Tech tycoon Elon Musk joined a call between US President-elect Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky the day after the presidential election, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.

  • AnIndefiniteArticle@sh.itjust.works
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    6 minutes ago

    He paid for Ukraine’s StarLink connections that he shuts off when Musk feels like it, and the incoming president who will shut off aid when Musk feels like it.

  • atzanteol@sh.itjust.works
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    1 day ago

    God, I feel for Zelensky… Imagine fighting for your existence against Russia and having to talk to these morons for help.

    • mongooseofrevenge@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      Remember when we had a whole impeachment hearing against Trump for withholding aid to Ukraine so he could get a political hit piece on Biden? I’m wondering how long it will take before a quid pro quo scenario pops up again. Either in Ukraine or elsewhere. So ya, we’re all feeling for Zelensky in the next few years.

      • NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip
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        1 day ago

        There will be no agreements.

        trump is going to change US policy to excluding all intelligence and military support and will “leak” all known military intel to putin.

          • NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip
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            1 day ago

            Don’t worry. He was just confused last time and totally will never steal and leak sensitive information ever again because that would be against the law. Just like he won’t extend his presidency or rig an election because that would violate the constitution.

            We’ve been seeing this shit for months. At first I thought it was just contrarian dumbasses. But I have increasingly realized that this is people convincing themselves that it was fine to vote for trump. Oh, he wasn’t REALLY going to do anything to violate teh constitution when he led an armed insurrection against the capital and was just buying time for rudy g to solve things. Oh, he isn’t going to serve the country to putin because all those heroic men and women in uniform will stop him this time for real.

            It is fucking idiocy.

            • WhatsHerBucket@lemmy.world
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              1 day ago

              As a 4th generation veteran, it makes so angry to think how many people died in the name of democracy and suddenly half the population is choosing for someone intending to end it to run the show.

              We’re in for some dark times ahead.

              • 800XL@lemmy.world
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                23 hours ago

                And a lot of those people are the children of parents that fought/died in WW2 against the Nazis, and had family or children even that fought/died against dictators like the one they fucking elected!

                Not only that, but they tried to overthrow the government their family died defending for this charlatan. It’s so pathetic my brain goes in loops trying to understand the absolute madness of it.

      • ikidd@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Impeaching him might be on the docket, if the Republicans really want Vance in the puppet seat. I think they’d rather manipulate him than whatever fucking impending shit-splosion Trump will become about 3 minutes in.

        I think Vance might at least be convinced to do logical things. We know that isn’t happening with Donny.

        • kent_eh@lemmy.ca
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          1 day ago

          I think Vance might at least be convinced to do logical things.

          He’s more likely to competently implement project 2025. Or at least more competently than Trump.

          And that’s not a good thing for anyone.

          • NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip
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            22 hours ago

            I go back and forth on which is more dangerous.

            trump is pathologically incapable of not backstabbing everyone around him and people telling him what to do is going to accelerate that. So we might get lucky and go back to the largely ineffectual screaming of the last round rather than focused efforts.

            But vance actually has ambitions and might want to be his own person. And vance is REAL stupid.

            I think we are horribly fucked either way but I think I am still leaning toward trump surviving until late 2028.

            • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
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              2 hours ago

              I firmly believe that Trump will be removed before his term is done. One because Republicans kind of need someone after Trump. But the bigger reason is he is such a narcissist that he is almost certain to step on a few billionaires toes. I think if he accidentally fucks with big money with some short sighted policy he will be swiftly removed.

              • bamfic@lemmy.world
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                5 hours ago

                I think this is unlikely but is still the most likely way he could be contained or even removed

              • NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip
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                6 hours ago

                Removed by who?

                trump controls the military. And as much people think the evil space lizards control the universe, that really isn’t the way. And there is zero cahnce that the secret service or even the CIA are going to allow trump to put two in the back of his head and then commit suicide by hanging himself off the roof of the white house.

                • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
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                  2 hours ago

                  Vance and or the apparatus enabling Trump.

                  Elon can’t take his place… but him, and a few other billionaires can easily put enough pressure for him to be replaced if/when he betrays one of them. Probably because something they were involved with goes bad and he tries to throw them under the bus.

