Musk Rebranded Trump? That’s Not What Happened

Kyle Chayka is a staff writer at The New Yorker. He wrote a piece after the election about Elon Musk’s impact on the Trump brand. Here’s a small excerpt to chew on.

It’s hard to overstate the success that a Trump-Musk axis has already had in rebranding Trump’s image.… In the company of Musk—redolent of angular Cybertrucks, reusable rockets, and humanity living on Mars—Trump appears not as an elderly, increasingly incoherent, legally embattled former President who failed to get reëlected once but as the leader of an energized, risktaking, unorthodox, tech-forward regime.

I’m a big fan of Chayka’s work and the magazine, but there’s no mention in the article about how Trump’s reputation and image might tarnish Musk’s brand. There’s also no mention of Trump’s take on the so-called “rebrand.” Given what we know about the megalomaniac and distractor-in-chief, it’s hard to imagine him thinking he needs any improvements to his brand or image.

Also, the last time Musk endeavored to rebrand a company, he turned Twitter into X and invited far right extremists to the site. It’s important to note that X might be exactly what Musk wants it to be today, but the company is worth a small fraction of the $44 Billion he paid for it just two years and one month ago, and that has to hurt.

When it’s not done for vanity, a rebrand is typically undertaken when the legacy brand is no longer culturally relevant or economically productive. Trump didn’t need a rebrand and he didn’t receive one. He made a new friend who happens to be richer, younger, and some would say cooler than the former and future President.

When it comes to rebranding, the Republican Party is another matter. Trump has managed to radically change the Grand Old Party’s brand. There’s nothing at all conservative about the GOP today. Politically speaking, the new leaders of the party are amateurs and extremists. In a weird twist, they are aware of this, proud of it, and have made it a selling point. It’s a feature, not a flaw.

Speaking of features and flaws, Chayka’s article does successfully tether Silicon Valley’s power players to Trump’s White House.

For fans of Musk’s techno-accelerationist vision, the Trumpian alliance amounts to the dawning of a bold new political era. Rachael Horwitz, the chief marketing officer of the San Francisco venture-capital firm Haun Ventures, said, ‘Elon has given a new shape to how some people view not just Trump but maybe even conservatism,’ she said, adding, ‘I think there is optimism at this moment. There’s hope.’

Hope? We’ve heard that word before. What does it mean to the creatures of The Valley today? I believe it means a lack of regulation and avoidance of taxes on their companies and personal wealth. But other than the robotification of humanity and life on Mars, what are today’s techno-accelerationists hoping for exactly?

It seems an odd marriage, this. The Valley traditionally has honored education, especially math and science, and a culture of achievement. I might be missing it, but it seems to me that the only shared value between Trump’s team and the titans and vultures of The Valley is the love of money and power. Of course, the love of money and power is at the root of many alliances. Nevertheless, I wonder how this alliance will work out for them.

If the economy flatlines under Trump, what then? Whoever and whatever occupies The White House, Musk always needs to sell more cars, Zuck wants to sell more ads, and Bezos will sell anything in the warehouse. Not incidentally, Americans’ confidence in technology firms has dropped in recent years.

According to the 2024 Silicon Valley Poll, concerns about the tech sector are prominent in the Bay Area, with 75% of those polled believing that Silicon Valley’s leading tech companies wield too much power and influence. Additionally, 80% agree that the growth of the tech industry is a key driver of the region’s high cost of living and housing.

There are other serious concerns across the nation about the tech industry’s treatment of labor and its abuse of the environment. Did you know that Google’s emissions in 2023 were almost 50% higher than in 2019, largely due to the energy demand tied to data centers? It’s easy to see why some of the tech sector’s CEOs seek protection from a perceived strong man. It’s like these Doctors Frankenstein are suddenly frightened of their own inventions and the possibility of a customer revolt.