There was a general sigh of relief. The Christmas holidays are safe. On Friday, December 20, the United States escaped in extremis the risk of a shutdown – a temporary halt to non-essential government activities due to a lack of federal funding – at the end of three days of unforeseen psychodrama. A spending bill funding the government until March was largely passed in the House of Representatives, then in the Senate, defying Donald Trump’s wishes and the pressure exerted by Elon Musk, the new disrupter of American political life.
Trump’s entourage had said that this time, unlike in 2016, he was ready to govern from day one. His administration was formed without delay, and future presidential decrees were being drafted, in view of marking a break with the past as early as January 20, 2025, when he takes office. And yet, just one month before that date, the president-elect has become embroiled in a political crisis that will leave a mark and dispel the euphoria of his victory. His own camp has been torn apart in Congress, while the shadow of his ally, the ubiquitous billionaire Musk, continues to grow, drawing a clear rivalry between two oversized egos, whose interests for the time being are aligned.
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