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Let’s beryllium honest: Most radical thought the Trump–Musk feud would resistance connected for weeks. After all, you had the president threatening to reappraisal SpaceX contracts and the world’s richest antheral reposting Epstein rumors. The banal marketplace blinked. The media drooled. It looked similar a real fracture betwixt 2 of America’s astir almighty forces.
Then, conscionable similar that, it ended with a conciliatory tweet from Elon Musk.
"I regret immoderate of my posts astir President @realDonaldTrump past week. They went excessively far."
VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: TRUMP AND MUSK NEED TO RECONCILE FOR THE SAKE OF AMERICA'S FUTURE
With that 1 sentence, Musk enactment retired the fire. The headlines moved on. But those paying attraction understood thing bigger had happened: America’s apical concern caput and its apical governmental person were backmost connected the aforesaid broadside — and conscionable successful time. Because portion the feud whitethorn person rattled markets, the ngo up is acold much serious.
House Republicans reacted to President Donald Trump (left) and Elon Musk warring connected societal media. (Reuters/AP)
The satellite is entering a caller benignant of powerfulness contention — not implicit tanks and troops, but implicit chips, batteries, robots, and satellites. Whoever builds the aboriginal wins it. And close now, America is successful a choky race.
Most radical don’t recognize conscionable however choky that contention is. China is nary longer conscionable the spot that makes inexpensive exports. It’s the world’s largest EV exporter, the undisputed person successful artillery capacity, and a pioneer successful robo-taxis and humanoid deployment. China's emergence didn’t travel from luck. It came from planning, investment, and method execution that anyone superior astir the aboriginal has to study.
The American borderline has ne'er been top-down coordination — it’s been bottom-up ingenuity. We don’t centralize. We compete. And erstwhile the close ideas conscionable the close builder, we determination faster than anyone. Musk is that builder. Right now, he’s the motor country of American industry.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk jumps connected signifier arsenic helium joins erstwhile US President and Republican statesmanlike campaigner Donald Trump during a run rally astatine tract of his archetypal assassination effort successful Butler, Pennsylvania connected October 5, 2024. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
Say what you volition astir him, but he’s gathering what matters. Tesla isn’t conscionable an electrical car institution — it’s gathering autonomy. Its Full Self-Driving strategy is trained connected real-world information astatine unmatched scale. xAI isn’t conscionable different chatbot startup — it’s assembling 1 of the largest AI compute clusters connected Earth, powered by American chips, built connected American hardware. And SpaceX? It’s not conscionable launching rockets. It’s delivering the launch, communications, and outer infrastructure that American nationalist information present depends on.
This utilized to beryllium the government’s job. Now, backstage manufacture is doing it faster — and Musk is doing it best.
Trump and Musk don’t request to hold connected everything. But they indispensable enactment unneurotic — due to the fact that nary 1 other tin adjacent the spread we’re facing.
President Trump, to his credit, understands this. His economical docket is focused connected tariffs, fiscal reform, and reshoring — each indispensable steps. But without existent building, it’s conscionable paperwork. Musk tin present the factories, the hardware, the chips, the satellites. He is executing wherever others are inactive drafting argumentation memos.
That’s wherefore the feud was dangerous. Not due to the fact that of the authorities — but due to the fact that it risked derailing the astir important concern concern successful America today. Trump and Musk don’t request to hold connected everything. But they indispensable enactment unneurotic — due to the fact that nary 1 other tin adjacent the spread we’re facing.
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China has been clear-eyed and accordant successful targeting strategical industries. Its velocity is simply a reminder that successful today’s world, occurrence favors the focused. Anyone trying to recognize the adjacent concern property — from Washington to Wall Street — should beryllium watching however Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Hefei are moving.
We’re not successful diminution — but we are successful a race. The aboriginal isn’t waiting for consensus. It’s being built by whoever moves fastest with the astir focus. America has ever thrived not by pursuing orders, but by backing builders. Musk brings that speed. Trump brings the authorization to region roadblocks. Together, they tin bash what nary committee ever could: crook ambition into real-world power.
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The U.S. inactive leads successful frontier technologies — AI models, spot design, backstage abstraction launch, autonomous systems. But exertion isn’t conscionable astir who invents first. It’s astir who builds astatine scale, and who brings the aboriginal to market. China is doing that — and the lone mistake would beryllium pretending otherwise.
That’s the infinitesimal we’re successful now. Trump has the mandate. Musk has the machines. And if they enactment aligned, America doesn’t conscionable enactment successful the crippled — it sets the pace. Not by trying to artifact China’s rise, but by showing the satellite that America tin inactive build, compete, and win.
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Tanvi Ratna is simply a argumentation expert and technologist with a decennary of acquisition successful statecraft astatine the intersection of geopolitics, economics, and technology. She has worked connected Capitol Hill, astatine EY, astatine CoinDesk and others, shaping argumentation crossed sectors from manufacturing to AI. Follow her takes connected statecraft on X and Substack.
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