Elon Musk is the new Donald Trump, apparently

Plus: Putin loses again! [Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a bank-shot insult of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - [Musk is supplanting Trump]( as troll-in-chief. - The EU oil ban is [hurting Putin](. - Biden should [start buying oil](. - [Use AI before]( it uses you. Trump II: Twitter Troll Boogaloo As a cog in the media-industrial complex, I still have PTSD from that time we were all obligated to write at least one (1) thing daily about Donald Trump, an era some people call “the past six years.” The end of this nightmare had only just hove into view when along came Elon Musk. The switchover happened sometime around the midterms. Trump had stamped his feet about the 2020 election for so long that he finally crashed through the floor like Rumpelstiltskin. On a quiet night you can still hear him rattling around down there, but it’s starting to seem like you can mostly ignore him. All the while, Musk was honing his trolling skills on Twitter, the very platform Trump once dominated. Musk lacks Trump’s charisma or sense of humor, but he has learned you don’t need such things when simply [tweeting]( 4chan-thread fare like “My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci” can still win you the feverish approval of hordes of devotees. Now there’s no avoiding it: Musk is the new Trump. Between the aforementioned bank-shot insult of liberals, public health officials and trans people and being [booed]( off the stage at a Dave Chappelle show, Musk did more things to get attention before breakfast today than Trump has done in the past week. And like the [Highlander](, there can be only one Trump. Joshua Green points out that, by hogging all the oxygen in the media space, [Musk has Trump gasping for it]( just when he needs it the most. Without precious free air time, Trump’s 2024 campaign could asphyxiate before it even gets started. After that, the only hope for displacing Musk will be Ron DeSantis. It could be another long six (to 60) years. Read the [whole thing](. Further Politics Reading: - Contra Kyrsten Sinema, [political parties help democracy]( function smoothly. — Jonathan Bernstein  - [Business will keep feuding with the right]( as long as it keeps sowing uncertainty. — Julianna Goldman - [Making voting easier actually helps both]( parties, despite what die-hards think. — David Hopkins Putin on the Fritz Vladimir Putin’s war-crimes bonanza in Ukraine is going so badly that now even his most powerful weapon — energy — is being used against him. A new EU ban on Russian oil, along with prohibitions on helping Putin ship his black gold around the world, once seemed likely to squeeze the market and drive prices higher, giving Putin more cash to buy weapons for killing civilians. [Instead prices have fallen](, Julian Lee writes. Russia’s few remaining markets have a glut of oil, while Europe’s economic struggles — caused by Putin himself — have lowered demand for the stuff. Oops! The West has gotten lucky, but that may not last. Europe is still low on the natural gas it needs to get through the winter, leading to calls for price caps. Bloomberg’s editorial board explains the [many reasons they are a bad idea]( and suggests the EU lean more into the whole “Union” thing by setting up a fund to help struggling countries and people cope. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden shouldn’t just be greedy and hope oil prices keep falling. While crude is cheap, Biden should keep his promise to the US oil industry and [start buying crude to replenish]( the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Liam Denning writes. Supporting dearer oil may sound politically bonkers, but it could encourage more fossil fuel production at home. We’re still far from fully transitioning to clean energy sources, and widespread [fusion power is still some decades out](, David Fickling writes. Still holding my breath for a [Mr. Fusion](. But we’ll need the dirty stuff in the meantime, alas. Better to at least have a reliable supply of it. Bonus Ukraine War Reading: - The war is now a grinding race to see [who runs out of ammo first](. — Toby Harshaw - Europe [can’t ever really quit Russian]( energy. — Javier Blas AI Vs. Our Jerbs I am not yet jaded enough to use ChatGPT to write this newsletter, but only because the vast improvement in writing quality would be a dead giveaway. But the day is coming when Old Man Opinion wheels a robot out on the floor of the opinion factory to replace me. If you’re similarly worried about losing your job, Trung Phan has some advice: [Learn to co-opt AI as a tool]( to augment that last iota of value you add as a human. Those “Anchorman” references don’t write themselves, people! Er, um. D’oh! (“Simpsons” reference.) Bonus AI Reading: We finally have a good use for blockchain: [making watermarks for AI creations](. — Parmy Olson Further Reading It is far [too difficult to buy a house]( in America. — Bloomberg’s editorial board Homebuilders have [huge pandemic order backlogs]( that will get them through the lean times. — Conor Sen In hindsight, the whole [crypto scaffolding was rickety](. — Matt Levine An EU privacy ruling is [a boon to financial criminals](. — Matthew Brooker Humanity might be winning the climate war but [losing the biodiversity one](. — David Fickling Harry and Meghan’s effect on the royal family exemplifies [the dangers of superstar culture](. — Allison Schrager The [Nobel Prize has a bias problem](. — Ndileka Mandela ICYMI Covid is [surging in China](. Brett Kavanaugh went to [a problematic party](. [TikTok has a problem]( with teen influencers. The weather is [about to be awful](. Kickers Gold coating could [keep glasses from fogging](. (h/t Jessica Karl) [Medieval ship found]( at the bottom of Nordic lake. Chinese students [invent invisibility cloak](, sort of. [Sandwiches hold up]( surprisingly well deep underwater. Our universe may just be [the inside of a black hole]( in a different universe. Notes:  Please send $2500 and complaints to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Instagram](, [TikTok](, [Twitter]( and [Facebook](. Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Opinion Today newsletter. 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