first, you are responding to quoted musk comments made by noted authority matt levine from earlier this week, not some interweb rando.

the final comment regarding trump is mine.
in all, let's say musk 'contributed' roughly ~$1b to trump and such close causes before whatever sudden realization happened. call it what you will, but know it for what it is; i dont see any real qualms nor repercussions for either in public bribes folded under shallow pretext.
so was musk stupid then to fund trump, or now, to throw it all away plus tesla brand value? yes he is, otherwise this should at least make some sense retrospectively.

does this somehow preclude a future reunion with trump, for a higher price, were musk to realize how much mutual grift they can still incur within 3 years? no.

i dont really think musk needs to hold the richest man title to re-kindle w/trump, but it does have a certain mutual ego appeal to both. if musk needs any consolation, he will remain richer than trump could dream of as long as tesla remains solvent and he has unlimited compensation via fanboy shareholders.