In his bestselling book, the Laws of Power, author of strategy books Robert Greene tells of the relationship between King Louis-Phillipe of France and James Rothschild of the famous Rothschild banking family.
King Louis-Philippe became friends with the banker and treated him like a son. Very soon, he had begun treating him as an equal, heaping praises on him in public, praising his family’s business acumen and Rothschild’s wisdom.
The praise got into Rothschild’s head, and one day, he publicly berated the king for arriving late to a function.
The king, who had amused Parisians by downplaying his status, had now lost the respect of people who clearly should be trembling with fear at his appearance, like French kings before him. Indeed, he became king while Napoleon still lingered in the minds of the French.
Needless to say, his kingship unravelled not long after.
The moment Elon Musk came to the Oval Office with his son enjoying a kingly ride around his father’s neck, I knew he had lost respect for Trump and the US presidency. His son, who was behaving rambunctiously while around his father’s neck, was set down to roam the Oval Office as Trump signed the executive order reshaping the federal workforce.
Here was a man in the office of the most powerful man in the world – a man who is so choleric people think he’s a psychopath – behaving in such a nonchalant, casual manner around the president. His toddler son got in on the act. I recoiled in resigned horror as I watched..
Needless to say, he began insulting Trump a few days later. He has since said he probably went too far, but the damage had already been done.
In the Saudi Arabia visit, I saw a fawning US president head out a door, praising the former head of DOGE as a very wise man.
Well, that must definitely be true because the South African billionaire once called former German Chancellor Olaf Scholz a fool. It must definitely be true because it would take a very wise man to arrive from Africa to Canada and become the world’s richest man in a matter of a few years.
That said, Musk definitely went too far. And it took Trump’s camp over a week to call a truce. Yet, Must has stopped short of an apology.
This is clearly a King Phillip and Rothschild situation; a powerful King cosying up to a man young enough to be his son just because he is…richer than him.
Let’s not debate whether Rothschild was richer than King Phillipe (even though by then France was virtually bankrupt), but Elon Musk is a hundred times richer than Mr Hot Head.
And since Musk senses Trump is entertaining him because of his wealth, he assumed the “rich man’s posture”, acting superior to a man who is licking his boots.
A sad part of human nature is that most of us are insecure; when a superior praises us or treats us in an early familiar way, it gets into our head. Forever or later, we begin treating the superior as an inferior. Familiarity breeds contempt.
The US president should have known that.
