Donald Trump’s number one supporter with whom he appears everywhere, the boss of Tesla, SpaceX, StarlinK and even X has just been appointed by the new American president to head a department of “governmental efficiency”. A position that the billionaire with a complex personality could try to use to serve his personal interests.
Proof that the occasion was still special, Elon Musk had taken out his best tie. The billionaire rarely deviates from his usual jeans/t-shirt, but it’s not every day that we pose for a souvenir photo with the 47th President of the United States on the evening of a resounding victory which concludes a incredible comeback, the kind of story America loves.
In Palm Beach in front of his supporters, Donald Trump does not forget to warmly thank one of his most fervent supporters. “ A Star is Born “, says the Republican candidate, speaking of Elon Musk before praising the boss of SpaceX: ” He’s a special guy, he’s a genius and we have to protect our geniuses because we don’t have that many! “.
The influence of X in the service of Trump
In fact, Trump can thank Musk. Not only is he one of the biggest contributors to his campaign with a donation of nearly $120 million, but for several months the billionaire has also been putting all his influence at the service of the Republican candidate, particularly on Musk bought back in 2022 for $44 billion.
Being the richest man in the world, boss of Tesla, SpaceX, Starlink and which does not make Elon Musk a minister strictly speaking, but which many observers already see as an unofficial vice-presidential position.
The “bromance” between the two billionaires was not obvious, however. In 2020, Musk admitted that he did not vote in the presidential election but that if he had had to, he would have given his vote to Biden. For his part, Trump did not hesitate to describe the Tesla boss as “ of crook ” And ” bullshit artist » when in 2023 he supported the candidacy of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis against Donald Trump. It was ultimately only in March 2024 that Elon Musk officially supported Trump, before confirming it and personally getting involved in the campaign after the attempted assassination of the Republican candidate last July, to become an essential figure.
Ideological shift
Long a Democratic relative, Musk’s rallying to the Republicans and his ideological shift towards ultra-conservative ideas nevertheless predates the 2024 presidential election. In my opinion, the shift begins during confinement during the Covid-19 pandemic, believes Boris Manenti, journalist and author of the book Elon Musk, the barker. On Twitter, we see him slipping and making increasingly conservative remarks, and some of those close to him say that it was at this time that he began to spend a lot of time on the internet and in particular on conspiracy sites. “.
As of the 2022 midterm elections, Musk announces that he will vote for the Republicans. But difficult to understand the reasons for the radicalization of the billionaire without mentioning the gender transition of his son Xavierthen a minor, during the Covid-19 period. “ My son Xavier is dead, killed by the woke virus “, declared Elon Musk at the end of July, concluding: “ I swore to destroy the woke virus after this “. “ This is really what motivated the acquisition of Twitter. Elon Musk adorns himself with all the virtues of the defender of freedom of expression, but ultimately, what he wants is a counter-narrative, that is to say to give much more echo to all ideas conservatives around the world, and particularly in the United States », Continues Boris Manenti.
Also readElon Musk, a desire for influence
In fact, the cultural war of the ultra-conservatives against the “woke virus” was at the heart of the Trump campaign which, meeting after meeting, continued to pour out “fake news” about these children who would have been encouraged to change sex at school without even their parents having given their consent.
“ Everything he does is always in the interest of his companies »
But this is undoubtedly not the only reason for Musk’s commitment to Donald Trump. Although the boss of Tesla has repeatedly declared that money does not interest him, the economic interests of his companies are indeed in the first line. “ There is one constant with Elon Musk, which is that everything he does is always in the interest of his companies and by extension his own interests. Republicans in particular, Trump were rather opposed to electric vehicles, but when Musk supported him, Trump changed his tune by saying “Now I have no choice. Elon supports me, so I have to be in favor electric vehicles“. There, we see the rather cynical and basic influence which is at work », analyzes Boris Manenti. By supporting Trump, Musk is therefore giving himself colossal influence which allows him to highlight his companies, which are for the most part closely linked to the federal government and are very largely financed by public money. The billionaire’s companies received three billion dollars in subsidies in 2023 alone.
