The Trump-Musk Feud as Seen From D.C.’s MAGA Hotspot

“The Tea Party sold out to Koch, but Trump wouldn’t sell out to ketamine.” At D.C.’s MAGA hotspot, Butterworth’s, the President’s allies and fans reacted to the public breakup between Trump and Elon Musk. And, then, Daniel Immerwahr reminds us that our biggest fears about deepfakes haven’t quite yet been realized. Plus:

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Antonia Hitchens
Hitchens is a staff writer who covers politics for the magazine.

Finally, the fragile peace was over. Elon Musk, who not long ago said that he loved Donald Trump “as much as a straight man can love another man,” was now suggesting he be impeached. Trump, who just last week honored Musk in the Oval Office—beforehand he offered to lend him some makeup to cover up a black eye—was threatening to cancel his government contracts. “Love to see it,” Raheem Kassam, the MAGA operative and Steve Bannon ally, said as I walked up to his Capitol Hill restaurant, Butterworth’s, yesterday evening. Kassam, who has always maintained that Musk was “dangerous for the political right worldwide,” was hosting a party to unveil a new sofa in his restaurant dedicated to Peter Mandelson, the British Ambassador. He took smoke breaks outside to help passersby process the Musk-Trump split. “Today was really important,” he said. “Remember, in 2012, the Tea Party effectively got captured by the corporatists—they sold out the Tea Party to the Koch network, whereas today MAGA showed that it is not for sale, no policy is for sale, no fealty is for sale. It allows once again Donald Trump to be Donald Trump.” Kassam wore pink seersucker pants and at one point booed a passing Cybertruck. As guests filtered in and out, he developed a tagline: “The Tea Party sold out to Koch, but Trump wouldn’t sell out to ketamine.”

Bannon was down the street at his town house doing interviews with every outlet on earth, telling reporters that he wanted Trump to direct the federal government to seize control of Musk’s companies and investigate his immigration status and drug use. Still, there were details that needed to be ironed out. “Oh, shit, what are they going to do with the Tesla?” Kassam asked. At a sunnier point in the relationship, Trump had purchased a red Model S from Musk that he keeps parked on the White House grounds. “Hang on, I’m going to text Karoline and ask her about that,” he said, referring to the White House press secretary. (Today, it was reported that Trump would be selling the car.) Natalie Winters, the White House correspondent for Bannon’s “War Room” podcast, joined the group. Winters has long argued on her show that Musk is a Chinese asset. “Put him on the travel ban,” Kassam said. Winters added, “This whole thing is proof of why we shouldn’t vaccinate children.” She went on, “Will DOGE continue to metastasize without him? What are the tech bros supposed to do now?”

A tailor in the neighborhood who dines frequently at Butterworth’s also found himself fielding questions. “I knew there were seeds of discontent, but I didn’t realize there was a serious war of words or whatever,” he said. “One girl was asking me, like, if they were in a fight, who would you favor? I said, if they were in a boxing ring, I suppose I would favor Elon, because he’s younger, but then Trump’s got a weight advantage . . .” He handed out his business card. A person in the Administration arrived and ordered a plate of French fries. “If you go out and you’re soliciting other people’s support against your leader, that’s insurrection,” he said. “This is Elon’s insurrection.” He paused. “Or this could all blow over in a week.”

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