Rosa Rubicondior: I Hate To Say It But

Why the Musk and Trump relationship is breaking down – a psychologist explains

I'm not a psychologist, but over the past couple of years I've written several articles such as this one, examining how Donald J. Trump exhibits all the hallmarks of narcissistic personality disorder — a serious psychological condition that arguably should have disqualified him from holding public office. This, in addition to his recent felony conviction, raises profound concerns about his suitability for leadership. In fact, it may well have been his personality disorder that led him to commit that felony in the first place, in a desperate attempt to preserve his laughably absurd image as a moral exemplar.

I warned then that Trump’s obsession with self-aggrandisement and his pathological need for uncritical adoration would ultimately define his presidency. The interests of the United States—and indeed the wider world—were always going to be reduced to mere stage props in the theatre of his ego, should they register with him at all.

Now he finds himself in conflict with another figure who exhibits strikingly similar traits: Elon Musk. The result is as predictable as it is absurd. Neither man can tolerate the faintest dissent or the slightest deviation from sycophantic admiration. Any such lapse is interpreted as disloyalty and is met with unrestrained vitriol in a bid to rally others to their cause—and reaffirm their sense of dominance and adoration.

This dynamic has now been compellingly unpacked in an article published in The Conversation by Professor Geoff Beattie, a psychologist at Edge Hill University in Lancashire, UK. His expert analysis of the psychological forces driving the Trump–Musk feud adds academic weight to what many of us have already observed. It’s a thoroughly entertaining spectacle — unless, of course, you’re concerned about the damage it’s doing to America’s already battered global image.

Professor Beattie's article is reprinted here under a Creative Commons licence, reformatted for stylistic consistency.

Why the Musk and Trump relationship is breaking down – a psychologist explains

EPA-EFE/Aaron Schwartz/pool

Geoff Beattie, Edge Hill University

It is not a good break-up. These were always two big beasts used to getting their own way. Two alpha males, if you like the evolutionary metaphor, trying to get along. And now the Donald Trump and Elon Musk relationship is in meltdown.

Who could forget that iconic image from just a few short weeks back? Elon Musk standing behind the seated US president, Donald Trump, in the Oval Office, towering over him. Trump, his hands clasped, having to turn awkwardly to look up at him. That silent language of the body. Musk accompanied by his four-year-old, a charming and informal image, or that great evolutionary signal of mating potential and dominance, depending on your point of view.

These were also clearly two massive narcissistic egos out in their gleaming open-top speedster. Musk was appointed special advisor to Trump, heading the Department of Government Efficiency, cutting excess and waste. The backseat driver for a while.

There were a lot of bureaucratic casualties already, road kill at the side of the highway as the sports car roared on with frightening speed. But things were always going to be difficult if they hit a bump in the road. And they did. Perhaps, more quickly than many had imagined.

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There were differing views on what caused the crash. Many pointed to the dramatic fall in Tesla’s sales – a 71% fall in profits in one quarter – and the inevitable impact on Musk’s reputation. Since the break-up, Tesla’s share price has also dropped sharply, as investors have panicked. The attacks on Tesla showrooms couldn’t have helped either.

Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025

Others pointed to Trump’s proposed removal of the tax credit for owners of electric vehicles, or the political backlash in Washington over Space X’s potential involvement in Trump’s proposed “golden dome” anti-missile defense system.

However, according to former White House strategist Steve Bannon, what really caused the crash was when the president refused to show Musk the Pentagon’s attack plans for any possible war with China. There’s only so far being the president’s best buddy can get you. Bannon is reported as saying: “You could feel it. Everything changed.” That, according to Bannon, was the beginning of the end.

Trump sees himself as more like a king than president. Here's why

Elon Musk has criticised Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’.

