A report published Wednesday revealed that billionaire Elon Musk might have a role in former President Donald Trump’s administration if the presumptive GOP candidate wins in November.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump and Musk speak several times a month. During some of those discussions, the possibility of Musk serving in an advisory role in the potential second Trump White House.
“The role hasn’t been fully hammered out and might not happen, people familiar with the talks said, but the two men discussed ways to give Musk formal input and influence over policies related to border security and the economy, both issues on which Musk has grown more vocal,” said the report.
Musk already has experience dealing with the U.S. government. He’s provided spacecraft for NASA launches and Starlink satellite access, which has been used to provide internet for Ukraine amidst a Russian invasion of the country. Its use there has also been a source of tension.
In fact, CNN said in an article last November that the U.S. government “won’t quit Elon,” who YouGov also ranks as the most famous business figure.
“NASA needs his rockets. The Pentagon needs his satellites. The government needs for electric vehicles to access his network of chargers. Officials need his social media platform – Twitter, now called X – to communicate with people,” said CNN of the South Africa-born mogul. Musk’s relationship with the former Commander-in-Chief has had its ups and downs, with the WSJ even calling it “once-frosty.” While Musk made a gesture towards Trump by reinstating his suspended account once he took over Twitter (X’s former name), it was received with a lukewarm response.
Per a report from Bloomberg, Trump said he would prefer to stick to Truth Social because he sees “a lot of problems at Twitter,” and he ignored the platform for months. Trump did eventually return to X to post his infamous mugshot from Fulton County, Ga.
Though he formerly voted for Democrats, Musk has become more aligned with Republican politics in recent years and his dealings with Trump seem to be warming up. By this March, there were reports that Trump was begging Musk for money to help fund his campaign, though Musk denied that he would donate to either Trump or current President Joe Biden.
Like Trump, Musk has become known for his contentious views.
Last month, The Verge noted that Musk’s controversial behavior in recent years, including his apparent support of conspiracy theories, has resulted in sales of electric vehicles from his company Tesla declining.
Per the WSJ report, Trump and Musk’s talks have also covered Musk’s plans to invest in a data-driven project devoted to preventing voter fraud. Trump has consistently made claims that voter fraud cost him the 2020 election against Biden, but he has not been able to provide evidence to back up his claims.
According to Axios, Musk frequently posts about politics on X and is himself critical of Biden. The outlet said it isn’t clear “how much of Musk’s heightened political engagement is driven by business interests vs. a deep-rooted ideology,” and highlighted the fact that part of Trump’s platform is a plan to “dismantle Biden’s electric vehicle policies and escalate his trade war with China, one of Tesla’s top markets.”
As for the Biden camp? They said this week that Musk and other billionaires think Trump is a “sucker.”