Elon Musk is fully committed to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and for good reason: a place in government could return to him if the Republican candidate wins.
Even before being sure of being elected President of the United States, Donald Trump has already mentioned, and regularly, his possible future government. And one name is often cited to occupy a key role within the American executive: that of Elon Musk. The hypothesis was first mentioned last spring, when the Wall Street Journal reported rumors that Donald Trump was considering appointing the billionaire owner of Tesla and X to the government. But it was in August that the Republican candidate confirmed that he would be ready to appoint Elon Musk as a minister or advisor.
A possibility which became clearer in the last days before the presidential election. The billionaire and tech giant could head a “government commission tasked with conducting a comprehensive financial and performance audit of the entire federal government, with a view to making recommendations for draconian reforms,” said Donald Trump in front of a club of economists in New York. An idea that Elon Musk would have suggested to him. Who does not hide the pleasure he would have in being part of the government, in particular a “department of government efficiency” which would organize a “radical overhaul of the federal bureaucracy” and reduce government spending.
Elon Musk estimated he could cut $2 trillion in federal spending by laying off certain employees who could be replaced by artificial intelligence. Something denied by former Treasury Secretary Larry Summer on Fox News. The Congressional Budget Office agrees with the former secretary since in 2022 approximately $271 billion was used to pay 2.3 million civilian employees, a far cry from the $2,000 billion mentioned by Elon Musk.
There is no doubt that the ambitious Elon Musk, at the head of several companies including SpaceX, Stralink and Nueralink, would appreciate influencing the functioning of the government and having control over the latter’s budget. Especially since he could then defend his own companies to obtain government contracts. But this would be an obvious conflict of interest for someone whose certain companies are already associated with government institutions: the company SpaceX is linked with NASA and the Department of Defense for a contract of 15 billion dollars according to the New York Times, while Tesla already has “connections with the agencies of Commerce, Agriculture, Transportation, Homeland Security, and even Energy” reports‘Express.
The reasons which push Elon Musk to want to occupy the position proposed by Donald Trump are clear and explain the sudden rapprochement of the billionaire with the Republican candidate. Support which may, however, be surprising since Elon Musk was once critical of the former President of the United States. The businessman took sides in the presidential elections in July, after the first assassination attempt against Donald Trump, in Pennsylvania. Since then, he offered a platform lasting more than two hours to Donald Trump on the social network X in August and he financially supported the candidate to the tune of $132 million for the Republican camp. A sum to which must be added the one million dollars offered every day to a Donald Trump voter since October 19. “An electoral lottery” deemed illegal by the Ministry of Justice.