So now we watch Trump and Musk stumbling away from the crash scene. One minute Trump is putting on a show for the cameras. He’s beaming away and introducing the “big, beautiful bill”, a budget reconciliation bill that rolls together hundreds of controversial proposals. Next, he is accusing Musk of “going crazy” and talking about withdrawing government contracts from the Musk empire.

Musk is unhappy too. “I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination,” he wrote on X. “Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong.”

Rejection and repositioning

He says he’s disgusted by the bill. Disgust is one of the most primitive of all the emotions. A survival mechanism – you must avoid what disgusts you. He’s social signalling here, alerting others, warning them that there’s something disgusting in the camp.

Musk is highly attuned to public perception, perhaps even more so than Trump (which is saying something). With his acquisition of X (formerly Twitter), Musk was able to direct (and add to) online discourse, shaping public conversations.

Is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2025

Psychologically, Musk’s rejection of Trump is an attempt to simultaneously elevate himself and diminish the man behind the bill. He can call out the president’s action like nobody else. He is positioning himself anew as that free thinker, that risk taker, innovative, courageous, unfettered by any ties. That is his personality, his brand – and he’s reasserting it.

Trump on Musk’s criticism of the ‘big beautiful bill’

But it’s also a vengeful act. And it’s perhaps reminiscent of another political insider (and geek), former Downing Street adviser Dominic Cummings, who was sacked by the then UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, in 2020. Cummings was accused of masterminding leaks about the social gatherings in Downing Street.

He went on to criticise Johnson as lacking the necessary discipline and focus for a prime minister as well as questioning his competence and decision-making abilities. The revenge of a self-proclaimed genius.

And revenge is sweet. In a 2004 study, researchers scanned participants’ brains using positron emission tomography (PET) – a medical imaging technique that is used to study brain function (among other things) – while the participants played an economic game based on trust. When trust was violated, participants wanted revenge, and this was reflected in increased activity in the reward-related regions of the brain, the dorsal striatum.

Revenge, in other words, is primarily about making yourself feel better rather than righting any wrongs. Your act may make you appear moral but it may be more selfish.

But revenge for what here? That’s where these big narcissistic egos come into play.

Psychologically, narcissists are highly sensitive to perceived slights – real or imagined. Musk may have felt Trump was attempting to diminish his achievements for political gain, violating this pact of mutual respect. This kind of sensitivity can quickly transmogrify admiration into contempt.

Contempt, coincidentally, is the single best predictor of a breakdown in very close relationships.

Disgust and contempt are powerful emotions, evolving to protect us – disgust from physical contamination (spoiled food, disease), and contempt from social or moral contamination (betrayal, incompetence). Both involve rejection – disgust rejects something physically; contempt rejects something socially or morally. Musk may be giving it to Trump with both barrels here.

Break-ups are always hard, they get much harder when emotions like these get intertwined with the process.

But how will the most powerful man in the world respond to this sort of rejection from the richest man in the world? And where will it end?
Geoff Beattie, Professor of Psychology, Edge Hill University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Published by The Conversation.
Open access. (CC BY 4.0)

I hate to say I told you so.... but I told you so.

Just for the record:

The 25th Amendment, Section 4 empowers the Vice President and a majority of the principal officers of the executive departments—i.e., the Cabinet—to initiate the process for declaring the President unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office.

Here's how it works:

Initiation: The Vice President, together with a majority of the Cabinet, submits a written declaration to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives stating that the President is unable to perform the duties of the office.
Effect: Upon delivery of this declaration, the Vice President immediately assumes the role of Acting President.
Contestation: The President may dispute this by submitting a written declaration that no inability exists. If he does, he resumes office unless the Vice President and the majority of the Cabinet submit a second declaration within four days reaffirming the President’s incapacity.
Congressional Decision: If this happens, Congress must decide the matter within 21 days. A two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate is required to keep the Vice President as Acting President.

This amendment was ratified in 1967, largely in response to concerns raised by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and previous instances of presidential incapacitation (such as Woodrow Wilson’s stroke).

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