Deadline Poet / March 11, 2025

The Ballad of Elon Musk

Calvin Trillin
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk joins President Donald Trump during an executive order signing in the Oval Office at the White House on February 11, 2025, in Washington, DC.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk joins President Donald Trump during an executive order signing in the Oval Office at the White House on February 11, 2025, in Washington, DC.(Andrew Harnik / Getty Images)

(Sung to the tune of “The Ballad of Sweeney Todd”)

Attend the tale of Elon Musk.
He fires folks from dawn till dusk.
He seems to treat their woes as zest.
And while he’s about it, he feathers his nest.
His gestures weird, his manner brusque—
That’s Elon Musk,
The chain-saw killer from Tesla.

Calvin Trillin

Calvin Trillin is The Nation’s “deadline poet.”

More from The Nation

Does Dementia Have You?

Does Dementia Have You? Does Dementia Have You?

Take this simple test.

OppArt / Ruben Bolling

Donald Trump during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025.

A Desperate Trump Is Stirring Up Race Hatred A Desperate Trump Is Stirring Up Race Hatred

A barrage of bad economic news has spurred Trump to unleash his hate-infested id on any nonwhite target that flits through his overtaxed brainpan.

Chris Lehmann

Woman, Life, Freedom

Woman, Life, Freedom Woman, Life, Freedom

Posters in support of the people of Iran displayed at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, France.

OppArt / Andrea Arroyo

Cow

Cow Cow

Invasion.

OppArt / Steve Brodner

Olivia Nuzzi at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, DC, in 2023, when she was Washington correspondent for New York magazine.

I Still Feel a Tiny Bit Sorry for Olivia Nuzzi I Still Feel a Tiny Bit Sorry for Olivia Nuzzi

She violated every journalism ethics code. But her childhood set her up to fall for a string of incompetent daddy-figures too lame to protect her.

Joan Walsh

The White House Press Tracker Is a Parody of Media Criticism

The White House Press Tracker Is a Parody of Media Criticism The White House Press Tracker Is a Parody of Media Criticism

With his approval number plummeting, Trump turns to a familiar strategy: launch a culture war against journalists.

Chris Lehmann