Trump will not let Musk steamroll him – Col Chris Wyatt
Some in the inner circle of US President-elect Donald Trump are rather irritated that South African-born Elon Musk is acting like he is co-president. But in this interview with BizNews, retired US Army Military Intelligence Officer Colonel Chris Wyatt says: "I wouldn't lose any sleep over Donald Trump being steamrolled by Elon Musk…Musk may be making lot of waves right now…(but) You will see that if he is being disruptive in a way that Trump doesn't like, he'll be pushed backwards a little bit." As for Musk apparently turning his hand to US foreign policy by meeting with a leading Iranian official, Wyatt says it "came as a bit of surprise to folks on this side of the Atlantic". However, he does hope that Musk will nudge Trump to do something about the loss of US influence on the African continent. "if…he puts a little earworm in Trump's ear about Africa or South Africa, then we're likely to see some action in Africa". Commenting on AGOA and the African National Congress' (ANC's) resistance to US meddling in its affairs, Wyatt says: "If you don't want us in your business, then don't take money from us. You're taking plenty of money from Tehran and from Beijing. Just go there and get it." Meanwhile, he predicts that SWAPO is "next on the list" of long-ruling parties in Africa to be ousted in an election.
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Extended transcript of the interview ___STEADY_PAYWALL___
Chris Steyn (00:02.146)
Has South African-born Elon Musk turned his hand to US foreign policy. We ask retired US Army Military Intelligence Officer Colonel Chris Wyatt. Welcome, Colonel.
Colonel (Ret) Chris Wyatt (00:14.198)
Hey Chris, thanks for the warm welcome. It's good to be back and talking US politics, one of my favorite subjects.
Chris Steyn (00:21.176)
Now Musk has apparently met with a leading Iranian official. What does that mean, Chris?
Colonel (Ret) Chris Wyatt (00:28.92)
Well, maybe the Iranians will be trading in Doge cryptocurrency soon. It's a fair question. I don't think anybody knows that came as a bit of a surprise to everyone. Of course, we've heard endlessly that Elon Musk and now Vivek Ramaswamy are going to cut the fat out of the Federal budget. And I wish them luck, but only 18 cents on the dollar is actually discretionary spending. And half of that is for Sefense. So really not much they can cut out of the budget. But seeing Elon Musk having talked to foreign officials came as a bit of surprise to folks on this side of the Atlantic, to say the least.
Chris Steyn (01:04.122)
And on this side as well. Now, apparently some people in Trump's inner circle find him somewhat overbearing and accuse him of acting like he is the co-president. His constant presence at Trump's side since election day. What do you think, Chris?
Colonel (Ret) Chris Wyatt (01:23.672)
Well, Elon Musk is a bit of a wackadoodle like many entrepreneurs. He's a little bit crazy at times. He's a big risk taker, someone that also has a big vision, a long-term vision. And, you know, like anybody that's that wealthy, the wealthiest person on the planet, obviously, but anyone that's that kind of wealthy, they're usually a bit arrogant and overbearing, just to be honest. I mean, look at Donald Trump. He's a bit arrogant and overbearing to say the least.
I wouldn't lose any sleep over Donald Trump being steamrolled by Elon Musk. Donald Trump is his own man. I think he's proven that time and time and time again over the past 40, 50 years. So Musk may be making lot of waves right now and that's irritating some folks, but we saw the same thing in the previous administration where people who weren't famous and incredibly wealthy, but had a lot of influence inside Trump's inner circle, really irritated people. And that's one of reasons why John Kelly now has become a treasonous book writer or commentator, the former Chief of Staff, Marine General, who is telling secrets out of house. And that's the last thing you do to your former boss unless they've committed a crime. And Trump didn't commit crimes. He just didn't do the things John Kelly thought he should do. And so now John Kelly thinks he's the expert. So I wouldn't lose sleep over Elon Musk being overbearing. You will see that if he is being disruptive in a way that Trump doesn't like, he'll be pushed backwards a little bit.
Chris Steyn (02:37.455)
So Trump holds the ultimate power.
Colonel (Ret) Chris Wyatt (02:41.874)
No doubt. There's no doubt about it. I mean, and you want to talk about ultimate power. This is the greatest political comeback in history. I mean, maybe, I don't know, there might be something historically of a Roman emperor or something like that who came back from the abyss, but this is amazing. I mean, they did everything short of murdering Donald Trump to keep him from becoming President. And they tried it twice that we're aware of. Where folks don't realise, I have worked with the Secret Services, there are other attempts on the President's life that don't come to the public's attention because they aren't done in public and they aren't apparent. But who knows if there'd been other attempts on him. They've done everything. And the man is, he's like a Timex watch. He takes a look in and he keeps on ticking.
Chris Steyn (03:17.604)
Chris, as a former intelligence officer, what do you think of Trump's appointment of Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National intelligence?
