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The Bewildering Irony Behind the Trump-Musk Partnership
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Feb. 27, 2025
A smiling Elon Musk wears sunglasses and a black “Make America Great Again” hat.
Damon Winter/The New York Times
As Donald Trump searched for a running mate in May of 2016, his oldest child, Donald Trump Jr., tried to bring John Kasich, the governor of Ohio, into the fold. His supposed offer, according to reporting in The Times: that Kasich, as vice president, could be president in everything but name. He would run foreign and domestic policy and be, in essence, the most powerful vice president in American history.

As for Mr. Trump, his son explained, his job would be making America great again.

Both the Trump campaign and the Kasich camp denied that this exchange ever took place. “It’s completely ridiculous,” said Jason Miller, Trump’s spokesman at the time. “There was never an offer made. It’s completely made up.” Trump issued a denial as well. “John Kasich was never asked by me to be V.P.,” he said on Twitter.

Trump’s eventual choice, Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana, took a traditional approach to the role, never overstepping his bounds or challenging the authority of the president until the very end, when Trump asked him to break the Constitution on his behalf.

Now, in his second term, the president seems to have embraced the idea that he can divide the responsibilities of the job to share with another person. Trump could serve as head of state — using his cultural and political influence to “make America great again” — and someone else could serve as head of government to manage the executive branch.

Enter Elon Musk.

Musk has been given control of much of the executive branch under the auspices of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. His subordinates wield a tremendous amount of power, destroying entire agencies and firing tens of thousands of civil servants at will. If Musk were a cabinet official, he would be among the most powerful and influential cabinet officials in American history.

But Musk is not a cabinet official. He has no official role other than that of special adviser. He is something like a constitutional officer, but he was not confirmed to his position by the Senate (as the appointments clause would demand). It is not even clear if Trump is giving Musk direct orders or if Musk is operating autonomously, cloaked in the authority of the president but working outside the limits and restrictions placed by the Constitution.

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Either way, it’s clear that Musk is a kind of co-president, wielding extraconstitutional power over the executive branch. It is true that there have been times in American history when individuals have wielded the power of the presidency without any formal role in government. Edith Wilson famously (or perhaps infamously) acted as de facto president after her husband, President Woodrow Wilson, suffered a debilitating stroke in 1919.

But Musk’s role is something unique. The president is not incapacitated. He is still engaged in the work of foreign affairs and other matters of state. And he has imbued Musk with the authority to act as head of government, so much so that Musk felt confident enough on Wednesday to address the president’s cabinet as if he was, in a real sense, the boss.

There is a deep irony here. If there is an operating philosophy driving the Trump White House, it is that of the unitary executive — the idea that the president is the sole and exclusive wielder of a broad and expansive executive power. This includes the power to dismiss federal employees at will as well as the power to resist congressional statutes or judicial decisions that encroach on executive authority.

One key source for the idea of the unitary executive is Alexander Hamilton’s case for an “energetic” executive in Federalist No. 70. “A feeble executive implies a feeble execution of the government,” Hamilton wrote. “A feeble execution is but another phrase for a bad execution; and a government ill executed, whatever it may be in theory, must be, in practice, a bad government.” The executive needs energy, he continued, and unity — as opposed to a plurality or multiplicity of executives — is the ingredient that makes an active and energetic president possible.

There are a few issues here. The first is a matter of constitutional interpretation. In addition to Hamilton, the unitary executive theory leans heavily on Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution, which states that “the executive power shall be vested in a president of the United States of America.” Proponents of the unitary executive theory believe that this phrasing, “the executive power,” grants the president a set of inherent and implied powers, including near absolute authority over foreign affairs. But this reading of the executive vesting clause runs into a small problem: the specificity of the rest of Article II. The framers took care to enumerate the various powers of the presidency, a choice that does not make sense if they had written a general grant of authority for the president.

