As voting patterns emerge, it appears that Donald Trump’s unexpected landslide win is more due to the American working class’ disappointment with the Democrats than a pro-Trump vote. Yet, markets have rallied reinforcing Trump’s pro-business stance. Indeed, the Trump campaign did benefit from the support of the business community, most notably Elon Musk, the world’s richest man. Musk’s involvement beyond the $150m funding support and the use of his social media platform X (formerly, Twitter) seems to have played a role, particularly in the swing states. Why Musk went all in supporting Trump may go beyond business interests but given how Tesla’s shares have surged, it is a clear beneficiary. Whilst the Biden administration holding an EV summit without Tesla might have antagonised Musk, Trump’s anti-China stance might help prevent the entry of Chinese EVs in the US which are clearly a threat to Tesla, is an easy explanation (Musk’s Tesla shares are worth $40bn more since the election). But this article which shows Musk’s active involvement in the transition post elections suggests it is more than just Tesla. Musk has already been appointed by Trump to run a new Department of Government Efficiency to bring down the size of the government. But his involvement goes beyond:
“Publicly, over just the first week of the transition, Mr. Musk has endorsed Senator Rick Scott of Florida to be the next Senate majority leader; urged Republican senators to embrace recess appointments for Mr. Trump; suggested that all government employees should submit a “weekly email of accomplishments”; called for the Department of Education to be closed; solicited recommendations for new administration roles that he could bring to Mr. Trump; wondered if Canada was “dying”; and posted plenty of Trump-themed memes.
Behind the scenes, Mr. Musk’s behavior has been far more hands-on than even some of his allies expected. His role, in the eyes of some Trump aides, even outstrips that of Howard Lutnick and Linda E. McMahon, the two formally appointed leaders of the Trump transition.
He has sat in on calls with foreign leaders, including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, and plans to meet in person this week with President Javier Milei of Argentina when Mr. Milei visits Mar-a-Lago. Mr. Musk has also attended at least one national security meeting with Mr. Trump alongside the likes of Stephen Miller, a top aide, and Donald Trump Jr., according to a person briefed on the meeting.”
As one would expect, the Trump administration will see more participation from the business community, only this time with Musk’s influence:
“Mr. Musk has said that he is recruiting an “A team” from the private sector to help overhaul the government, and that he will ensure “that maniacally dedicated small-government revolutionaries join this administration.”
Another person who could have some influence is Marc Andreessen, a prominent tech investor who, like Mr. Musk and Mr. Howery, spent election night at Mar-a-Lago.
Mr. Musk has also encouraged Palmer Luckey, a co-founder of the military technology start-up Anduril, to aid the administration in some way, saying on X that it was “very important” for “entrepreneurial companies like yours” to be involved. Mr. Luckey said in a television interview that he had spoken with the Trump transition team about how he could help.”
Naturally, this involvement of the business community in running the government comes with conflicts of interest:
“It is unclear how these other tech executives and Mr. Musk himself, whose rocket company, SpaceX, has federal contracts, will avoid conflicts of interest as they work with the administration.
Mr. Musk has recommended two fellow executives at SpaceX, Gen. Terrence J. O’Shaughnessy and Tim Hughes, for administration roles, The Times has reported.”
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