Colonel (Ret) Chris Wyatt (03:28.824)
Well, as a conservative here in America and someone that grudgingly votes as Republican because there aren't really other options, I have to say that I've never been a fan of Tulsi Gabbard. So I have to put that out there first so that you know where I'm coming from in interest of full disclosure. Not that there's anything wrong with her. She's a Lieutenant Colonel in the Reserves and she served honourably as a military officer and as a patriot. And she served in Congress as a Democrat. But she's also one of those abrasive personalities at times, although she's toned it down a bit lately.
I just, never really, her politics and my politics and before she joined Trump's team were probably about 50/50 at best on things we agree on. So as far as the Director of National Intelligence, I'm not sold on the appointment. I'm not so sure it's the right one, but there's a number of these appointments that have gotten my attention. I've kind of like gasped and I'm a bit surprised. Now she could do the job and she can do it fine. I'm just saying that I knew that the Democrats would attack her and RFK among others and Elon Musk and…
Do really want to burn all your political capital on that appointment when there's something more appropriate for her? She should have been the ambassador to the United Nations instead of Elise Stefanik… Stefanik is much more useful and valuable to this administration in the House of Representatives where she's a pit bull. And we could have given that to Tulsi Gabbard because frankly, who cares who the Ambassador to UN is? mean, Nikki Haley, we didn't care.
Chris Steyn (04:47.78)
No, there are some of the detractors who say she's pro-Russia. Is she?
Colonel (Ret) Chris Wyatt (04:55.362)
This is utter nonsense. What's the basis for that pro-Russia? I mean, this is the nonsense they pull up. Now they're bringing up allegations. Here's the thing, in politics, people make allegations, there's no merit to them. And then years later, people use that to destroy the character and undermine nominations. Same thing has happened to Pete Hegseth, who is not a person I would have picked for Secretary of Defense, but that's happening to him now. So no, I don't see her as being pro-Russia. And I don't know where that comes from. They try this, she's pro-Syria. This is utter nonsense.
The guy that's pro everything over there is Joe Biden. No scrutiny there. I mean, this guy is fueling a proxy war now in which hundreds of thousands of people have died and virtually no complaints from the political Left. They're fine with that because it's their team. That's the bottom line.
These are attacks on Tulsi Gabbard because she's not part of their team. My differences with Tulsi Gabbard are policy related. And in this position, it shouldn't be an issue. But I mean, I wouldn't have picked her. I would have put her elsewhere.
Chris Steyn (05:53.987)
So much has been said about this election outcome. What hasn't been said that should be said? If anybody knows, it's you.
Colonel (Ret) Chris Wyatt (06:01.88)
Well, well, you know, it hasn't been said overseas and we're talking to a South African audience by and large. And so I think it needs to be repeated there to overcome the legacy propaganda media that you have in South Africa. This was a thumping. This was a hiding. This was a resounding victory across the board, across demographics, across age groups. Donald Trump, we were told, was going to get slaughtered in the youth vote. He nearly captured the youth vote.
We were told that women weren't going to vote for him, that she had a 16 point lead just days before the election. The difference in men and women in the country is 57 to 40 or 53, 47. That's six points. That's almost, that's negligible. I mean, there's more women than there are men to begin with. So I mean, that's negligible. You know, it just goes across the black men. Trump doubled his percentage of vote in most of the country here in Pennsylvania. More than double the number of black men voted for Trump than previously. He nearly took a majority of Hispanics. He took a majority of Hispanic men. It's the highest percentage vote total for Republican candidate since they began keeping these statistics in 1972.
He won with Jews, which is impossible. American Jews vote 85% against Republicans against their best interests, regardless of who the candidate is. And he did very well there. He improved across the board. He won 31 of the 50 states and every one of those except for Michigan and Wisconsin, he was over 50%. In a presidential election, if you get 50 plus one, that's an incredible outcome because it's just that tight in our country.
This was a resounding success. He just wiped the slate.
What hasn't been said a lot is that his coattails didn't really help a few candidates. It did help a few Senate candidates. But for instance, here in Pennsylvania, Dave McCormick has won the race, although they're still trying to fight that. You know their election deniers there in the Democratic Party. I love using that on them now. They like to play that game. But Dave McCormick has won this race. It is going to automatic recount, but there's no way that the count gets overturned with the difference he has.
But that one is one where McCormick really didn't get the coattails because Trump won the state by, by 53, 47. And so you think Dave McCormick could have got her 50%, but he's below 50%.
But I would say what's not being said about this is that Donald Trump won this race because Donald Trump, ironically, despite being a billionaire and a man with an ego the size of the Ganges River and a man who is coarse and crass and brass and bold, despite all the things he does to irritate people, Donald Trump resonated with the majority,
Colonel (Ret) Chris Wyatt (08:18.296)
the majority of American voters. Make no mistake, Pennsylvania had a 70% plus turnout in our election. That's unprecedented. And he won decisively here. Donald Trump kicked tail, not only in places that are historically conservative, but in the entire country. Every state in the country, except the State of Washington, where it's negligible, it's less than a third of a 0.3 or something like that. In every state, the entire state went right towards Trump.
