the most out of each other while they could.
And Musk was never going to stick around for the
long term. I mean, he's got his own company to run, which,
by the way, stock in Tesla has just been tanking
since he turned his attention away from it. And you know,
(02:58):
Trump gave Musk this congratulatory Oval Office send off for
his work leading up to all the cost cutting efforts
in the administration. He gave him a golden key and
the White House insignia on it, and then days later
this whole thing explodes. So it's like watching a couple
of kids on a playground going back and forth, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
It is? Well, it is probably the most predictable thing
to come out of President Trump's you know time so far,
isn't it. As you say, we all kind of were
waiting for it, and then it looked like that we're
almost going to be adults about it, and then it
kind of all blew up a bit. Iglin also mentioned
the need for a third political party in the UE East.
(03:36):
Do you think he's seriously considered funding.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
One, Oh boy, you know, if anybody could, I mean,
he'd be the guy to do it. I mean, he
says it's time for this political party to represent I
think he said the eighty percent in the middle, And
you're right, I mean, we do need a third party.
But the last time that we had anybody of significance
was was decades ago when we had Ross prow who
got any you know, really significant part of the vote.
(04:00):
But I think he's going to want to. I think
he's going to want to repair his relationship with Trump
as things cooled down between the two little bit circling
back to what you asked, me a little bit. And
if he were to go ahead with the third party,
even with Trump not able to run again after this,
I think Trump would just do everything in his power
to try and put a damper on that and scare Republicans,
(04:20):
just like he did before he ran for a second term.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
We mentioned before. You know, Trumps is strong out these
two words. You know, serious consequences. You'd have to presume
that that would be around Musk's business interests and talking
about regulations and investigations and things, wouldn't you.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
I think so. I mean, you've had people that have said, Okay,
you've got to look into Musk's background, let's let's kick
him out of the country. But you've also got Trump
talking about revoking his Musk's ally Jared Isacman to head
the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration. And apparently the
reason why that happened was because somebody had said, hey,
(05:02):
mister Trump, this guy had donated in the past to Democrats,
and that kind of let this fuse. In all fairness,
I think has been pretty obvious that he wanted to
buy his way into the US space program such as
it is since day one with this relationship. So you're right.
I think if Trump really wants to hurt Musk, it's
by saying, Okay, we're not going to use use you
for this anymore. And if Musk wants to hurt the US,
(05:23):
because right now NASA is not in a great position,
it's to say, Okay, well, if you're going to be
like this, then I'm going to pull my space Dragon
or my SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, which is the only one
that we have right now capable of sending astronauts to
the International Space Station, although Musk has backed off that
just a little bit.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Dan at the end of the day, I don't that
we're going to have it outright when or aren't we.
They've both got a certain amount of power and a
lot of money and a social media platform in their pocket,
haven't they.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
Well, they do, they do. I mean, who knows what
Trump's going to do when he's out of office. I'm sure
he's going to remain very high profile. And if we're
talking the long game, I mean, Musk is can ride
this out as long as he wants with a few
bumps in the current administration. So I think he's going
to come all right, but we'll still have some maybe
some bruises from going up against Trump, who never likes
to back down or admit he's wrong, even when he is.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
I think we probably will. Thank you so much that
with you, his correspondent Dan Mitchison.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks it'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.