By being appointed head of a “government efficiency” department by Trump, these obvious conflicts of interest could be taken a step further. The American president-elect is counting on Musk to “dismantle government bureaucracy”. The native of Pretoria in South Africa is already promising a saving of 2,000 billion dollars in the state budget and he would have carte blanche to cut the number of civil servants. A merciless method which is very reminiscent of the one he had already used during the takeover of Twitter where his first decision was to dismiss several hundred employees.
“ Influence the tech market »
But Elon Musk could also and above all take advantage of this position to promote his own companies. He who loathes standards and regulations could strongly encourage Trump to deregulate certain key sectors for his activities. For Musk, Tesla’s future lies in autonomous driving, the development of which is currently hampered by very strict rules decreed by the American automobile safety regulator. SpaceX, which has received nearly $15 billion in government subsidies over the last ten years, could also benefit significantly from its boss’s new position in the space race, and in particular the conquest of Mars, the dream Musk’s ultimate, which opposes it to Boeing.
“ Under the presidency of Joe Biden, there are around twenty investigations currently underway by different federal agencies into Musk’s companies, for example on the safety of Tesla vehicles, on the environmental damage of SpaceX rockets, etc… taking the head of this commission, Musk will be able to manage the budgets of each agency. We completely see the benefit of being able to be judge and party and to be able to cut off funds from the agencies that annoy him. », warns Boris Manenti. Trump’s recent appointment of Brendan Carr to the FCC, the US telecommunications regulator, goes in this direction. Barely named, he has already promised to “ dismantle the censorship cartel “, represented according to him by the tech giants Facebook, Google, Apple and Microsoft, while Musk, through his social network X, sets himself up as the protector of freedom of expression.
But the billionaire’s intentions are undoubtedly more global and his strategy must be read in the longer term. “ What Musk probably plans is to influence the tech market where he faces already well-established quasi-monopolies, explained at the microphone of RFI Ophélie Coelhoindependent researcher associated with the Internet and Society Center, author of the book Digital geopolitics. Imperialism by leaps and bounds. He wants to ensure that he has a huge technological platform, both on software and on data with X, xAI or even Tesla’s autonomous driving, and on the other side, we have the infrastructure with its network Starlink telecom. In this way, he hopes to compete with large companies such as Alphabet. Its final project is to become a technological empire “.
Alexander the Great conquers Mars
Beyond ideological or economic considerations, Elon Musk’s other driving force is undoubtedly his ego. Most people who knew him described a megalomaniacal character who liked to compare himself to Alexander the Great, capable of great brutality and unable to tolerate being stood up to him. His official biographer, Walter Isaacson, who followed him for two years, notably declared after writing the book that Elon Musk is convinced “ that he can save the world “. For Isaacson, the deep driving force behind Elon Musk’s dreams of grandeur are to be found in ” the demons of his childhood », him, the autistic child with Asperger’s who was the victim of school bullying in South Africa. “ He was able to exploit these demons to put them at the service of his three major projects: getting humans to go to Mars, bringing them into the era of electric vehicles, and ensuring that AI is efficient and effective. safe. These are three major missions that really motivate him », confided Walter Isaacson to New York Times in 2023.
The oversized ego of the richest man in the world will now have to contend with that of the 47th President of the United States. Like Donald Trump, Elon Musk is not the type to like to share the spotlight and the two men already have a tumultuous history. “ In 2016-2017, Elon Musk was part of a pool of bosses who advised Donald Trump and it ended very badly, recalls Boris Manenti. Both having oversized egos, they did not get along at all and when the United States left the Paris climate agreement, Elon Musk slammed the door “.
Many observers do not give much thought to the political romance experienced by the two billionaires. Their relationship could quickly become explosive when Musk’s personal interests clash with those of the new White House tenant. “ China risks being a potential point of tension, predicts Boris Manenti. Many Teslas are made in China. If Trump increases tariffs based on countries of origin as he announced, will Musk agree to that? Won’t this cause a clash? All possibilities are open », he concludes.