In fact, as Julian Davis Mortenson noted in a 2020 article for The University of Pennsylvania Law Review, there is strong evidence from contemporaneous 18th-century sources that the vesting clause did little more than “convey the authority to execute the laws.” This power, he observed, “was an empty vessel that authorized only those actions previously specified by the laws of the land.” And a quick glance at the records of the Constitutional Convention supports an even narrower reading of the vesting clause: that it exists only “to settle the question whether the executive branch should be plural or single and to give the executive a title.”

The second issue relates to the other load-bearing pillar of the unitary executive theory, the take-care clause, which provides that the president “shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” For supporters of the unitary executive, this means that the president has total control over his subordinates; otherwise, how would he know if the laws were being “faithfully executed”? And among the most extreme unitarians, the take-care clause completely insulates the executive from statutory direction and legislative oversight because the president, and only the president, is charged with ensuring faithful execution of the laws.

But this runs counter to what we know about the actual practice of American government in the first decades under the Constitution. For example, lawmakers in the first Congress, many of whom had a direct hand either in writing the Constitution or in fighting for its ratification, saw nothing in Article II that prevented them from creating offices in the executive branch that lay outside the direct control of the president. In a 2019 article for The Notre Dame Law Review, Christine Kexel Chabot shined light on the Sinking Fund Commission, an independent agency — established by Alexander Hamilton, passed by Congress and signed into law by President George Washington — that “carried out open market purchases of U.S. securities with substantial independence from the president.” The president himself could not initiate such purchases “without approval of a majority of the commission,” and he had little power to replace or remove members of the commission.
 

☑︎#VoteDemocrat

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Part 2:


Nearly 50 years later, in Kendall v. United States — a case in which the postmaster general refused to pay the legally required amount of money to a mail contractor — the Supreme Court held that Congress could impose duties on federal officers that the president cannot circumvent or ignore. The executive power may be vested in a president, Justice Smith Thompson wrote, “but it by no means follows that every officer in every branch of that department is under the exclusive direction of the president.” What’s more, “it would be an alarming doctrine that Congress cannot impose upon any executive officer any duty they may think proper which is not repugnant to any rights secured and protected by the Constitution, and in such cases the duty and responsibility grow out of and are subject to control of the law, and not to the direction of the president.”

The expansive reading of the take-care clause favored by unitarians is also undermined by a thorough reading of the history of the language. As Andrew Kent, Ethan J. Leib and Jed Handelsman Shugerman showed in a 2019 article for The Harvard Law Review on the idea of “faithful execution,” the history “points to faithful execution being a restrictive duty rather than an expansive power — and that this requirement was as likely to be imposed on high-level officeholders as it was upon low-level officers, who were ordered not to veer from their assigned jobs, not to self-deal and to do their jobs with diligence and care.”

The fact of the matter is that at every stage of their existence — from their creation at the hands of Congress to the present — the executive branch and federal bureaucracy have been a joint project of the other branches of government. The president offers direction, yes, but so do Congress and the courts. The federal bureaucracy has never had sole parentage, and neither the president nor the legislature nor the courts can claim sole responsibility.

Supporters of the unitary executive will say that this joint custody arrangement undermines accountability, but it’s just the opposite. The fact that different parts of the government can exercise authority over the bureaucracy — the fact that Congress as much as the president can shape its conduct and operation — is constitutionalism in action. It is a joint custody arrangement that illustrates the basic fact that ours is a government of shared power and shared responsibility, in which each constitutional actor is empowered to check and influence the others.

That’s where the irony comes in.

Trump may be working from an expansive theory of executive power, but in delegating so much of his authority to Musk — in creating a de facto co-president — he is both undermining that power and demonstrating Hamilton’s real insights about the importance of a singular executive.

Hamilton wrote that “plurality in the executive” tends to “conceal faults and destroy responsibility.” We’re seeing this play out with DOGE, where it is often unclear who is responsible for what. Hamilton says that “the multiplication of the executive adds to the difficulty of detection …. It often becomes impossible, amidst mutual accusations, to determine on whom the blame or the punishment of a pernicious measure, or series of pernicious measures, ought really to fall. It is shifted from one to another with so much dexterity, and under such plausible appearances, that the public opinion is left in suspense about the real author.”

