For the first 53 years of his life, Elon Musk spent little time with Donald Trump. So from the evening of November 5th, he spent basically no time without it.
So Musk, more than any other key player in the presidential transition, finds himself in an intensive session to learn the politics of courting Trump’s inner circle. For the world’s richest person — not known for his humility or patience — this presents a social engineering challenge far more complicated and less familiar than heavy manufacturing or rocket science.
Questions arise over whether he will graduate in 2028 with a four-year degree in Trumpism: It is now a parlor game in Washington and Silicon Valley to speculate about how long the Musk-Trump relationship will last. The answer, as former aides from Trump’s first term will tell you, may depend on Musk’s ability to appease his boss and keep a relatively low profile — but also to target a rival when the time comes.
Continues after advertising
In short, how to play the politics of Trump’s world.
Most of the people now surrounding Trump in the transition are battle-tested aides from his past struggles or longtime personal friends. Musk is neither. What he brings, instead, are his 200 million followers on social platform X and the roughly $200 million he spent to help elect Trump. Both greatly impressed the president-elect. Trump, , said the tech billionaire will help lead a .
Over the past week, Musk has maintained his friendly routine with Trump, joining him at almost every meeting at Mar-a-Lago, as well as a UFC fight. On Tuesday, he took the president-elect to the Rio Grande Valley in Texas,
Continues after advertising
In private meetings at Mar-a-Lago, Musk displays little familiarity with policies or potential team members being discussed, but returns repeatedly to a central point: What is needed, he says, is “radical reform” of government and “reformers” capable of enacting radical change, according to two people briefed on the meetings, who insisted on remaining anonymous to describe the internal conversations.
On Wednesday, Musk, who is often critical of traditional media, wrote an essay on The Wall Street Journal with Ramaswamy who detailed more of his plan for the new agency they call “DOGE”.
Musk has not been particularly aggressive in pushing for his preferred names for government positions. But his circle in the tech world is empowered and widely seen as influential.
Continues after advertising
Mick Mulvaney, who worked as Trump’s second chief of staff and is now at a lobbying firm, Actum, has told clients that technology executives will likely have extraordinary access.
“Elon Musk, Marc Andreessen, David Sacks, Joe Lonsdale and other technology leaders are influencing Trump’s preparations for his second term, something no other business leader has been able to do at this level in past presidential elections,” says a presentation shared by Mulvaney with customers, which was seen by The New York Times.
But Mulvaney, a former director of the Office of Management and Budget, expressed skepticism about Musk’s ability to deliver on his promises on budget cuts.
Continues after advertising
He recently told clients on a call with about 70 people that Musk would discover that “going to Mars is easier,” according to a source who was listening and described the call. Mulvaney, the source added, said he didn’t see a radical change in how the federal government operated and that he doubted Musk would stick around to actually make it happen.
Musk successfully pushed for Brendan Carr, a Republican, to be chosen to lead the Federal Communications Commission — a “great choice,” the billionaire wrote after the announcement — even though Carr was always seen as the front-runner. And Musk has been pressing Trump to bring back Russell Vought, another budget director in Trump’s first term, according to a person briefed on the matter.
But Musk’s early track record also has its blemishes. He pushed for Emil Michael, a former senior executive at Uber, to be the next Secretary of Transportation, only for Michael to lose to Sean Duffy, a former member of Congress from Wisconsin. Duffy was supported by Susie Wiles, who will become Trump’s chief of staff in January, and Reince Priebus, the president-elect’s former chief of staff, according to a person briefed on the process.
the CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, as his Treasury Secretary. The president-elect, however, refused, choosing Lutnick as . And Musk was a vocal supporter of former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, who on Thursday named him Trump’s pick for attorney general.
Mulvaney’s advice to Musk? Be direct with Trump, because “there are a lot of people who will feel the need to agree with him all the time.”
“What makes Musk such a valuable advisor,” Mulvaney told Times in an interview, “is that he has enough money — and other things to do — that he is in a unique position to be the bearer of honest news. More than perhaps anyone else on the planet, he doesn’t need the job.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times
c.2024 The New York Times Company
