The Rift
A Novel Based on True Events
PART 3: Enemies in the Arena
(From the public rift to strategic conflict through tech, law, and influence)
Chapter 1: Digital Rebellion
March 2025. Just two weeks after Musk’s explosive Epstein tweet and Trump’s retaliation, a quiet digital insurgency was underway.
Musk launched the first phase of The America Party platform—a civic tech initiative wrapped in populist neutrality. It wasn’t officially political, but it wasn’t subtle either.
“For the 80% in the middle,” the homepage read.
“Anti-tribe. Pro-future.”
The platform amplified voices calling for decentralised governance, cross-party innovation caucuses, and clean break from “legacy dysfunction.”1
X algorithms—under Musk’s command—began favouring civic technologists, whistleblower reform advocates, and military decentralists. “Political centrism” became a digital trend.
Trump noticed.
“He’s using that damn website to undermine the country,” Trump barked in a Mar-a-Lago strategy meeting.
“We made him a star. Now he wants to run the whole show.”2
Chapter 2: Strategic Retaliation
Behind the scenes, Trump’s administration struck back.
In April 2025, the Department of Defense delayed four SpaceX launches, citing pending “compliance and security reviews.”3 The Department of Energy initiated audits into lithium supply chains linked to Tesla Shanghai.4
Though couched in regulatory language, the message was political.
Musk’s response? Quiet, but precise.
He posted:
“Technocracy is not tyranny. It’s the immune response.”
Then he funded three new initiatives:
- A blockchain-based civic ID project
- A university fellowship in “digital pluralism”
- A start-up accelerator for federal whistleblowers5
His objective: build the post-government pipeline.
Chapter 3: The Whistleblower Files
In May 2025, a leaked memo from the Department of Commerce surfaced. It referred to Project Eagleglass—an internal analysis of private tech actors considered “structurally unpatriotic.” Musk was listed by name, alongside OpenAI and TikTok’s U.S. operations.6
The memo was never meant for public release.
But Musk’s legal team obtained it. A week later, the leak appeared on X—posted anonymously through a decentralized whistleblowing node. Musk reposted it with a single phrase:
“They’re scared because they can’t code the future.”
That same evening, Trump’s team ordered a federal probe into Neuralink’s animal testing ethics, suggesting “biosecurity risks.”7
The tit-for-tat was escalating into a multi-agency conflict.
Chapter 4: Cyber Shadows
By June 2025, cybersecurity firms noticed a surge in state-level cyber activity targeting both camps.
— Trump-aligned super PACs experienced DDoS attacks traced to Europe.
— X infrastructure was pinged by credential harvesting attempts with Chinese IP fingerprints.
— Multiple AI safety researchers from OpenAI and Anthropic received phishing attempts matching historic Iranian APT signatures.8
Neither side made formal accusations. But behind closed doors, both were fortifying.
Musk met with a former NSA chief in Palo Alto.
“We’re not playing on the surface anymore,” he said.
“We’re underground. Protocol warfare.”
Meanwhile, Trump was drafting a new Digital Sovereignty Executive Order, proposing strict restrictions on data-sharing between U.S. agencies and “foreign-leveraged tech platforms”—an obvious nod to Tesla’s global reach.9
Chapter 5: The Last Call
Sources close to both men confirmed that they spoke by phone—once, in late June.
The conversation was clipped.
Trump: “You made this worse than it had to be.”
Musk: “No. You did.”
Trump: “The future doesn’t belong to Twitter heroes.”
Musk: “No. It belongs to those who build it.”
Then silence. Click.
It was the final direct contact ever reported between the two men.
Chapter 6: The Arena Widens
In July, SpaceX lost a multibillion-dollar defense satellite contract to Boeing. No reason was formally given. But industry analysts called it a “political punishment package.”10
Meanwhile, The America Party held its first digital convention. Over 14 million live views. Topics included post-partisan science policy, open-source democracy models, and quantum risk ethics.
In August, Trump passed a sweeping executive order restricting AI use in federal contracting to only firms certified by a new, White House-controlled commission.11
Tesla AI, Neuralink, and X AI were conspicuously excluded.
Musk posted:
“History’s first real censorship is systemic exclusion, not banned tweets.”
End of Part 3
To Be Continued in Part 4 – Collapse or Convergence?
As both men pull the levers of public control, a critical question remains: Is America watching a feud—or the early blueprint of a digital civil war?
Footnotes
- “The America Party – Civic Tech Platform Overview,” X Civic Data Labs, March 2025.
- Excerpt from leaked campaign strategist notes, Politico Report, April 2025.
- Department of Defense Statement, U.S. Launch Security Protocol Adjustment Memo, April 2025.
- Department of Energy Investigation Docket #25-Li3/TESLA-SH-INT, filed April 8, 2025.
- America Futures Initiative Press Release, April 14, 2025.
- Commerce Department Leak: Project Eagleglass Memo, obtained via FreedomWatch.org, May 2025.
- USDA and FDA Joint Ethics Memo, Neuralink Investigatory Trigger Summary, May 22, 2025.
- FireEye Threat Report – “Cyber Activity Surge Related to U.S. Tech Figures,” June 2025.
- White House EO Draft, “Digital Sovereignty and Federal Data Protection,” circulated in June 2025.
- Congressional Space Budget Hearing, July 12, 2025 – Testimony from Gen. L. Cartwright.
- Executive Order 14117 – Artificial Intelligence Contractor Security Certification Act, signed August 3, 2025.