President-elect Donald Trump embraces Elon Musk during an October campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Over the past few months, the two men have established a warm relationship.
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On Wednesday morning, after the US elections, Elon Musk posted what appeared to be an announcement An AI-generated image of oneself On X, the social media platform he owns. In it, the American flag salutes against a dusty pink sky. His caption read: “It’s morning in America again.”
It was the culmination of his frantic efforts to re-elect Donald Trump as president. Over the past few weeks, Musk pogoed with excitement During one of Trump’s campaign rallies, he poured over $100 million of his personal money To the pro-Trump super PAC He hunkered down with Trump in West Palm Beach as votes poured in throughout Election Night.
When Trump gave his victory speech, he singled out Musk. “We have a new star,” he announced. “A Star Is Born — Elon!”
Musk is the richest man in the world, with a fortune of about $290 billion, and he will benefit greatly from a Trump presidency. Many of the companies he owns, including Tesla, SpaceX, and Starlink, It relies heavily on government support. He has already begun to profit from the stock market and his investments Rising more than $26 billion On November 6th. With a friendly government, Musk can continue to amass wealth and consolidate power, while using his X feed as a megaphone to boost his allies.
“The whole idea of quid pro quo is quite clear,” says Geeta Johar, referring to the very public interactions and warm relationship between the two men over the course of the election campaign. Johar is a professor at Columbia Business School and conducts research on X and consumer psychology. Musk has openly backed Trump with unprecedented levels of support — not just financially, but by being there in person. And I think the idea and the expectation was: “You take care of me and I’ll take care of you.”
The Trump campaign and representatives for X and Musk did not respond to requests for comment.
Here are several ways the Trump administration could benefit Musk and his companies.
Musk may become Trump’s new “cost-cutting secretary.”
In August, Musk floated the idea of creating a “Commission on Government Efficiency” that would serve as auditor for the entire federal government. He brought it up first During live chat With Trump on X. Musk said the commission can ensure taxpayer money is spent “well.”
Just three weeks later, Trump announced He was going to set up the committee And the place Musk is responsible.
Ethics experts immediately pointed to several conflicts of interest: Musk’s actions, which are regulated by multiple federal agencies. His electric car company, Tesla, receives government funding and Millions have been received To install electric vehicle charging stations. He owns his rocket company, SpaceX It won billions of dollars in government contracts For lunar missions. Starlink, a satellite internet company, has also done so It also received millions in subsidies From the federal government.
During the first Trump administration, at least one government appointee — Wilbur Ross, who was Commerce Secretary — was allegedly able to… Mocking morality rules with few consequences. Ross failed to divest millions of dollars in assets, even when he said he would, and despite telling ethics officials he did.
By chairing a government committee, Musk could have significant influence over federal agencies and how budgets are allocated. Trump did not explain in detail how the committee would work and what type of independence it would enjoy. However, he confirmed that he would consider making significant budget cuts.
During his campaign rallies, Trump repeatedly referred to the committee and called Musk his “cost-cutting secretary.” In this role, Musk said, he would cut nearly a third of the federal budget An amazing $2 trillion. Similar committees in the past were not authorized to make actual cuts, but rather made recommendations to Congress.
What happens to the federal investigation into Musk’s business empire?
During President Joe Biden’s administration, Musk’s companies have come under increased regulatory scrutiny. The Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Trade Commission have launched investigations into his business.
Ministry of Justice He investigated Tesla Charged with misleading consumers about the self-driving capabilities of its vehicles and wire fraud. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration I launched an investigation In Tesla’s automated driver assistance system, which has been blamed for several fatal accidents. This led to the recall of more than 2 million cars last year.
In response to the summons, Musk to publish On X: “Fun Police made us do it (sigh).”
The EPA has investigated and fined several of Musk’s companies, including… Tesla and SpaceX. After NPR reported on nearly 20 methane turbines that were… It was installed in Musk’s artificial intelligence (XAI) supercomputer facilityThe EPA said it was “looking into the matter.”
X has also been the focus of government investigations. The Federal Trade Commission has Investigate the privacy practices of a social networking siteThe Securities and Exchange Commission clashed with Musk. His purchase of shares in the company, saying he initially failed to disclose his investment. Musk began collecting stock in 2021 and bought the company about a year later for $44 billion.
At one point, during another tiff with the SEC — this time over Tesla — Musk mocked the agency. send“SEC, a three-letter abbreviation, and the middle word is for Elon.”
Like Musk, Trump’s disdain for regulation is well known. Experts like Johar say that under his presidency, light regulation is likely to be encouraged.
“I think government contracts will be awarded without much oversight from Musk,” Gohar says. “And that’s the lack of regulation, the lack of oversight — all of that will play into Musk’s hands.”
Trump has already made it clear that he is a fan of Musk’s companies. former president, Who once criticized electric carsHe now appears to be backing Tesla. During a rally in August, Trump declared: “I support electric cars. “I should be, you know, because Elon was so supportive of me.” In October, he nodded to SpaceX: “We will land an American astronaut on Mars. Thank you, Elon.”
During Trump’s victory speech Wednesday morning, Musk called out, “We have to protect our geniuses. We don’t have a lot of them.”
The X could become more of an impact machine
Since Musk bought the X, that’s been the case Increasingly becoming a megaphone For conservative politics. Right-leaning leaders often promote talking points and political views. He has promoted his favorite politicians, promoted conspiracy theories about immigration and other hot topics and denigrated Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Kamala vows to be a communist dictator on day one.” Musk to publish In September with Image generated by artificial intelligence Harris wears a red uniform and a hat decorated with a hammer and sickle. “Can you believe she’s wearing this outfit!?”
Musk has the largest account on X, with more than 200 million followers. It tends to spark rumours, which gain strength and confuse people about whether they are real or not. For example, he promoted the false claim that Haitian immigrants were eating their pets (Springfield, Ohio).which quickly spread across X and spilled over into real life in the small town. After city officials dismissed the claims as false, they received anonymous threats, including 33 bomb threats at local schools. According to CNN.
Since Musk endorsed Trump in July, he has increasingly amplified posts from pro-Trump and conservative politicians, according to a recent report. In-depth analysis before The Wall Street Journal. the magazine’Q The analysis shows that Algorithm
“[Musk] He has a megaphone now. “I think Trump will get this megaphone,” Gohar says. “There’s a world of people at X who will continue to encourage this. And if we talk about we’re all living in our bubbles, I think that’s a huge bubble.”
In the Trump era, X can be seen as a platform supported by the President of the United States – making it more than just an influence machine.
On election night, One of Misk’s posts Millions of his followers read: “You are the media now.”
