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Comment by ren_engineer | Hacker News Reader

for SpaceX it's a bet that if Trump wins they will get far more lobbying power for contracts and Boeing/Lockheed will be even more screwed.

And while consumer opinion on Tesla and Starlink will be hurt, Elon is probably hoping to get Trump to tariff Chinese electric car competitors massively so his only competition will be domestic

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No matter who wins SpaceX will get plenty of govt business they are so far ahead of everyone else not only today but in the next decade. And that is completely ignoring the Starship shaped hammer about to break the cost curve for launching to orbit in 3-5 years.

Biden already tariffed Chinese EVs! https://apnews.com/article/biden-china-tariffs-electric-vehi...

And I doubt SpaceX needs much more lobbying power for contracts.

I think it's pretty clear Elon's interest here is not in minor lobbying benefits but is a genuine reflection of how he's ass deep in the culture war.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Trump starts a second space race, to put the first human on Mars, and funnels billions into SpaceX to achieve it.

I feel like Xi Jinping (the leader of the only other country currently capable of joining that race) would just lean back and say, "Sure, I'll hold your beers...", and maybe get out his phone to record the hilarity of the attempt.

Trump is (a) a narcissist, and (b) not a _complete_ idiot. There is no world in which he does this if he wins, because it would certainly not deliver while he was still president, and in practice it would likely only deliver after he was dead (bear in mind that he's nearly 80). Anything along those lines from him should be expected to be flashy, but relatively short timelines, because it will be very important to him that it's all about him.

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