With so much attention on President Trump, there has been relatively little attention has been paid to Elon Musk, who welds quite a bit of influence in American politics.

Musk may not be as rich or as successful as he and others claim. His net worth may be artificially inflated to attract investors, huge loans, and billions in government subsidies.

Tesla is not really a success story yet. The auto company has had tens of thousands of customer complaints, returns, recalls, and thousands of cars they can't sell. Maybe if Tesla had some models which more people could afford, they might have stronger sales. But there are only a limited number of upper income drivers buying them.

Maybe if Trump really wants to save money for the government, then they could eliminate tax breaks, subsidies, and huge concessions to major money losing companies like Tesla and Space X. 

Musk has many ideas which are hugely expensive and impractical. He said he wants to move a million people to Mars. Would a million people actually want to move to Mars? This is just one of his far out, science fiction plans. Of course, Musk doesn't want to risk his own money in pursuing these pie-in-the-sky fantasies. Why do that when he can get investors, huge bank loans, and the US government to pay for them? 

It didn't take Musk long to drive Twitter into the ground once he got a hold of it. First, it was the botched name change to X, which confused everyone. Then, he wanted to place his own rules and restrictions on it, leading to millions of dollars in lawsuits and a major drop in its value.

Now, Musk's Department of Government Efficiency has gained access to sensitive Treasury data including payments of Social Security and Medicare. How much power are we willing to give him before it's too much?

Someday, Musk may be the world's first trillionaire at the expense of others. No one gets that rich without cheating many people along the way. Or maybe his "empire" will collapse like a house of cards and everyone else will be left with the bills and all of his broken promises. Musk may be an "emperor" without any clothes. Do not be fooled by this so-called "wizard" behind the curtain. I smell a rat! A Musk-rat!