It is hard to imagine a better description of our current situation, in which the presence of what are essentially two presidents has blurred lines of accountability for “pernicious measures.”

As a result of this delegation of authority, the executive branch under Trump is also plagued with the question of whose orders are legitimate. Last week, Musk asked all federal employees to respond to an email that orders them to state their accomplishments over the past week. The punishment for not replying? You lose your job. But on whose authority can Musk make that demand and issue that threat? This is why several cabinet secretaries and department heads have told the civil servants under their direction not to respond.

There is a major political problem here as well. By ceding presidential authority to Musk, Trump is putting his fate in Musk’s hands. He is handing over the viability of his presidency to a figure who is accountable to no one but himself. If and when disaster strikes, Musk can walk away.

After all, he isn’t really the president. The buck will stop with Trump and the Republican Party, because if Musk cannot be held politically liable, they will be.
 

FAH1223

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What they've done with foreign assistance, cancelling 10,000 awards from USAID and DOS will occur across the government.

My sector is devastated. My organization will be without a third of our projects, maybe more.

My team has lost half and we work on security, law enforcement, etc. Its so random. A few of them were ending or we had just signed so no harm no foul but my favorite project in the Caribbean working with police agencies got axed. And we still had millions in the bank to implement.

Smh.
 

Lord Beasley

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Kennedy began experiencing severe short- and long-term memory loss and mental fog in 2010. In a 2012 divorce court deposition, he attributed neurological issues to "a worm that got into my brain and ate a portion of it and then died", in addition to mercury poisoning from eating large quantities of tuna.

This is our secretary of health and human services. Sounds like a DEI hire to me, how the hell can we trust this guy to act in our best interest?
 

The_Unchosen_One

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Don't know how I feel about this. Seems like this will only normalize him. Anything less than calling him out publicly for his support for Nazi propaganda channels on X, doing a Nazi salute, and illegally shutting down agenies and government contracts is a disservice. I like Jon Stewart but I don't think he's up to task for it. This isn't a laughing matter. Lives are at stake and this isn't the appropriate forum for questioning Musk. His actions have already destroyed people's livelihoods.

Jon about to fukking SMOKE Elon if he's dumb enough to show up... when he needs to, he brings the fukking heat to these idiots


 

bnew

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1/35
@CalltoActivism
WTF.

Trump asks UK President Starmer if the UK could take on Russia on by themselves.

He’s not only a Putin stooge, but he’s literally mocking Europe about it.



https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/1895188348651569152/vid/avc1/1280x720/8F8Zj7JnleMmnozg.mp4

2/35
@XAnonymous2025
Yeah ~ peeps need to stop screwing with Putin thinking USA will save their agitating asses FFS ~ putting Zelenskyy on the border demanding shyt is like Mexico putting China on our border and just like ~ yeah ~ nothing to see here FFS ~ GOD peeps are so ignorant its bloody damn dangerous as hell.

Dumb shortsighted stupidity.

It's a wonder we've survived at all, and if Russia wasn't a bunch drunks ~ they'd taken over the world a long time ago.

XAnonymous 25' ~ for those of us who have NF anonymity and absolutely insist on enjoying life 🙃 loudly in public addressing the entire human being. Love, Just Sunny ♥️ 🤘 💋 🌞



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3/35
@Shell_magaUSA
It's called reality check.



4/35
@RoseBud79004902
🇺🇸🤝🇷🇺



5/35
@Suzierizzo1
What a total buffoon!



6/35
@BobbyYoast_
Lol they want the war alive, he wants to end it. Cope lol



7/35
@jpastaman
Correction…. It’s not Trump…….. its actually all americans that are mocking Europe….. including all the illegals you let in that are running roughshod over your country or culture…..

Just to be clear….

You can direct your ire at America in general!!



8/35
@TeleVue
your emotional response is exactly what trump is mocking



9/35
@WTForeRight
Good they need a dose of reality



10/35
@TeleVue
yes. we are mocking europe.



11/35
@FreeSpeechMat8
UK are fkd without US military might and they know it.
Thank god for Russia shining a light on the most corrupt country full of ACTUAL nazis.



