The public blowup between Donald Trump and Elon Musk “gets at some of the fissures in the whole MAGA movement as it is right now, a conglomeration of populists and idiosyncratic types,” Charles Gasparino tells me, adding that it’s proving difficult to “keep the band together.”
The senior correspondent for Fox Business has covered Musk’s “recklessness” as a business leader for years, arguing that “while there is a little cult of personality around him, or was for a long time, that has ended now,” with the public alienation of the MAGA base.
Gasparino has been waiting for the relationship between the president and the billionaire tech mogul to implode, and he couldn’t be having more fun covering the matter, as well as the broader economic implications of Trump’s return to the Oval Office. Gasparino, who is also a columnist for the New York Post, tells Vanity Fair that even with the avalanche of business news coming from the start of Trump’s second term, he’s approaching his coverage in the same way he has for decades: “Try to be fair, try to call balls and strikes, and, you know, get yelled at every now and then, which is part of the job.”
Over the years, Gasparino has built a reputation on his blunt and sometimes combative reporting style, telling me it’s in a journalist’s best interest to “invite the conflict a little bit.” He argues that covering the intersection of politics and business “necessitates a degree of fairness as well,” which is something he worries about constantly: “I don’t want to look stupid. I don’t want the network to look stupid. I don’t want the New York Post to look stupid.”
With that being said, Gasparino has pulled no punches in regard to covering Trump’s economic blunders in his second term, arguing that the president’s tariff policy is “not the answer to bringing back 1960s manufacturing.” Gasparino’s tough coverage of the president occasionally causes some headaches for him back home. Every once in a while, he’ll get a call from a member of his blue-collar family on Long Island and in Queens, requesting that he “just give the guy a break.”
The correspondent also does a fair amount of straight business and M&A reporting, covering the media-industry upheaval that has resulted in the spinning off of cable assets at both Warner Bros. Discovery and Comcast, as well as Shari Redstone’s ongoing attempt to sell Paramount to Skydance amid a Trump lawsuit.
Gasparino is convinced that these are all signs of a forthcoming sellers market, arguing that “if you sat down with David [Zaslav] and Brian Roberts, gave them a martini—let’s get them loosened up—I guarantee they would say, ‘Please let Amazon and Apple buy us…because this business model of linear TV cable is just not working.’ What David is doing right now is a Band-Aid.”
Vanity Fair: I’m sure it’s been a busy first few months of reporting. What has your role looked like during a second Trump presidency?
Charles Gasparino: It’s kind of like it was the first time. I mean, despite different news, different presidency, in many ways, different people. I’ve been doing this the same way for—I’m gonna date myself. And I never really changed. I approach my job the same way today as I did probably 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago. In terms of approach, there’s no difference. Try to be fair, try to call balls and strikes, and, you know, get yelled at every now and then, which is part of the job. Sometimes you get yelled at more than others, but you just suck it up and move on.
You’ve developed a reputation for being very straightforward and blunt at times with your style of reporting. Do you see that as an asset in today’s media landscape?
I mean, it’s better than the alternative. Here’s what I would say: When I do a story about somebody, particularly with tough stories, I think if you’re not straightforward with someone, if they’re somehow surprised by the tone and the tenor of it all, you’re not doing yourself any good. You’re going to write a lousy story. That’s the bottom line.
My view is, if someone’s willing to engage with you, you should accept that as a positive. Invite the conflict a little bit. I’m not talking about conflict where you’re screaming and cursing and threatening lawsuits. I mean the notion of going back and forth and walking someone through what you’re hearing and letting the other side of the story be part of that narrative is so key. I try to do it with everybody. I don’t just write about Trump stuff. I write about mergers and acquisitions. I write about what’s going on at Paramount and the Skydance deal. I do a lot of straight business reporting. I do cover a lot of the confluence of politics and finance, which necessitates a degree of fairness as well. If it’s not fair, your stories will fall apart. That’s one of the things I worry about all the time. I don’t want to look stupid. I don’t want the network to look stupid. I don’t want the New York Post to look stupid.
During Trump’s second term, what are the biggest policy flashpoints that you’re tracking this time around?
Obviously, tariffs are huge right now. We had a nice detour with the Musk-Trump news, which has economic implications. SpaceX is embedded in our national security apparatus.
It’s interesting—I come from a very blue-collar family. My family in Long Island and Queens, they just love Trump. And every now and then, I get a phone call: “Just give the guy a break.” This is how I try to cover Trump, based on my background. I understand where he’s coming from. I understand that factory jobs are gone, and the diminution of factory work has had a real economic impact on the working class. I went to the University of Missouri, and every free credit I had, I took economics. I understand what tariffs do. Tariffs are not the answer to bringing back 1960s manufacturing. I have an understanding of economics, but I don’t start from a position that Donald Trump is just a bad guy, because I don’t believe that. I’ve actually known the guy for a long time. He does care about these people and this upheaval that occurred in Middle America. The question is, how do you bring it back? Can it be brought back by these measures?
