3 ms·

It cannot. Musk is probably the most powerful person in the world now and intent on remaking the world to his vision.

Fnoord 2y ago
Trump is the most powerful, he is immune and can commune sentences. If he wants to, he puts Musk in jail tomorrow, no question about that. His successor will be as powerful, whether that is his son or Vance is up in the air. It won't be an elected Democrat though.
- dvngnt_ 2y ago
  > It won't be an elected Democrat though. the pendulum swings back and forth. i don't see that changing
  - Fnoord 2y ago
    There won't be a fair election anymore after 2024. Trump in his own words: "we'll have it fixed so good". Right now, the USA is in a constitutional crisis, at the very least. There a fantastic website here, following the status of Project 2025 [1], with references. Trump is following that document to the T. [1] https://www.project2025.observer/ https://www.project2025.observer/
  - matwood 2y ago
    I, probably naively, hold out hope. But Trump/Musk dismantling the groups who work to keep elections fair and free is disturbing. https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/02/07/trump-fires-fec-chair-ellen-weintraub/78324207007/ https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/02/07/trump... https://www.npr.org/2025/02/11/nx-s1-5293521/foreign-influence-elections-cisa-trump https://www.npr.org/2025/02/11/nx-s1-5293521/foreign-influen...
  - throw16180339 2y ago
    It's an open question if elections will even be held. If they are, demographic changes also make it much harder for the Democrats to win after 2030 (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/democrats-future-crisis-the-biggest-states-that-back-them-are-shrinking https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/democrats-future-crisi...).
- brabel 2y ago
  > If he wants to, he puts Musk in jail tomorrow, Has America already become an authoritarian state where this sort of thing really happens?? I don't know, I haven't seen that sort of thing happen yet.
  - cheema33 2y ago
    > Has America already become an authoritarian state where this sort of thing really happens? The conservative Supreme court recently ruled that the president has essentially unlimited power. During his campaign, Trump did promise that he will be a dictator for a day. Appears to be overdoing it.
    - pcthrowaway 2y ago
      You might be surprised to learn they could change their ruling if the court justices were to be incentivized differently, and that Musk has a lot of influence.
      - ben_w 2y ago
        Musk indeed has a lot of influence. Trump is a narcissist. Not saying this will happen, but it's definitely not impossible that Trump just orders Musk shot (as per opinion of what's now allowed in the dissenting opinion of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor) — if such an order is followed, I wouldn't want to guess, but death has a way of significantly altering someone's influence.
- pcthrowaway 2y ago
  There are different kinds of power, and I'm honestly not sure Trump can get Musk thrown in jail. On what basis would Trump even do that? Similarly, Musk can potentially launch a campaign to sway the public to move for Trump to be impeached due to his felony convictions. A battle between the two might be the shakeup the current empire needs. Trump may be more powerful than Musk by some metrics, on a time-limited basis (unless he manages to change the term limits), but Musk is more powerful in many ways as well. Musk's wealth is greater than that of many entire countries.
  - actionfromafar 2y ago
    Basis? Since when is Trump looking for a basis? Musk could sway out a window. Russia / US relations are being normalized, maybe it could be a small gesture of goodwill to help a friend out if one wanted to keep the regular chain of command clean.

Trump is the most powerful, he is immune and can commune sentences. If he wants to, he puts Musk in jail tomorrow, no question about that. His successor will be as powerful, whether that is his son or Vance is up in the air. It won't be an elected Democrat though.

dvngnt_ 2y ago
> It won't be an elected Democrat though. the pendulum swings back and forth. i don't see that changing
- Fnoord 2y ago
  There won't be a fair election anymore after 2024. Trump in his own words: "we'll have it fixed so good". Right now, the USA is in a constitutional crisis, at the very least. There a fantastic website here, following the status of Project 2025 [1], with references. Trump is following that document to the T. [1] https://www.project2025.observer/ https://www.project2025.observer/
- matwood 2y ago
  I, probably naively, hold out hope. But Trump/Musk dismantling the groups who work to keep elections fair and free is disturbing. https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/02/07/trump-fires-fec-chair-ellen-weintraub/78324207007/ https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/02/07/trump... https://www.npr.org/2025/02/11/nx-s1-5293521/foreign-influence-elections-cisa-trump https://www.npr.org/2025/02/11/nx-s1-5293521/foreign-influen...
- throw16180339 2y ago
  It's an open question if elections will even be held. If they are, demographic changes also make it much harder for the Democrats to win after 2030 (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/democrats-future-crisis-the-biggest-states-that-back-them-are-shrinking https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/democrats-future-crisi...).
brabel 2y ago
> If he wants to, he puts Musk in jail tomorrow, Has America already become an authoritarian state where this sort of thing really happens?? I don't know, I haven't seen that sort of thing happen yet.
- cheema33 2y ago
  > Has America already become an authoritarian state where this sort of thing really happens? The conservative Supreme court recently ruled that the president has essentially unlimited power. During his campaign, Trump did promise that he will be a dictator for a day. Appears to be overdoing it.
  - pcthrowaway 2y ago
    You might be surprised to learn they could change their ruling if the court justices were to be incentivized differently, and that Musk has a lot of influence.
    - ben_w 2y ago
      Musk indeed has a lot of influence. Trump is a narcissist. Not saying this will happen, but it's definitely not impossible that Trump just orders Musk shot (as per opinion of what's now allowed in the dissenting opinion of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor) — if such an order is followed, I wouldn't want to guess, but death has a way of significantly altering someone's influence.
pcthrowaway 2y ago
There are different kinds of power, and I'm honestly not sure Trump can get Musk thrown in jail. On what basis would Trump even do that? Similarly, Musk can potentially launch a campaign to sway the public to move for Trump to be impeached due to his felony convictions. A battle between the two might be the shakeup the current empire needs. Trump may be more powerful than Musk by some metrics, on a time-limited basis (unless he manages to change the term limits), but Musk is more powerful in many ways as well. Musk's wealth is greater than that of many entire countries.
- actionfromafar 2y ago
  Basis? Since when is Trump looking for a basis? Musk could sway out a window. Russia / US relations are being normalized, maybe it could be a small gesture of goodwill to help a friend out if one wanted to keep the regular chain of command clean.