Whether Elon Musk is the real “president,” merely the “prime minister” or just Donald Trump’s multibillionaire enforcer, he’s carving out an unprecedented role that could raise conflicts of interest for the new administration.
The dust is still settling following the Tesla and SpaceX pioneer’s role last week in sabotaging a year-end House spending package, which was eventually replaced by a smaller stopgap law to keep the government open until March.
Republican lawmakers on Sunday raced to praise and defend the X owner — perhaps not surprisingly since the richest man in the world has threatened to finance primary challenges to members of Congress who defy Trump’s orders.
“Thank God Elon Musk bought Twitter, because that’s the only way we’d even know what’s in this bill,” Tennessee Sen. Bill Hagerty told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.” The comment might seem strange since lawmakers ought not to need a social media network to be able to read a bill before they vote. But Hagerty also revealed Musk’s hold on the GOP base when he said that “every one of our offices was inundated with calls from our constituents” after the billionaire’s complaints that the bill was full of bloated spending.
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Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas, meanwhile, described the incoming dynamic in Washington. “We have a president. We have a vice president. We have a speaker. And it feels … as if Elon Musk is our prime minister,” he said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
Democrats are trying to tweak Trump’s vanity, mockingly suggesting that even after winning a second term, he is still not as powerful as the South Africa-born tech mogul whom he put in charge of slashing the size of government once the president-elect takes office.
Delaware Sen. Chris Coons conjured up a scenario on “State of the Union” of Musk doubling the chaos that characterized Trump’s first term. “This is a predictor of what’s likely to happen. We’re not just going to have President-elect Trump as a billionaire rage-tweeting at 4 a.m. We’re going to have Elon Musk also injecting instability into how we tackle very complicated and important issues for our country,” he said.
President-elect Donald Trump speaks at AmericaFest, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Phoenix.
Rick Scuteri/AP
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Coons’ comments came after multiple Democrats spoke of “President Musk” as the country wobbled on the brink of a government shutdown last week.
“On Wednesday morning, Elon Musk proved that he is the real leader of the Republican Party, because over the course of about four or five or six hours, he tweeted nonstop against the deal that had been negotiated and agreed to by all sides,” Democratic Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania told CNN’s Jessica Dean on Saturday.
The gambit, a welcome opening for a party that struggled to fashion a convincing message in the election and that has been flailing ever since, seems to have worked, as Trump brought up the issue himself Sunday.
“No, he’s not taking the presidency,” Trump told conservative activists at a Turning Point USA event in Phoenix. The president-elect insisted he liked having smart people around and accused his opponents of launching “a new kick” after he suggested they tried to delegitimize his first term over “Russia, Russia, Russia.” Trump added: “No, he’s not going to be president, that I can tell you. And I’m safe, you know why? He can’t be — he wasn’t born in this country.”
Trump’s comments suggested at the very least that the constant coverage of Musk’s role has caught his eye and that he resents the idea that his new best friend is the power behind the throne. They will also stoke fresh speculation over how long the president-elect, who doesn’t normally like to share any spotlight, will tolerate Musk’s soaring profile — even if both men have huge incentives to continue a friendship that has seen the tech pioneer almost constantly at Trump’s side at Mar-a-Lago since the election.
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A visionary who is turning his vast power toward politics
Musk’s innovation has revolutionized the e-commerce, electric vehicle and space industries and is leading the US push to put humans on Mars. He’s seen as a hero to many Americans. And his increasingly right-wing, populist political views and capacity to mobilize people behind him since he bought X have made him a talisman for grassroots Trump voters who believe government has failed them.
Technically, there’s no doubt who has the most power. Trump will be sworn in as president on January 20 and will command the world’s most powerful military and a vast arsenal of nuclear weapons. He will also be bolstered by a Supreme Court ruling arising from one of his legal cases that expanded the scope of executive authority. Musk, the co-chair of Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE, likely won’t have any real power outside the new president’s continued patronage.
Elon Musk speaks with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump as they watch the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket in Brownsville, Texas, U.S., November 19, 2024. Brandon Bell/Pool via REUTERS
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Owing to his extraordinary wealth, the megaphone granted by ownership of one of the biggest social media networks, as well as vast international interests, global companies and contacts, Musk is an example of a rare kind of non-state power. He has the capacity to influence governments, elections, economies and even the conduct of wars. He could therefore be an asset to Trump and America if he works in the national interest.
