Musk’s brutal spat with Donald Trump

Elon Musk’s recent fallout with Donald Trump has reignited concerns about the “Dark MAGA” conspiracy—a fringe theory suggesting tech billionaires plan to dismantle U.S. democracy and replace it with a CEO-led, authoritarian regime. The term originated from Curtis Yarvin, a coder and political thinker who believes the U.S. should be run like a corporation. Musk once joked he was “Dark MAGA” while wearing all black and a customized MAGA hat, but some now view his statement through a more ominous lens as his relationship with Trump deteriorates.

The theory links Musk and fellow billionaire Peter Thiel to this vision, with claims they pressured Trump to select JD Vance as his running mate and may aim to replace Trump altogether. While far-fetched, elements of the theory—like government staff purges and institutional concerns about “Dark Enlightenment”—are reportedly becoming real. Scholar Dr. Katie Pruszynski notes that Yarvin’s ideas have gained traction through figures like Thiel and Vance, pushing once-extreme views into mainstream far-right discourse. Though Yarvin didn’t create these anti-democratic goals, their adoption by influential conservatives makes them more concerning.