> Has America already become an authoritarian state where this sort of thing really happens?
The conservative Supreme court recently ruled that the president has essentially unlimited power. During his campaign, Trump did promise that he will be a dictator for a day. Appears to be overdoing it.
You might be surprised to learn they could change their ruling if the court justices were to be incentivized differently, and that Musk has a lot of influence.
Musk indeed has a lot of influence. Trump is a narcissist. Not saying this will happen, but it's definitely not impossible that Trump just orders Musk shot (as per opinion of what's now allowed in the dissenting opinion of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor) — if such an order is followed, I wouldn't want to guess, but death has a way of significantly altering someone's influence.
The conservative Supreme court recently ruled that the president has essentially unlimited power. During his campaign, Trump did promise that he will be a dictator for a day. Appears to be overdoing it.