Allies and aides to Donald Trump should be increasingly concerned by Elon Musk’s proximity to and influence on the US president-elect, the Yale hist

‘Trump is a little guy, Musk is a big guy’: historian predicts trouble for president-elect

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2025-01-01 18:30:03

Allies and aides to Donald Trump should be increasingly concerned by Elon Musk’s proximity to and influence on the US president-elect, the Yale historian and bestselling author Timothy Snyder said.

“Trump is a little guy, and Musk is a big guy when it actually comes to having money,” Snyder said. “And I think if you were a friend of Trump, you would be worried.”

The author of bestsellers including On Tyranny (2017) and On Freedom (2024) was speaking to the Guardian about issues including his work in Ukraine, where he has teamed up with the Star Wars actor Mark Hamill to raise funds to buy robots to clear landmines laid by Russian invaders.

But as Trump prepares to take power in Washington, and promises new policy on US support for Ukraine most expect to heavily favor Vladimir Putin and Russia, Snyder also considered what the coming Trump administration may mean closer to home.

Snyder expects that Trump’s soon-to-be home, the White House, will be a stage for uncomfortable and damaging discord between the president-elect and his most powerful ally, the world’s richest man.