How is his policy being received by Wall Street? Are there conversations in the finance world about how to navigate his unpredictability in policymaking?
We hear about it every day. It’s hard. All these guys have businesses, and billions of dollars are at stake. One thing he does can either put a plus or minus on that billion. It’s literally a daily dialogue. Some people know him better than others. Some people can navigate him better than others on Wall Street.
One of the great things about Trump is he’s always unpredictable. He has all sorts of friends. You never know, he could make up with Elon tomorrow. But that’s what I love about this. And I think if you cover it straight, if you don’t cover it as a hater—when journalists get in his face and they cover it purely as an adversary, it doesn’t do anybody any good, because then the story becomes you going up against Trump. How he’s transforming the country is a huge story. It’s going to have massive ramifications. There’s going to be stuff that could be more expensive because of tariffs. That’s a great story. Just covering that, saying it in a clear and concise way, and trying not to be an asshole is what we should be doing.
You mentioned Trump and Elon’s recent rift. What do you make of their falling-out? What’s really behind it, and do you think their relationship is truly severed?
I mean, it’s severed until it’s not. Remember lying Little Marco? Little Marco is now Marco Rubio, secretary of state. Remember Ben Carson? He went off on Ben Carson, and now they’re best buddies. At some point, I’m pretty sure Elon makes the first move and it’ll end. It’s just the way it is. I appreciate that about him. He doesn’t hold grudges. He’s more about doing deals. He’s all about trying to, in his view, advance his agenda.
They were both working together. I mean, I was saying this forever: When are they going to blow up? It happened over, depending on who you talk to, Trump didn’t want to hire some guy from NASA that was a Musk associate, because he gave money to Democrats. That’s one thing that’s being bounced around. The other thing is that Elon was miffed at the green credits being taken out of the budget, which impacts some of Tesla’s business. If they don’t make up, this is a cutting-edge technology, SpaceX, that could get hurt because they deal with the government.
It also gets at some of the fissures in the whole MAGA movement as it is right now, a conglomeration of populists and idiosyncratic types. Elon is not a populist; he’s a libertarian. So you have all these different players, the ringleader was Trump, and now you see fissures. It’s hard to keep the band together. Now, that’s one way of looking at it. Political movements have disagreements, and disagreements are healthy. You don’t want everything to be lockstep. Maybe long term, it’s impossible to keep together. Holding that type of political coalition together is going to be hard, but, again, it’s a great story. That’s kind of why I’m here.
What’s the financial risk for Musk if he continues to separate himself and alienate the MAGA base? Or is he somewhat insulated by his own personal brand?
He’s not. I’ve covered Tesla pretty hard since, I would say, 2017, 2018, when the first fissures in the business model started. It started to crack in 2018, so much so that people thought it might go out of business back then. There’s always been questions about its accounting. There’s always been questions about Elon and his management. When was the last time you heard of a CEO of a major company, one of the biggest companies by market cap, going on a podcast and smoking a joint? He did that on Joe Rogan, and he did that knowing that he had defense contracting work with SpaceX, where marijuana usage is a no-no. You have a defense contract, security clearances and stuff. He displays a sort of recklessness. While there is a little cult of personality around him, or was for a long time, that has ended now, and so that’s going to come under a lot more scrutiny.
Given the news of the day from Warner Bros. Discovery about spinning off its cable assets, I’m curious how you’re looking at the M&A ecosystem.
I know David Zaslav pretty well. One thing about David, he knows how to run a balance sheet. And he has a really difficult balance sheet. What we have here is a business right now that is searching for a model.
Look what Shari Redstone did. Shari Redstone inherited a media empire that was worth $50 billion. Now you can see how much wealth destruction occurred. She’s going to walk away with $2 billion.
David is a guy that ran a network that merged with another network, and he has to make the numbers work. It’s a hard thing to do, and one of the ways he’s doing so is by breaking stuff up. He’s a shrewd operator. Long term, I think someone will figure it out. If you sat down with David and Brian Roberts, gave them a martini—let’s get them loosened up—I guarantee they would say, “Please let Amazon and Apple buy us. Please let us sell CNN to big tech, because this business model of linear TV cable is just not working.” What David is doing right now is a Band-Aid—to get paid out on some debt, maybe create some value, to move on, maybe to sell.
Is that the goal here, to sell?
It’s gotta be. I guarantee if I got him drunk, he’d say yes.
Since you mentioned Shari Redstone, what are the consequences for CBS to settle Trump’s lawsuit?
Donald Trump wasn’t injured. I mean, he kind of won. That’s the funny thing. Like, damages? What damages? Now, that said, Shari doesn’t have any money. She has a huge tax bill. She’s wrapped up in this melting ice cube of a company. If you’re her, you’re saying, “If I gave him $30 million and ran a couple public service announcements, what’s so bad about that?” Here’s the problem: I know for a fact that Skydance doesn’t want CBS for the news network. They don’t care about 60 Minutes. The business that they’re arguing over is something that could go away in literally three or five years. But it’s a mess, and you just reminded me—I have to go make a call on that.
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