Who’s minding the store?

| 3:00 pm EST December 24, 2024
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The Wall Street Journal places the blame for the barely averted shutdown squarely at Donald Trump’s feet. Mike Johnson was not allowed to be the speaker because Trump was constantly undercutting him. Johnson is okay with that, as he is one of Trump’s most loyal soldiers, but it’s a shame he doesn’t realize his own power as speaker. Better yet, he allowed his power to be overtaken by an aggressive narcissist and his sidekick, an aggressive, raving narcissist. Trump had better learn how to reel Elon Musk in or he will be giving his “presidency” to him.

As USA Today reported, Musk began posting on social media about the initial version of the bill before Trump had even said anything. Nebraska Congressman Don Bacon doesn’t seem to be exactly happy about Musk’s interference. Bacon said: “I was troubled that he [Musk] put out false information, which in the social media environment people tend to believe what they see and some of that stuff was just out and out lies.” It will be Trump’s job to reign Musk in. Musk is not a part of Congress and has no influence on what happens there, and he and Trump both need to quit using social media to talk about Congressional matters. In the end, Trump had 39 Republicans vote against his bill.

WSJ agreed that Musk needs to stay out of government business. The editorial board wrote: “These are bad omens here for 2025 and the ability of Republicans to govern. The immediate result has been a fiasco by any measure. Mr. Musk, and then Mr. Trump, delivered a social-media barrage against Mr. Johnson’s continuing resolution to fund the government through Marach 14.” People are already making jokes about “President Musk,” which surely infuriates Trump. WSJ also addressed Musk’s ignorance about how Congress works. Perhaps when people are as rich as Musk, they just assume they know and can do anything, but that’s stupidity and narcissism fooling him. Even other media outlets are writing that Musk is “calling the shots” for Trump. Is that why Trump ran for president? To let Musk lead him around by the nose? They must be touching a nerve, as Musk wrote on X that the media is “trying to drive a wedge between him and Trump” and that it won’t work. More accurately, the media is waiting with bated breath for the blow-up and falling out that is destined to occur between these two.

The Trump “presidency” will likely be entertaining from some perspectives, but it will be marred by chaos, incompetence, and lack of knowledge. He continues to harp about things that don’t matter, like changing the name of Denali to Mount McKinley. As Reuters reported, McKinley has no history or connection to the mountain, while the Alaskan people-who named it-do. Anything Trump can do to create chaos and harm, he will do. That’s one of the major reasons that many did not want him back in the White House. We may be stuck with him for now, but one day, he will be gone again-for good.