      • TooManyFoods@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        There may exist a scenario where north korea is trying to build something that looks suspiciously like an Ohio class submarine and he has a strange golf bar appear on his desk.

    • teawrecks@sopuli.xyz
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      1 day ago

      Zelensky probably spent the whole call wondering if it would be faster to just hand deliver everything they talked about directly to Putin.

  • Fester@lemm.ee
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    1 day ago

    Remember when they used to try to keep corruption somewhat hidden and deniable? Now the richest man in the world is just going to be walking around the White House, tugging the government’s leash on full display.

  • hyperreal@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    Musk’s whole “slash government spending” schtick is such a farce. Tesla wouldn’t have domestic manufacturing facilities without a DOE loan. SpaceX survives off of government contracts.

    • Valmond@lemmy.world
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      16 hours ago

      Maybe Germany France Italy Spain Sweden Finland Poland … and the UK could step up?

      I mean let me dream a little.

      • Prandom_returns@lemm.ee
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        17 minutes ago

        Germany, LMAO. Didn’t they have their lips around putin’s pipe that got blown up?

        I bet the “russia is a trade partner” shtick will come back real soon.

    • Chainweasel@lemmy.world
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      12 hours ago

      Nah, he’ll use the location services from the dish to pinpoint the Ukrainian troop locations. If they’re smart they’ll start smashing them immediately.

    • jonne@infosec.pub
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      1 day ago

      He’s going to be on the cabinet while getting billions in government contracts. The richest man in the world just got a job where he gets to to shovel more government money to himself. And that’s what Trump calls ‘draining the swamp’ and ‘sticking it to the elites’.

      And somehow, instead of democrats calling that out, they decided to find their own elites to trot out.

      • Magister@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Worst of it, government money is your tax dollar… You will pay more and more taxes to funnel the money to Trump’s friends. Trump is the swamp thing!

        • jonne@infosec.pub
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          1 day ago

          They’ll finance it with debt, sale of assets and cutting of services. Which is probably even worse

      • ContrarianTrail@lemm.ee
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        19 hours ago

        It wasn’t enabled in Crimea in the first place. The author misspoke/lied about in the book and has later admitted it.

        U.S. sanctions to Russia forbid the use of Starlink. This includes crimea and the occupied territories. That’s why it wasn’t enabled.

        To clarify on the Starlink issue: the Ukrainians THOUGHT coverage was enabled all the way to Crimea, but it was not. They asked Musk to enable it for their drone sub attack on the Russian fleet. Musk did not enable it, because he thought, probably correctly, that would cause a major war.

        And before someone points out the ‘cause major war’ things, those are Walters words, not Elon’s. Musk said “It would make SpaceX explicitly complicit in a marjor act of war and conflict escalation” He later also added that had he been contacted by the US officials and asked to enable it he would, but they didn’t.

    • Windex007@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      I think a lot of Americans don’t understand that the USA hedgemony isn’t a divine right, it was a deliberate construction with tacit agreement of convenience from the western world.

      Much like an economy, belief makes it so.

      Much like the UK’s arrogance has driven them into geopolitical obscurity, so will the USA’s.

      In 15 years, Americans are going to wake up and realize that their voices are irrelevant in the world. I don’t know how y’all are going to handle it.

      • Pennomi@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        The USA became dominant by letting the world fight itself to ruins, then entering into the war late and declaring victory. TWICE.

        Being the only mostly undestroyed nation after a world war is immensely profitable.

      • idiomaddict@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        I deeply, desperately hope you’re right. In the best case, the military (including the nuclear arsenal) gets as hollowed out as russias before that realization comes.

      • MagicShel@lemmy.zip
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        1 day ago

        I’m going to be bummed, but it’ll be deserved. Maybe future generations will stop being entitled assholes. Idk. Don’t want to live in a disintegrating country. Really don’t want my kids to. But I guess we don’t always get to pick.

        • Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world
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          1 day ago

          Maybe future generations will stop being entitled assholes.

          Look what’s happening with Gen Z right now. They showed a lot of promise, then showed up to vote and turns out they have just as many nazis as the rest of us. We’re going ride this death spiral all the way to extinction.