Source: Semafor
by David Weigel
“Musk’s MAGA self-deportation isn’t a total victory for any political faction. The Department of Government Efficiency remains in place; Democrats and liberal groups are still suing to undo its work. And the Musk/DOGE effort to demolish USAID fulfilled a basic nationalist project, pulling back resources for noncitizens and giving the money to Americans. (The agency’s offices are being refitted for Customs and Border Protection.) But the long-term Trump project, which has been succeeding all year, is transforming the Republican Party from Reaganite national greatness to nationalism — more like Viktor Orban’s Fidesz than George W. Bush’s GOP. … The punishment matters less than the policy, which is to stop seeing the national debt as an existential threat, and understand immigration as an existential threat. Who wins if Trump-endorsed Republicans run on that, and candidates backed by a Musk PAC talk about cutting the deficit? The ending to that story is even more predictable than the ending of this one.” (06/05/25)
https://www.semafor.com/article/06/05/2025/the-maga-right-declares-victory-over-elon-musk