And in fact, in Left leaning states that are historically for the past 30 years, all Democrat, like California, Oregon, even Washington and New York, Trump surged. He gained 12% more of the vote in California and in New York. He did the same in Florida, but that's the place he already had. It's unbelievable. Virtually every county in America went Trump. Every county. Listen to that. Every county. That's insane.
And this is an upsetting year comes elections. The BDP lost the right to vote or right to rule in Botswana. They've been tossed out in the air in a stunning rebuke with only four seats left in parliament from 30 plus. They've been thrown out. We've seen the guys thrown out in Madagascar this past week and wait for SWAPO. Their turn is next. Their turn is next. Of course, ANC lost power, but they're able to hold on as a plurality party. But it's an epic year in elections around the world. And SWAPO, you're next on the list.
Chris Steyn (09:39.234)
Meanwhile, the African National Congress would like the US to keep its nose out of South Africa's affairs. What do you say to that?
Colonel (Ret) Chris Wyatt (09:49.516)
Well, it depends what affairs are talking about. The South African government has signed up to the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act, which is a trade deal, which is not really a trade deal. It's just preferential treatment for African countries that claim to abide by good governance standards, which they voluntarily enter into. South Africa is not eligible for AGOA. We've talked about this before briefly. They have violated the terms of AGOA and should have been kicked out of it. Now that would have an impact on South Africa's automobile industry in particular, its wine industry.
And you know, if they want the US out of their business, then stop taking our money and our hundreds of millions of dollars, three quarters of billion dollars every year to pay for antiretrovirals and HIV treatment and a host of other things. If you don't want us in your business, then don't take money from us. You're taking plenty of money from Tehran and from Beijing. Just go there and get it. That's what I have to say.
Chris Steyn (10:34.66)
Now Chris, the US has been losing influence on the African continent. Do you think Trump is going to do something to turn that around or does he have other more important countries to deal with?
Colonel (Ret) Chris Wyatt (10:50.946)
Well, that's an interesting point. And that's come up a lot in the news since the election. A lot of analysts are saying that. And it's a statement of fact. The Biden administration has been the worst administration for U.S.-Africa relations than my living memory. I don't remember any administration has neglected the continent as much as Africa. And I can tell you from an anecdotal perspective, because I do consulting for the U.S. Government frequently, and everything that I was doing consulting-wise for the government completely disappeared two and a half years ago.
What happened? Joe Biden's proxy war in Ukraine started two and a years ago, and everything in the US government shifted to Russia, Russia, Russia. That's all they focus on. There is a bit of a focus on China in Asia, but that's just because the Chinese are attacking Philippine Coast Guard vessels and the Taiwanese and things like that. If it wasn't for that, everything would be Russia.
So they're not paying any attention to Africa. We've seen it. Embassies are understaffed…ambassador positions being vacant for months on end, not because the Senate doesn't confirm the ambassador, because they don't even nominate somebody. They have neglected the African continent entirely.
Into that vacuum where China's already been present is China. They're having a big impact in Africa and it's not in the least bit surprising. You know, I, I just, this is, this is disgraceful.
The previous Trump administration kept the status quo. They didn't change anything from Obama's engagement, kept the same level sort of thing. They did try to disengage a little bit from the Sahel, the counter-terrorism fight in a more focused manner, which was probably smart, but we've completely lost influence in the Sahel with this administration. They're clueless. They're inept and the're useless; they sent Ambassador Brigety to South Africa and they decided to make a big stink about the Lady R and they weren't willing to come forward with why they know what was really on the Lady R. Well, if you're not going to be able to publicly tell people what was really going on and just make allegations, that doesn't help.
So the ineptitude of the Biden regime has been ever present and apparent across the continent of Africa and it's long lasting harmful effects to Africa. So to answer your question, anything Trump does for Africa would be an improvement over Biden.
For starters, I don't think there'll be major engagement in Africa, but I will put a caveat on that. Elon Musk is an African American and Elon has interest in South Africa. So if Elon has the ear of Trump, which he does, and he puts a little earworm in Trump's ear about Africa or South Africa, then we're likely to see some action in Africa. Short of that, there's no work for me in the Trump administration because I'm the African guy.
Chris Steyn (13:13.422)
Thank you. That was Colonel Chris Wyatt, retired US Army military intelligence officer speaking to BizNews about all the developments since the US election, which Donald Trump won by a huge landslide. Thank you, Colonel Wyatt.
Colonel (Ret) Chris Wyatt (13:30.966)
My pleasure, Chris. Thanks a lot. We'll catch you next time.
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