Less than a week after former President Donald Trump’s election results became known, his centibillionaire backer Elon Musk is already doing what he promised: taking an active role in shaping the government under a second Trump administration.
During the campaign, Musk emerged as one of Trump’s biggest supporters and his most enthusiastic supporter in Silicon Valley. His political action committee, of which he was the main funder, spent $200 million to help Trump campaign. But he also hit the campaign trail by drumming up support in the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania, appearing with Trump at a rally, appearing stumped by Trump on Joe Rogan’s popular podcast, hosting a live broadcast on his property) and used his platform and the power of his own celebrity to push the campaign’s talking points and boost propaganda alleging that Democrats would allow unauthorized immigrants to vote.
In his first administration, Trump made management a family business, bringing his daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner into prominent positions. Musk, according to Trump’s granddaughter Kaihas now apparently achieved “uncle” status, appearing in a family photo (and apparently refusing to leave). It seems that Musk will be very involved in whatever comes next. And his posts about X, as well as his early post-election interactions with Trump, make clear what that might look like.
Musk, who has apparently joined Trump’s calls with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučićand Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğanseems ready to play some kind of role in the administration. In September, Trump said he would create a government efficiency commission with Musk, whose business empire profits handsomely from government contracts and subsidies, at the helm. Sunday, musk shared a post imagining a Trump administration that focuses on “deregulation (deactivating the SEC, FTC, and others), cuts to government spending (making room for the private sector), tax cuts, and a focus on technologically enabled innovation,” adding the comment: “Excellent.” Musk also asked “ensure that maniacally dedicated small government revolutionaries join this administration!”
And Musk is already starting to weigh in on personnel decisions by the second. Trump Administration and beyond. On Sunday morning, Musk posted a poll asking users who should be the new Senate majority leader, in line to succeed outgoing minority leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. Users seemed vote overwhelmingly for Favorite MAGA Senator, Rick Scott of Florida. When Trump announced that New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik would be his choice for UN ambassador, Musk decided X to weighsaying, “Elise is amazing, but it might be too risky to lose her from the House, at least for now.” Financial Times report revealed that Musk is looking to install his own loyalists and supporters in the government, particularly people like Steve Davis, CEO of the Boring Company, founded by Musk, and He has reportedly asked Trump to appoint SpaceX staff to the Department of Defense..
In another post that includes a video of National Public Radio CEO Katherine Maher of a TED talk she gave in 2021, three years before taking over the organization, musk asks“Should an organization run by people who think the truth is a ‘distraction’ really pay their taxes?” In a post shared over the weekend, Musk described the Department of Education as “not exactly great value for money”. (Project 2025, a roadmap created by the Heritage Foundation for a second Trump administration, calls for eliminating the Department of Education.) In total, Musk has defended for $2 trillion in spending cuts, more than the federal government’s total spending in fiscal year 2023 on all discretionary outlays, including defense, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
