Murphy’s Law: Even smart people can act stupidly in strange situations.
Eidsmoe’s Corollary: Because smart people have succeeded in their fields of expertise, they assume they can succeed in other fields as well, thus setting themselves up for failure.
Two of the smartest people I know (of) are Donald Trump and Elon Musk. Trump entered the political world a novice, but he showed his genius by his business successes throughout the world. As a candidate, he recognized what the Republican establishment candidates missed – that the rules of engagement had changed, and tactics that worked in previous elections would not work today.
In the military, we often say that every general fights the last war; that is, they fight the current war based on tactics that worked in the previous war, even though changing conditions may mean those tactics are no longer effective. In the 1700s, cavalry charges against lines of musket men who could shoot perhaps 100 yards made sense; but in the War Between the States, cavalry charges against riflemen who could shoot accurately up to 500 yards were disastrous.
In the same way, candidate Trump recognized that his brash oratory, his use of social media, and other tactics that would have fallen flat a few elections earlier met a receptive audience in 2016 and even more in 2024. And as president, having been a businessman who wouldn’t get paid unless he delivered on time, he showed a remarkable ability to get things done, running on a rare campaign theme, “Promises Made, Promises Kept.” In this way Trump showed his brilliance.
Elon Musk has been called the smartest man in every room, the smartest man who ever lived, a genius like Einstein. He demonstrated his genius by developing Tesla electric cars – which may soon be self-driven – by taking over Twitter and renaming it X, by pioneering private space travel and exploration, and by developing products that improve human/computer relations. He successfully managed corporations, making him one of the richest men in the history of the world, with an estimated net worth of around $410 billion. His mind was sufficiently astute and his values sufficiently intact, enabling him to see through “woke” thinking and recognize that DEI and other products of liberal thinking were nonsensical and unworkable. Gradually, he became disillusioned with liberal politicians, embracing Trump instead. Musk’s young “techie” followers joined Trump’s working-class patriots to form a new conservative political majority.
Recognizing Musk’s brilliance, Trump appointed Musk to head the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk poured his heart and soul into DOGE, again demonstrating his genius by identifying billions of dollars of government waste and, hatchet-like, cutting all sorts of government programs. Naturally, this made many unhappy, but most of us recognized that it had to be done if we were ever to return to fiscal sanity.
But here’s where Murphy’s Law and Eidsmoe’s Corollary kick in: Musk showed his brilliance in technology and business, and that brilliance carried over to identifying government waste. However, Musk was and is a stranger to politics, and even geniuses can act foolishly in unusual situations. Musk should have had the good sense to stay away from the Jeffrey Epstein issue, not because it wasn’t important, but because it detracted from his mission of reducing government waste.
Musk doesn’t seem to understand that politics is the art of the possible. Having high principles is important, but it takes skill to get them enacted into law and make them effective. Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” (BBB) contained many of Musk’s DOGE proposals, but not all, and not enough to satisfy Musk. And Musk walked out of the Trump-Musk alliance that was a lynchpin of conservative success.
Trump’s allies in Congress had to hold together a bare majority that kept the moderates without losing the conservative Freedom Caucus members. The BBB passed the Senate 51-50 only after Vice President JD Vance broke a tie vote, and it passed the House only by 218-214. Trump undoubtedly wanted to include more of Musk’s DOGE proposals, but that would have sunk the bill. This is the best we can get for now, but we can work for more later.
Now that he has split with Trump, Musk is talking about leading a third party, a dead-on-arrival idea that will only split the conservative vote and put the liberals back in power.
My plea to Musk is, "Get real!" You have so much to offer, and you have accomplished so much. Don’t ruin it by unrealistic demands that will only lead to defeat. Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
And my plea to both Trump and Musk is to put ego aside, forgive and forget, and work together! The Trump-Musk alliance was a key to success in 2024 and in the early months of the Trump administration. This coalition is essential to the conservative movement. Don’t blow it by snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory!
Colonel Eidsmoe serves as Professor of Constitutional Law for the Oak Brook College of Law & Government Policy (obcl.edu), as Senior Counsel for the Foundation for Moral Law (morallaw.org), and as Pastor of Woodland Presbyterian Church of Notasulga, Alabama (woodlandpca.org). He may be contacted for speaking engagements at [email protected].
