President-elect Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk have shaped an in depth bond as Trump campaigned for the presidency in 2024.
Musk confirmed continued assist to Trump main as much as Election Day and, as a reward, Trump introduced that Musk would lead the newly created “Division of Authorities Effectivity,” or DOGE, additionally the identify of a cryptocurrency backed by Musk.
Musk is turning into one of many president-elect’s most trusted advisers, even showing by his facet on Capitol Hill.
This summer time, the founding father of Tesla and SpaceX endorsed the longer term president after an assassination try on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk joins former President Donald Trump throughout a marketing campaign rally at web site of his first assassination try in Butler, Pa., Oct. 5, 2024.
Jim Watson/AFP through Getty Photographs
Musk, who owns X and has greater than 200 million followers on the social media platform, rapidly grew to become probably the most distinguished and outspoken figures within the Trump marketing campaign. He organized city halls and fielded questions from voters, not shying away from making controversial statements.
“President Trump is the one one who can save democracy,” Musk advised an Allegheny County viewers on Oct. 20, 2024.
Musk’s unconventional entrance into Trump’s interior circle included a spot within the household picture on election night time. One in all his first ventures was co-founding PayPal throughout the dot-com growth within the late Nineteen Nineties, which rapidly propelled him to stardom in Silicon Valley.
“He was once this true genius and visionary, this technological wunderkind who might consider one thing that will lead us to a brighter future and take us there,” Adam Clark Estes, senior know-how correspondent at Vox, mentioned.
In 2002, he based a personal house exploration firm, SpaceX. Two years later, his subsequent challenge was Tesla, a little-known startup that grew into essentially the most beneficial automotive firm on the earth over 20 years.
Tesla and Musk’s different corporations, akin to web supplier Starlink and SpaceX, had been remodeled into revolutionary powerhouses due to contracts and subsidies from the federal authorities.
Musk outlined himself as apolitical all through the 2000s. That began to vary as Musk grew to become more and more crucial of the federal government and federal regulation.
“It is turn out to be clear, particularly up to now two or three years, that he is taken a pointy flip to the correct,” Estes mentioned. “And now he is extensively seen as Trump’s greatest supporter and a fundamental character within the MAGA sphere.”
Since then, Musk has promoted conspiracy theories, reposted antisemitic messages, and unfold misinformation, akin to making an attempt to downplay the violence that occurred on Jan. 6 on the Capitol.
He invested at the very least $175 million into his Tremendous PAC, referred to as “America PAC,” for the Trump marketing campaign. The billionaire’s affect on the Trump agenda is already turning into evident.
Musk was current for at the very least two telephone calls that Trump had with overseas leaders, together with a dialog with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Starlink has been a crucial supplier of web companies in Ukraine.
Musk’s monetary connections to Trump’s marketing campaign and presidency and his companies’ ties to the federal authorities redefine the connection between cash and politics.
However his companies are additionally going through federal investigations – like a probe of Tesla’s self-driving options by the Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration.
“He’s concurrently being focused by the federal authorities and being paid billions of {dollars} by the federal authorities,” New York Occasions investigative reporter Eric Lipton mentioned. “He is a man who simply turns into obsessive about getting issues executed. He needs to mainly change the oversight of his firm, and who greatest to ask to assist do this than the president of america?”
The 2 highly effective leaders who’ve redefined the spheres of politics and know-how are nearer than ever earlier than. Which leaves the query: Will their bromance final?
“I do not assume so,” Estes mentioned. “I do not assume these two personalities can keep buddies for too lengthy. Even when he’ll final the following two months, I believe that he’ll depart an incredible impression on the Trump administration.”
