Elon Musk threatens to widen the rift between Europe and America

A peace of convenience usually reigns between politicians and corporate chieftains. Politicos go easy on businessfolk from whom they hope to secure investments and campaign contributions, while the bosses hold their tongues in the hope of securing subsidies and permits that are in politicians’ gift. How refreshing it is to see both sides go at each other once in a while. No brawl has been quite so public in recent times as that pitting Elon Musk against politicians in Europe, often unfolding on X (or Twitter, as the social network was known until he bought it two years ago). Just last week the purveyor of Tesla cars and SpaceX rockets called the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, a “fool”; earlier this year he advised a European Union commissioner who had crossed him to “Take a big step back and literally, fuck your own face!” The other side can give nearly as good as it gets. Another EU commissioner last month painted the mercurial Mr Musk as a “promoter of evil”, before the French foreign minister on November 9th mocked him for running X into the ground. Zing!