A Republican strategist predicts that Donald Trump will be the most assertive president in American history, utilizing Elon Musk as a buffer for controversial choices.
Strategist John Thomas revealed that after being sworn into office on January 20, Trump would move quickly to implement his policies.
In the months before November’s election, Trump and Tesla owner Musk struck up a friendship, which Thomas believes is an “alliance of convenience.”
He explained how both are united by the idea of cutting bureaucracy in politics and in the economy.
Although an unexpected partnership, Thomas, the head of Thomas Partners Strategies, envisions that this alliance will not result in hostility.
“Trump and Musk are going to be incredibly aggressive at getting it done quickly – more than we’ve ever seen any president do in history,” he said.
Trump is going to move quickly because he knows he has a mandate to deliver change, according to the strategist.
The president-elect will be unable to run again for office at the end of his term.
And the Republicans have a political trifecta for the first two years of Trump’s presidency.
Trump will be in the White House and the Republicans will hold the majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Traditionally, the midterm elections scheduled for November 2026 can pose difficulties for the ruling party and impede Trump’s legislative plans.
“Trump realizes his political capital may wane very quickly,” Thomas, the president of Thomas Partners Strategies, said.
“That’s why he wants to do an omnibus. He just wants to jam it all through in one go.”
Musk will head the newly created Department of Government Efficiency alongside former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and make policy recommendations to Trump.
Thomas explained how Trump would be able to use Musk to shepherd him from particularly unpopular decisions.
“When Trump has to make an unpopular cut or decision, he can have somebody with the business credibility of Elon Musk, saying ‘This is what we must do as a nation,’” he said.
Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s complicated relationship
Former president Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s relationship started rocky, but the pair have since reconciled, with Musk fully endorsing Trump and interviewing him on X Spaces on August 12.
In 2022, Elon Musk and Donald Trump publicly feuded on X, then still known as Twitter.
Trump called Musk a liar and “bulls**t artist” during a rally in Alaska.
“Elon is not going to buy Twitter,” Trump said at the time.
“You know, he said the other day, ‘I’ve never voted for a Republican.’ I said, ‘I didn’t know that – you told me you voted for me. So he’s another bulls**t artist, but he’s not going to be buying it.”
In response to Trump’s critiques, the SpaceX founder clapped back.
“I don’t hate the man, but it’s time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset,” Musk posted.
Musk also went on to buy X months later.
The X owner said he had previously voted mostly for Democrats since becoming a United States citizen in 2002.
Musk initially backed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to be the Republican Party’s presidential nominee.
“My preference for the 2024 presidency is someone sensible and centrist,” Musk wrote on X in 2022.
“I had hoped that would [be] the case for the Biden administration, but have been disappointed so far.”
His shift in political parties might be attributed to his plummeting relationship with President Joe Biden who didn’t invite Musk to the 2021 White House electric vehicle summit.
Despite their past issues, Trump and Musk’s relationship took a turn in March after they met at Mar-a-Lago.
Trump was also previously against electric vehicles but has since changed his stance.
“I’m for electric cars,” he said at a rally earlier this month.
“I have to be, because Elon endorsed me very strongly. So I have no choice.”
Following the assassination attempt at Trump’s rally in July, Musk announced his support for the former president.
“I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery,” Musk wrote on X after the shooting.
During a recent press conference, Trump spoke highly of Musk.
“I respect Elon a lot. He respects me,” he said.
“Elon, more than almost anybody I know, he loves this country. He loves the concept of this country, but like me, he says this country is in big trouble, it’s in tremendous danger.”
Musk has been pictured at events at Mar-a-Lago and the UFC, buddying up with Trump.
Trump selected Musk to lead the Department of Government Efficiency – a taskforce aimed at cutting bureaucracy.
Musk will head up DOGE alongside former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
“I really think it’s the ultimate good cop, bad cop.
“And Musk has more flexibility than Trump in some ways to be a bad cop.”
This is because Musk is not someone who is trying to seek elected office.
“He lives and dies by the quarterly reports,” he said.
“That’s much easier to navigate than an election.
“Musk can lean in to be a bad cop, to make more sweeping changes that in the short-term might be unpopular and that might actually work.”
How DOGE will operate in practice remains a mystery heading into Trump’s second term, but Ramaswamy warned that its success cannot be defined by “deficit reduction.”
Meanwhile, Musk has floated the idea of saving around $2 trillion.
CUTTING DEFICIT
In November, Musk and Ramaswamy wrote an op-ed in The New York Times revealing that they would “serve as outside volunteers.”
They warned that they are not government officials.
The duo explained that DOGE would present proposals to Trump, who could turn them into policy via executive action.
They believe, thanks to Trump’s mandate and the conservative judges on the Supreme Court, that a “historic opportunity” has been presented to them.
Thomas believes DOGE’s raison d’etre is about cutting bureaucracy and red tape.
“That is the value for Musk – without a doubt,” he said.
“The headlines are going to cover the latest contract SpaceX wins, but that’s not what it’s about.
“Musk’s building companies to solve the biggest problems that will take decades.
“The real value will be unlocked if he can take something from a decade-long approval down to a year’s approval.
“That would dwarf on an extreme magnitude any immediate contract the Federal Government could possibly give.”
UNLIKELY ALLIANCE
Trump and Musk forged this what seemed to be an unlikely alliance – just years after the SpaceX mogul urged the politician to ride off into the sunset.
Trump has also labeled Musk a “bulls**t artist.”
The slur was hurled in response to reports at the time that Musk would buy Twitter, now renamed X.
Trump didn’t think Musk would buy Twitter – but he did.
Musk reinstated Trump to the platform on November 19, 2022.
Trump was banned from the social media site after the 2021 Capitol riots.
Musk and Trump’s apparent fondness for each other has deepened in recent months.
Musk sported a black MAGA hat at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The rally was held three months after Trump survived the assassination attempt in Butler over the summer.
He also appeared at Trump’s rally in Madison Square Garden and spent election night at Mar-a-Lago.
Outside the political arena, Musk joined GOP heavyweights Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson at the UFC.
But there have been murmurings that Trump has been getting fed up with Musk’s clinginess.
Maggie Haberman, a New York Times journalist, claimed on a podcast that Trump has complained to those around him about how often Musk is around, as reported by Mediaite.
“He really parked himself in Trump’s face.”
