Elon Musk sticks to Trump, influencing the US revolution: Reports | Donald Trump News
The CEO of Tesla, an influential Trump campaign supporter, has turned into a key power broker in the presidential transition.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk is diving deeper into the world of politics after Donald Trump's election win, meeting with the president-elect and giving him input on key administration appointments, according to US media reports.
Musk, who has donated $119m to a pro-Trump political committee and campaigned aggressively for the Republican, has made nearly daily visits to Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida since Election Day on Tuesday, spending time with the president-elect. and his family, CNN reported.
Kai Trump, Donald Trump's grandson, posted a photo of himself with Musk and his child on social media, joking that the billionaire is “getting uncle status”.
Elon earns uncle status 😂 pic.twitter.com/vufSffziZN
— Kai Trump (@KaiTrumpGolfs) November 10, 2024
Musk made his voice heard in important staff discussions, according to CNN, while using the X social media platform, which he owns, to promote his political vision.
“He definitely puts himself into it. That's his style,” tech reporter Kara Swisher told CNN. “I heard from Trump's people, they called me, they said, 'Oh, wow. This is weird.' And so it is.”
Over the weekend and Monday, Musk sent a recommendation for Florida Senator Rick Scott to lead the Senate and invited the public to nominate candidates for Trump's Cabinet.
The billionaire also shared the positions of former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who has been named to the administration, advocating “dramatic downsizing” of government.
“Barriers overcome the Kafkaesque nature of the laws that govern this superpower and ensure that dedicated small government reformers join this administration!” Musk wrote in one, responding to Ramaswamy's proposal.
Indeed, obstacles overcome the Kafkaesque nature of the laws that govern this great empire and ensure that small government reformers who are insanely dedicated join this administration!
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 11, 2024
Musk's access to Trump at Mar-a-Lago, which CNN reported has become the centerpiece of President Trump's transition, has given him a huge windfall that could benefit his businesses, analysts say.
His electric car company, Tesla, has already seen growth as its shares jumped 14 percent a day after Trump's election win and the threat of tariffs on Chinese imports that could block rivals in the country.
“We have seen the efforts to persuade people. We have seen large PACs [political action committees]but this is a different level that we have not seen before,” Gita Johar, a professor at Columbia Business School, told The Guardian. “There will be quid pro quo where he is [Musk] it will benefit.”
Although Trump has previously expressed the idea of naming Musk the “reductions secretary”, he is unlikely to take any job that requires Senate confirmation or interferes with his businesses, Al Jazeera's Alan Fischer reports.
Instead, Musk may serve on “a blue-ribbon committee where he will still have greater access but will not be caught by government ethics rules”, according to CNN.
With such a relationship with the president-elect, Musk is likely to push hard for repeal of the law, which he has repeatedly accused of stifling innovation at his companies, including SpaceX and Tesla.
“America is a nation of builders,” Musk wrote on X on the day of Trump's election victory. “Soon, you will be free to build.”
