The public spat between U.S. President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, was unsettling given the power these two men wield and how their verbal tussle quickly escalated to issues that directly affect national security.
Trump floated the cancellation of all NASA and Department of Defense contracts with SpaceX, the space-launch and satellite-internet company Musk founded in 2002. Musk countered that he would withdraw the services of the Dragon space capsule, which is the only option now, except for resorting to the Russians, for ferrying astronauts to the International Space Station.
While the details of the social-media fracas will fade over time, the power dynamics on which the threats were based won’t. The U.S. government depends on SpaceX for low-cost space launches while competitors lag behind. SpaceX needs the government, ranging from the mundane (approving launch permits) to the grandiose (funding to put a human on Mars). Perhaps this realization that this dustup would only lead to mutual damage was a catalyst for Trump uncharacteristically letting go of the issue and Musk atypically admitting that he went too far in his X attacks.
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