But Musk’s presence at the center of the US government also raises the possibility of staggering potential conflicts of interest, especially since his firms benefit from billions of dollars in government contracts. Musk will be in a position to streamline regulations at DOGE to directly benefit his own businesses. And he’ll be wielding vast unelected power far beyond the reach of almost every other American after bankrolling Trump’s campaign to the tune of tens of millions of dollars.
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And perhaps more than any other recent president, Trump seems susceptible to the magnetism of someone as accomplished and charismatic as Musk, and to the status symbol of having the world’s richest man as a subordinate in his court.
Musk’s power was on display last week when he crushed House Speaker Mike Johnson’s initial stopgap spending bill with a blizzard of posts on X — which got out ahead of the president-elect, prompting questions about whether he was freelancing.
Trump later caught up by forcefully coming out against the bill himself and demanding the government’s borrowing authority be raised before President Joe Biden leaves office. His piling on raised speculation over whether the president-elect was trying to go further than Musk to highlight his own authority. Regardless, Musk’s initial defenestration of the spending bill and the way he immediately was able to exert power over Johnson, who is in the constitutional line of succession behind only the vice president, was extraordinary.
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Sen. Markwayne Mullin insisted in an interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Friday that Musk was working closely with the president-elect. “You saw Elon and President Trump working together as a team. I promise you, they were visiting the whole time,” the Oklahoma Republican said. “Elon was taking one task that President Trump wanted. And President Trump was taking the other task.”
Still, Musk’s prominent role might open another line of attack for Democrats — especially if Musk and his DOGE co-chair, Vivek Ramaswamy, a former GOP presidential candidate, start recommending the culling of programs relied on by working Americas, whom Trump vowed during the campaign to help. There is already a thematic disconnect between the president-elect’s bond with blue-collar workers and his choice of a Cabinet packed with millionaires and billionaires who are all likely to disproportionately benefit from the huge tax reductions he’ll propose next year.
House Speaker Mike Johnson walks following the passage of a spending legislation to avert a government shutdown, on Capitol Hill in Washington, December 20, 2024.
Nathan Howard/Reuters
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There will also be complications over Musk’s role and potential conflicts over foreign policy. The Tesla owner is active in almost every country in the world and plenty of global hotspots. His Starlink internet service, for instance, is vital to Ukraine’s war effort following Russia’s illegal invasion over two years ago. Trump has vowed to quickly end the war when he takes office and on Sunday hinted at the possibility of early talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
As Trump manages US relations with other nations, he may come up against a backlash from Musk’s attempts to shape politics around the world. His new friend has, for example, criticized the new British government of Labour Party Prime Minister Keir Starmer. And last week he endorsed Germany’s far-right party as the country struggles through a political crisis. “Only the AfD can save Germany,” Musk wrote on X on Friday. It’s one thing for him to express his free speech rights as an individual. But given Musk’s proximity to Trump and the quasi-official role he will play in the incoming administration, his comments could cause confusion about US policy and the views of the new president.
Then there is the risk of ethical conflict between Musk’s domestic political activity and his international ventures. Last week, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, wrote a letter to congressional leaders claiming Musk had worked to derail a provision in the original funding bill that would screen investments in China, suggesting he was protecting his Tesla plant in Shanghai. Musk responded to DeLauro’s criticism of his role in the government shutdown drama by calling for the Connecticut lawmaker to be expelled from Congress.
Musk’s growing prominence is fueling debate over how long Trump will tolerate what often seems to be the brightest star in his orbit. Any schism between the pair could be painful for both since the spaceflight visionary has substantial interest in prolonging his US government contracts. And Trump might worry about fueling a backlash from a friend-turned-foe who controls X.
But former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie — who was once friendly with Trump before being elbowed out of his inner circle — predicted that Musk’s status as the president-elect’s right-hand man won’t last.
“When you initially begin in that role, you have enormous influence,” Christie said on ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday. “And he loves having you around and he loves listening to you, and you’re the best thing in the world. It will always decline. And that’s what happens. And you’ll see it. It will happen with Elon Musk too.”
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