A week ago, I wrote a post for my blog titled, “Elon Musk’s Freeze on USAID Funding: Either He is Stupid or He is Evil”. I was glad to see that the article raised a lot of discussion. I thought it would be worthwhile to update and develop my thoughts in this Part 2.

Update

In that first article, I listed several groups of people who would suffer great harm due to Elon Musk’s almost total freeze of USAID funding: disease, homelessness, hunger, and death. (None of my readers have challenged the accuracy of my statistics.) A federal judge ordered a pause on the freeze and that the funding be restored. The Trump administration then rescinded the Musk freeze, but the funding has not yet been substantially restored. In fact, a judge has ruled that the administration has “defied” the court order. Meanwhile, vulnerable people in our own country and around the world are continuing to suffer (through the lack of funds for Meals on Wheels, World Relief, etc.).

I argued that this suffering was unnecessary. The Musk staff (DOGE) could have audited the books of USAID and rooted out any waste or corruption BEFORE freezing the funding. This is what Musk should have done. He should have calculated the potential damage before he made his decision. If he didn’t do the proper calculation, he would have been careless or stupid. If he knowingly understood the probable consequences of his decision, and intentionally pursued it, his action would be evil. I use the word “evil” carefully. The Bible teaches that “the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil”. (I Timothy 6:10) I am defining evil deeds as those intentional actions that unnecessarily cause damage/harm to other people. Recent actions by Musk and his staff provide even more evidence that there is a “root of all kinds of evil” where the love of money trumps the love for people.

Haste Makes Waste

During the past two weeks, Musk has led a crusade to fire thousands of civil servants in various federal agencies (IRS, USDA, FAA, National Park Service, FTC, etc.). The alleged purpose was to rid the national government of wasteful spending and corruption, but specific accusations are lacking. Not only are the lives of these civil servants turned upside down, real damage is also being done to our country.

For example, last week Musk/DOGE fired 325 highly skilled workers of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) which is under the control of the Department of Energy. Musk and his staff apparently did not realize that these employees were the guardians of our country’s nuclear weapons. On Friday, Rob Plonski, a deputy division director of NNSA alerted our country to the gravity of the situation: “We cannot expect to project strength, deterrence, and world dominance while simultaneously stripping away the federal workforce that provides strategic oversight to ensure our nuclear enterprise remains safe, secure, and effective”.  The damage has been done, but the negative impact will continue: “The consequences will be felt now and for years to come since these are highly qualified, largely STEM-trained personnel with a commitment to national security,” When Trump became aware of this awful mistake, he immediately rescinded Musk’s firing order. I used to believe Musk was quite savvy in business issues, but no more. His astute business reputation is being eroded day by day by his careless decisions to gut federal agencies.

The Strains of the Musk/Trump Relationship

Elon Musk’s approval rating (38%) is much lower than Donald Trump’s (46.6%), but Musk is getting more media attention than the president. Trump does not like this. Many of my readers have seen the clip in the White House where Musk is standing and speaking with his son perched on his shoulders. Meanwhile, Trump is sitting behind his desk and seems quite bored. Which one is the real president?

The White House is issuing enigmatic, mixed messages which attempt to bring Musk down a rung. “Musk is a senior advisor to the president,” Joshua Fisher, director of the White House Office of Administration, said in a declaration filed this week in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. “In his role as Senior Advisor to the President, Mr. Musk has no greater authority than other senior White House advisors. Like other senior White House advisors, Mr. Musk has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself. Mr. Musk can only advise the President and communicate the President’s directives.” So, is Musk the head of DOGE or is he not?

In addition, it is very evident that given his vast holdings of $400 billion, any major decision he makes is potentially a conflict of interests (TESLA, Starlink, and others). Nevertheless, he has not disinvested from these holdings nor has he stepped down from his companies, even though he is a “special governmental employee” of the current administration. The White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated, ““If Elon Musk comes across a conflict of interest with the contracts and the funding that DOGE is overseeing…Elon will excuse himself from those contracts.” This essentially affirms Musk would police himself. Polls show that the majority of Americans don’t believe in Musk’s honesty nor that he would recuse himself.

As Musk’s decisions continue to negatively impact people, his approval rating will continue to drop. I predict Trump will distant himself from Elon. It is doubtful that Musk will last the four years.