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12/35
@Vlad_Colceriu




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13/35
@Silverlvr2024
Mock for sure , stooge is projecting



14/35
@rodekeel
Europe likes brandishing swords… haha, let them fight if they wish.



15/35
@GeorgeCrawIN
Trump is a fuc#ing idiot. The world is mocking and laughing at him.

Trump reaction to Tariff all EU at 25%. So American pay a sales tax of 25%.

You can cannot make his stupidity up.

Trump chaos is going to hurt a lot of Americans especially MAGA.



16/35
@Chim_61
Get out of your feelings.

He’s making a point. They can’t.

So they need to come to the table and stop the war mongering if they want us to defend them.

It’s solely about ending this war, and letting the world know we are done with it.



17/35
@eviljunglelord
The reality is the UK and all nations except the US do not have the ability to project power effectively in a sustained conflict.

London to the front line is 2000+ miles.

Without US logistical support, nothing will last.

UK may be willing but lacks the means.



18/35
@RichardAngwin
Trump’s cozying up to Putin while questioning UK resolve on Russia is a disgrace. Starmer should’ve hit back harder, peace can’t mean abandoning Ukraine to a dictator Trump admires. America’s role isn’t to coddle tyrants.



19/35
@DavesCoins
Donald J Trump is the man and afraid of nothing. This is why we overwhelmingly elected him to clean up America. We are winning.



20/35
@captian_rob
He's an ass



21/35
@ArmaLite15OU812
No WTF about it. Americans are tired of funding Democrat proxy wars. If Europe wants to keep the war going, they can fund it!



22/35
@Mollyploofkins
Putin takes what he wants from his puppet.

American Kompromat: How the KGB Cultivated Donald Trump, and Related Tales of Sex, Greed, Power, and Treachery | /search?q=#ad
Amazon.com



23/35
@Last_DayWithYou
He mocks everyone but dictators.



24/35
@JohnGood4
He likes being backed up.



25/35
@ByrdJames37364
It was a simple question. Starmer is a warmonger who thrives off of war, he knew he would like the question



26/35
@KnightRaV1NNet
Let him keep incriminating himself.



27/35
@Bruin70B
love it, put Eurotrash on alert



28/35
@dclynch07
Mocking or Sending a Sobering Message?



29/35
@thaicargo
Yes and rightfully so , UK is lost with this government, and Trump has no time for delusional Europe



30/35
@NachoSlave777
Maybe throwing gas on a flame he's tryna put out is retarded and disrespectful. Why even show your face? You had to know that question was coming.



31/35
@MclaughliJean
Ugh those teeth.



32/35
@patty_timmins
Dangerous game. Let's throw him to the wolves if that is where he wants to lay.



33/35
@22vap221
Get this orange felon out of the Oval Office .
Dangerous fukking a$$hole!



34/35
@realitycheck68
It’s Prime Minister Starmer, who is far and way more superior then the Fake President



35/35
@MeiklejohnAngus
Aye, truth can be brutal 🤣




To post tweets in this format, more info here: https://www.thecoli.com/threads/tips-and-tricks-for-posting-the-coli-megathread.984734/post-52211196



1/35
@RpsAgainstTrump
Starmer: “You mentioned Canada,I think you’re trying to find a divide that doesn’t exist.”

Trump: “That’s enough.”

Trump seems tense around democratic leaders but perfectly comfortable with Xi, Putin, and Orbán. We all know why



https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/1895215054565330944/vid/avc1/1280x720/Bj8LsJ0q72H5bQYD.mp4

2/35
@TrueCan15200205
He’s a disgrace . Personally I don’t think he knows who he is talking to , the UK and Canada have one thing in common : King Charles . You think he knows ?
By the way , he is a real King .🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦



3/35
@BKBakker
With Trump it's high school bullshyt always. Starmer probably didn't take laugh off his shyt or joke around, like Macron does. Need the Rizz with Trump. Flatter and manipulate in a happy go lucky way. It's the only way to get your way with the guy.



