But that then means that Musk has a strong incentive to keep Trump (or some replacement that will similarly let him do whatever he wants) in power past these 4 years.
Buying time to get the rocket finished that he will ride escaping his creditors to Mars. That would be a badly written plot even by the standard of cheesy comic books, but somehow it all makes sense from that angle. (no, I don't believe that he would ever get within explosion range of a rocket engine ignition)