As DOGE picks up steam and global politics melts down, Elon Musk has continued his long march through politics around the world. Last week, he hosted an X Space with Alice Weidel, leader of Alternatif fur Deutchland (AfD). Weidel is her party’s candidate for the Chancellor election next month in Germany. On the surface, this interview was the world’s wealthiest man exercising his ability to express his political views and discuss them with global political leaders. To the EU, who directed 150 employees to monitor the conversation live, it was another skirmish in the build–up to all-out war with an uncouth political operative. The two sides are fighting different battles, but there can only be one winner.
Elon Musk
Despite being the CEO/Technoking of six companies, Elon Musk apparently has some time left on his hands. Throughout the 2020s, Musk has become increasingly political. A staunch free speech advocate, he bought Twitter in 2022 to ensure balance in online political discourse. Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg now appears to be following his lead. Musk announced he would no longer vote Democrat shortly thereafter. In addition to endorsing Donald Trump last July, he has spoken out on other issues. Gender Theory, Immigration, and the Middle East are just three hot topics drawing the ire of the radical left.
Critically, Musk’s political views don’t appear to have changed since he started off in liberal Silicon Valley. He views the West as going through a political re-alignment. He is part of the ‘old Left’ but caucuses on the anti-establishment ‘right’ of the political spectrum. As he inserts himself into the politics of other countries, he increasingly supports parties and movements that oppose the established mainstream. ‘MAGA’, Reform UK, and the AfD being just three.
The European Union
The European Union exists in a totally different reality. It exists to ensure peace and co-operation on the continent with the most large-scale internal conflict in history. From Rome to World War II, Europe has been ravaged by war, with mostly Europeans on both sides. Without imposed establishment order, the EU not only will not exist, it cannot exist. Its steady spiralling of self-strengthening picked up speed after Britain voted to leave the Union. Its best response to losing a significant member has been to bind the remaining 27 members ever closer in its way of life.
The EU culture of regulation has led to a plethora of side-effects. On the one hand, high-quality food, the envy of the insurgent American Right (MAHA). On the other, bureaucracy and a black-and-white approach to what sort of words are acceptable to use. This bigger-is-better culture is so ingrained that a proposed solution to the Ukraine conflict is circulating which suggests the war will end if both Ukraine and Russia join the EU. A proposal to be discussed separately on its own merits, it certainly is in conflict with Trump’s likely approach of “well, I might” in relation to dropping nukes on Moscow.
The conflict between Musk and the EU
Musk’s view of the EU is the same as his view of any government. It is an obstacle to privacy and personal liberty. Specifically, the EU’s clampdown on free speech through, among other things, the Digital Services Act, mandates the very thing Musk bought Twitter to counter: state-sponsored censorship.
In the wake of the Twitter Files, the Meta Files, and Zuckerberg’s increasingly confessional approach to public relations, the EU seems to arrogantly assume it won’t face the same consequences. Between Musk’s X Spaces with Trump and now Weidel, the EU appears to lean into its ‘Big Brother’ positioning. Disgraced Commissioner Thierry Breton, obviously, is Parsons in this scenario. But in the end, Musk will never love Big Brother. Frankly, he’s too rich and he lives in the US. It is the EU that must change if it wishes to neutralize the threat of Elon Musk and his fantasies of freedom.
Money Talks
Musk is not shy about using his wealth for political gain. Fresh off buying Twitter and his million-a-day giveaway in swing states, he has already pledged funding to Nigel Farage and Reform UK. It’s unlikely that he will stop there. Neither does he have to wait until the next EU Parliament elections in 2029. While most countries had elections in 2024, some key spheres of influence remain for Musk. He is already actively supporting Weidel in Germany. France will almost certainly have an election by the end of the year with Le Pen in a strong position. Poland goes to the polls in May and Hungary about a year later.
Every national victory for Musk and his worldview brings the EU closer to a bureaucratic disassembly – and with it, irrelevance. Notwithstanding the disdain most Member States and their citizens have for Musk, the EU cannot beat him in the court of public opinion. His global influence is too great. Resisting him outright risks the downfall of Europe.
Neutralizing Musk
The EU, therefore, needs to play coy. First off, it needs to stop picking battles it can’t win. Monitoring X Spaces is an unforced error. Rolling back on its most brazen regulatory objectives would be effective too. Critically, this does not require a change in policy for the bloc, but rather a change in approach. Musk, who runs six companies and is assuming a role as a key advisor to Trump next week, operates on a headline basis. Insipid moves and discretion is key to the EU staying below his radar. A near-impossible task for an organization of 200 million bureaucrats desperately proving their worth on a daily basis, it may be the only option the Union has.
In short, the EU needs to lower the megaphone, let Musk take credit for some ostensible wins, and tighten up regulations discreetly behind closed doors. If it needs a guide on how to do it, reverse engineering Musk’s DOGE-related tweets in the coming months might be a good starting point.
