“There is only one party in the United States, the Property Party … and it has two right wings: Republican and Democrat. Republicans are a bit stupider, more rigid, more doctrinaire in their laissez-faire capitalism than the Democrats, who are cuter, prettier, a bit more corrupt — until recently … and more willing than the Republicans to make small adjustments when the poor, the black, the anti-imperialists get out of hand. But, essentially, there is no difference between the two parties.”
No offense, but you are still stuck in a liberal mindset, and it is affecting your analysis.
Elon can't 'waste political power'. That concept is based on the idea of 'political capital', which is based on the idea that political power is based on a mandate from the masses. Our political economy just doesn't work that way, Elon doesn't really have a mandate outside of what Trump gives him, which means he has effectively unlimited political ability because he doesn't ever have to answer for what he does. Not only that, but everything, and I mean everything, he does to the federal government will have downstream effects on us, and much of it, especially stuff fucking with public education (something the Valley has been trying to reduce or get rid of since the 90's) will fuck us. He can waste time, but unless he actively fucks over Trump, he can't waste political power.