4/35
@bluemint5011
All the presidents of the world will come, realize the fickle side of Trump and end up understanding that the United States is no longer a country of trust.



5/35
@jamesasherlucas
Shame on the journalist



6/35
@WhiskeyMD247365
Trump so envious of strongmen like Putin.



7/35
@SkyeDawn
Putin gave Trump a painful wedgie & said pass it on.

Dictator Tot did as he was told.
.



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8/35
@suunasolkija
Trump always looks uncomfortable around democratically elected leaders but perfectly at ease with dictators like Putin, Xi, and Orbán. Guess it’s hard to vibe with people who expect accountability and don’t treat you like a supreme leader. Autocrats, on the other hand? His kind of crowd.



9/35
@BRAINFARTS_
The fukking second embarrassment I have just felt within me…… was so thick and terrible I could taste it.

Donald Drumpf is such an embarrassment to the founding fathers.

Even Maga will admit his geo politics are atrocious, and now when he has no handler he destroys Americas reputation



10/35
@WhiskeyMD247365
So embarrassing for this fine country.



11/35
@ThecosmicdustX
Dictator feelings….



12/35
@RudyChe
President Ass Hat.



13/35
@carol_mcrae1
The US is on the road to not having any allies.



14/35
@sarina_singh
All that Trump has ended up doing is elevate Trudeau & Canada's respectability. Probably why he's huffy when Starmer praises Canada. 😄



15/35
@PhilBarthelme
Do NOT cut MEDICAID expand it



16/35
@JackKen89907300
Does he not realize how dumb “That’s enough.” looks to the people of America and the world?



17/35
@MrOntarioCa
Small dikks always feel comfortable around peanut dikks.



18/35
@iDesignTings
As muchas i think trump is a c*nt, I don't think he was telling our c*nt to shut up..

He was talking to the media.



19/35
@avocats
Trump can’t deal with democratic world leaders. He was grumpy today. 🙄



20/35
@ChrisPatterDu
The fat turd thinks he can expunge free speech of foreign diplomats.



21/35
@rlaurel1
Trump and his team are a bunch of @$$ clowns that as soon as they dont like your words they try to shut you up! What a pompous @$$!!



22/35
@coover_jessica
Did he tell the prime minister that??!!



23/35
@JaybayMcC
I would've told him, "No Donald. You enough. Just because you're President of the United States doesn't give you the right to keep attacking our allies, Canada."



24/35
@bell_louis90385
What a child he is…Go Starmer!



25/35
@2025_bill
“That’s enough” what a disgrace from such a weak little loser.



26/35
@dentin6666
trump knows he is the only one that lies, and all the leaders will correct him, on camera...



27/35
@YvonLarin
Starmer is correct. There is no divide between Britain and Canada. There now will be a divide between US& Canada, US&Britain, US&Europe, etc, etc



28/35
@bober_david
He’s a fragile insecure punk who can’t stand anyone speaking truth and not wiping his ass



29/35
@EyesVnj
Thank You Jesus, standing up and tall



30/35
@SrokaRenee




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31/35
@8GD1
Haha. tump is such an a$$hole



32/35
@me061287026
Because they're really not democratic leaders.



33/35
@Sabrina56389530
TRUMP is a WEAK ' President ' !!!!!!!
Without any KNOWLES
Without any MORAL
Without any Empathy



34/35
@ProudAFAmerican
Hey, donny. Sometimes, the truth hurts. Can I get you a Mickey D happy meal to cheer you up?



35/35
@perditamcleod
Has he twigged that KCIII, who he’s desperately fawning over, is the head of state of a country he’s threatening? I’m guessing not.




To post tweets in this format, more info here: https://www.thecoli.com/threads/tips-and-tricks-for-posting-the-coli-megathread.984734/post-52211196
 

Dave24

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Jon about to fukking SMOKE Elon if he's dumb enough to show up... when he needs to, he brings the fukking heat to these idiots




Jon Stewart did not bring any smoke when Bill O'Reilly was on his show awhile ago. Many Stewart fans were disappointed in how he was towards O'Reilly.
 
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