Dear John,

As I watch Donald Trump lay out his cabinet picks from across the pond, one simple question comes to mind that I’m sure I’ll continue asking over the next four gruelling years: Who the f*** voted for Elon Musk?

It was bad enough when he was just embarrassing himself with cringe-inducing star-jumps on Trump’s stage, or boosting his own trashy AI-generated memes on “X” (Speaking of which, Open Britain is now on Bluesky ([link removed]) – give us a follow!).

But now, Elon Musk will help head up the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) along with former Republican Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. The irony of the “efficiency” department having two co-leaders is not lost on any of us.

Technically, it’s not an actual department, more of an advisory bureau. That means, surprise surprise, Musk will not have to go through the arduous Senate-approval process for his new position. DOGE’s role, aside from boosting the value of a dodgy cryptocurrency ([link removed]) , is to advise Trump on dismantling the regulatory state. Will the richest billionaire in the world specifically target the regulations that limit his own profits? It’s hard to see how he wouldn’t.

Musk has also been accompanying the President-elect in a series of meetings with world leaders. He’s so determined to be involved in government that Trump is seemingly already getting sick ([link removed]) of him.

There’s a word for this phenomenon: oligarchy. A billionaire president and his billionaire friend are laying out their plans to strip the country for parts. Musk has no electoral mandate to be involved in this process in any shape or form, and it’s no wonder he’s opted to dodge even the flimsy accountability processes the US has in place.

Things are about to get dark Stateside, and quickly. Rep Matt Gaetz (convicted sex-trafficker) will run Trump’s law enforcement, Tulsi Gabbard (known purveyor of Putin propaganda) will be the nation’s intelligence chief, and a former Fox News host will run Defence. What could possibly go wrong?

We know that Trump’s acolytes here in the UK, led by Nigel Farage, want to make the same thing happen here. Trump successfully sold his pack of lies in the United States, but Britain is not America. If we batten down the hatches and rebuild our broken democracy, we can avoid the same fate – but we need your support now more than ever to do it.

All the best,

Matt

Matt Gallagher

Comms Officer

Open Britain
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