One of the world’s richest men will soon take a position in the White House after President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated next week.
Billionaire Elon Musk has been granted office space in the White House. according to the New York Times, citing people briefed on the plans.
Musk was appointed by Trump to lead a Department of Government Efficiency to examine federal spending alongside former presidential candidate, tech entrepreneur and Trump booster Vivek Ramaswamy.
However, the position will not be in the current White House building, but in the large Eisenhower Executive Office Building in the White House complex.
Only a few members of Trump’s staff work in the West Wing of the White House.
But Musk’s physical proximity to Trump could still be close enough to allow him to influence the president even more, if he decides to cross the street.
Musk, who has embraced the title of Trump’s “first friend,” donated millions to the president-elect’s campaign efforts and has spent a lot of time with him since the election.
Democrats are furious about Musk’s proximity to the president, often labeling him Trump’s “co-chairman” because of his cozy relationship with Trump.
US President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk witness the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket
The Eisenhower Executive Office Building is located in the White House complex, but across from the Oval Office.
Musk’s companies receive billions of dollars in government contracts with the federal government, especially SpaceX, the innovative rocket company that is changing space travel.
Trump and Musk traveled together to watch a rocket launch with their entourage, as part of an event encouraging the growth of the space industry.
The news of Musk’s White House office comes just as former Trump strategist and senior adviser Steve Bannon said he would work to keep Musk out of Trump’s second term in the White House.
“He’s not going to have a blue pass to the White House, he’s not going to have full access to the White House, he’s going to be like anyone else,” Bannon said, describing the tech billionaire as “a truly evil guy.”
Bannon commented on Musk in an interview with the Italian media Corriere della Sera.
Elon Musk speaks with US President-elect Donald Trump and guests during the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX spacecraft.
Steve Bannon, former advisor to former US president and now president-elect Donald Trump,
Trump’s former allies recently clashed over a debate over H-1B visas, which offer legal status to foreigners who want to work in the United States, primarily for technology companies.
Critics of H-1B visas argue that qualified Americans should get tech jobs instead of foreign workers.
Bannon vowed that he would emerge victorious over Musk and his fellow tech moguls.
“We’ve been fighting this fight for ten years,” Bannon said. “We’re going to expose all the corruption of the American system, how money controls everything, and hopefully inspire Italians to wake up,” he said.