Silicon Valley Is Starting to Pick Sides in Musk and Trump’s Breakup

Some of Trump’s high-profile backers from Silicon Valley stayed mostly quiet during nan Trump-Musk flare-up connected Thursday aliases tried to move attraction to different topics, including Sacks and Chamath Palihapitiya, 2 tech manufacture veterans who are besides hosts of nan enormously celebrated All In podcast, which has featured friends interviews pinch Trump and immoderate of his furniture appointees successful caller months.

As of Thursday afternoon, Palihapitya was posting connected X astir crypto, while Sacks shared a caller New York Times op-ed astir AI policy. But their chap podcast hosts, David Friedberg and Jason Calacanis, posted what appeared to beryllium cryptic references to nan drama.

“​China conscionable won,” Friedberg wrote connected societal media. “There are nary existent friends successful politics—only communal interests,” Calacanis said successful a abstracted message. He followed up pinch a meme portraying Musk arsenic rapper Kendrick Lamar, who was precocious progressive successful a tense feud pinch chap musician Drake.

“Can’t hold to spot nan All In podcast guys governmental beliefs vanish overnight,” Dar Sleeper, a erstwhile Tesla merchandise manager, quipped connected X.

Adam Kovacevich, a erstwhile Google executive and nan existent CEO of nan tech manufacture waste and acquisition group Chamber of Progress, says he thinks nan existent Musk-Trump riff doesn’t get astatine nan bosom of what astir tech business leaders are really concerned astir pinch nan existent administration.

“I don’t want to overstate nan rupture, but nan immense mostly of group successful nan tech manufacture aren’t aligned pinch anybody correct now,” Kovacevich says. “Some mightiness admit what Trump has done, calling disconnected SEC lawsuits against crypto and calling disconnected nan Biden bid connected AI, but astatine nan aforesaid clip there’s still a batch of angst astir tariffs. That’s nan azygous biggest rumor for tech correct now.”

A erstwhile Democratic operative who now useful astatine a tech finance patient says that, while nan Trump-Musk conflict will so unit immoderate group to take a side, it won’t beryllium a straightforward determination for galore of them. “This isn’t 2012—there are each these different strands making up nan Trump confederation now,” says nan operative, who asked to stay anonymous because they weren’t authorized by their employer to speak to nan media.

“The basal rumor is that Elon was nan gateway for group going from nan traditionally Democratic tech manufacture towards Trump and nan Republican party. And now nan mobility is, will Elon beryllium nan gateway for nan tech manufacture to travel backmost to nan left?” nan root says.

Two sources who said to WIRED opportunity that immoderate investors and technologists mightiness not beryllium speedy to clasp Musk because they are disappointed by really he handled DOGE. “A batch of group put tremendous religion successful nan thought that DOGE could shingle up nan government,” nan erstwhile Democratic operative says, but nan reality is that Washington is simply a different world from tech. “It’s nan slightest worst result for many, not nan champion result for a few.”

As nan sun began to group extracurricular nan White House connected Thursday, Trump and Musk were still trading barbs—and there’s small motion their conflict will extremity anytime soon. In fact, this whitethorn beryllium only nan beginning. As right-leaning tech investor Mike Solana put it connected X: “And so, arsenic foretold, nan awesome tech right/populist right-wing schism of 2025 begins.”