Recently, Musk has been posting on X about politics, decentralization, and the appointment of Trump administration officials, assuming the posture of a veritable American 'shadow president'.

Clearly, as Trump's top brother and confidant, Musk has entered Trump's inner circle - Trump disregards possible national security concerns, allowing Musk to join his calls with world leaders and appear in family photos together. The latest news is that Musk will lead the new government's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) plan.

Meanwhile, Musk, this 'shadow president' of internet governance, continues to stir up a storm of support for Trump on the social platform X (formerly Twitter, renamed X after being acquired by Musk), hinting at possibly trying to dismiss 80% of government employees, abolish the Department of Education, declare the Fed unconstitutional, and focus on promoting government decentralization and cutting expenses in the USA.

How long can Musk and Trump's "honeymoon period" last remains a question mark.

Twitter governance: Musk is committed to decentralization and reducing government spending.

Analysis suggests that X is a complete business failure but a huge political success - Musk has turned X into a gathering place for right-wing media and white supremacists.

This has driven away a large number of users and advertisers, leading to a nearly 80% drop in X's value since it was acquired in 2022. However, it has attracted a significant number of young audiences interested in Trump, sports, video games, and cryptos. According to a survey conducted by polling institution YouGov Blue in November, men aged 18 to 29 get most of their news from social media, where X is the most popular channel - when Musk started funding the American Political Action Committee, this was the group he targeted.

Recently, Musk not only regularly posts updates on politics, deregulation, and Trump administration appointments on X, but also criticizes the Department of Education, expresses views on the election of the next Senate majority leader, and praises Trump's appointment of Tom Homan as the White House's 'border czar' on X.

More importantly, through X, Musk has repeatedly expressed support for broad deregulation and spending cuts by the US government.

On November 11, Musk reposted a post by a Republican congressman with the caption 'Government efficiency, go for it!!', suggesting that the Republican-led Congress should submit a bill to reduce government intervention on Trump's first day in office.

In addition, Musk also called on 'crazed advocates of the small government revolution' to join the upcoming Trump administration. On November 11, Musk reposted comments from Trump ally Vivek Ramaswamy, which stated that 'a team of small government revolutionaries will save our country, this is the only way.'

How much longer can Musk and Trump stay sweet?

Some media outlets have indicated that almost every influential business leader who has been close to Trump has eventually been forced to leave his circle in some awkward situation - the 'half-life' of Trump's influence is so short that it has a jokingly simple abbreviation - 'Scaramucci', referring to Trump's former close friend and prominent investor Anthony Scaramucci who was fired just 10 days after becoming White House Press Secretary in 2017.

Therefore, the question of how much longer Musk and Trump can stay sweet has become a topic of lively discussion for everyone.

In early November, Scaramucci stated during a radio interview:

"Elon Musk and others are currently in a 'quiet period' of their relationship with Trump, but they will face their 'hellish moments' with him, it's just a matter of time."

More importantly, if Trump wants to fulfill Musk's commitment to cut over 2 trillion US federal budget, they will almost certainly need to cut social security and some of the most popular government programs, which will provoke strong opposition not only from Democrats, but also from Republicans.

However, some believe they will continue in sweetness, after all, Trump has promised SpaceX a new Mars mission rocket contract and will introduce regulations that benefit Tesla's robot taxi, helping Tesla cut off opportunities for competitors.

Besides, Trump just announced that he will have Musk lead the 'Government Efficiency Department,' participating in decisions on which government projects to retain and cut, this fits Musk's intentions - in October, Trump mentioned in an interview with Fox News that Musk will not officially hold a cabinet position: 'He does not want to be in the cabinet, he just wants to be in charge of cost reduction.'