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Why Trump probably can’t cut Musk loose

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74% Informative

President Donald Trump and Elon Musk traded blows on social media Thursday .

Trump tweeted that he wanted to terminate Musk ’s government contracts.

Musk later backed down from the threat.

The president has staked a significant portion of his legacy on wildly ambitious space-based projects.

To get to space, the US needs SpaceX to launch satellites for communications and surveillance.

SpaceX is reportedly a frontrunner to build a constellation of satellites to detect missile launches and intercept them from space.

Trump 's stated goal of having it operational with “a success rate close to 100 percent” in “ less than three years ” is eyebrow-raising.

The Pentagon had already backed away from the three-year timeline even before the president began feuding with Musk .

VR Score

73

Informative language

68

Neutral language

35

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formal

Language

English

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64

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not offensive

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not hateful

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not detected

Known propaganda techniques

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short-lived

External references

27

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