Elon Musk unilaterally altered United States foreign policy to favor Russian interests.

Musk’s decision to change the course of a war with “a seeming flick of a switch,” taking it upon himself, with or without the complicity of White House officials, to reverse the foreign policy of the United States of America for the benefit of Russia’s president Vladimir Putin, is a stunning assumption of power reminiscent of Revolutionary War general Benedict Arnold’s weakening of the Americans’ defenses and draining of supplies at the strategic fort at West Point to enable the British to capture it before he was discovered and defected to the British Army. Another lens through which to see this story is the apparent eagerness of White House officials to turn Musk into a scapegoat for a decision they were happy to endorse until it blew up in their faces. https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/october-20-2026?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=qh2ap

“ #Musk’s decision to change the course of a war with “a seeming flick of a switch,” taking it upon himself, with or without the complicity of #Trump, to reverse the foreign policy of the USA, is a stunning assumption of power. It is reminiscent of 1776 general Benedict Arnold’s weakening of the Americans’ defenses and draining of supplies at the strategic fort at West Point to enable the British to capture it before he was discovered and defected to the British Army.” https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/october-20-2026