Elon Musk hopes to fulfill his hero role through Trump’

This article was last updated on November 25, 2024

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‘Musk hopes to fulfill his hero role through Trump’

The long list of remarkable events during the American presidential campaign certainly includes the statement of support from Elon Musk to Donald Trump. Musk is the richest person in the world and has radical ideas about the future of America and the world.

His new political role means a drastic increase in the tech sector’s political influence, say experts who follow that world. “For Musk and his shareholders, Trump’s re-election was a champagne moment,” says analyst Daniel Ives.

Cheerleader

The attempted assassination of Trump in July marked the beginning of the men’s public friendship. “From that moment on, Musk became Trump’s biggest cheerleader,” says tech journalist Ryan Mac (The New York Times), who a book wrote about Musk’s acquisition of Twitter. “They became almost inseparable.”

Musk poured more than $130 million into Trump’s campaign, raffled millions of registered voters signed a petition and was regularly seen on stage with Trump.

The men had been in contact behind the scenes for a while, but at the beginning of this year Musk was definitely not on team Trump. Mac: “He went from Trump’s enemy to best friend very quickly this year.”

Previously, the businessman supported the Democratic Party and warned about the dangers of Trump. Trump, in turn, called Musk a fraud and a liar.

Musk also had no interest in railing against the government, as Trump does. Mac: “Without federal tax breaks and government subsidies, Musk’s car company Tesla would probably have gone under. And his rocket company SpaceX receives billions of government money for shooting satellites into space.”

Musk now seems to think he can benefit twice from the government, says Mac. “The executives of tech companies want to maintain their lead and their power. The Republican Party offers that quite clearly, including with tax cuts and deregulation. Trump has further fueled that idea.”

Anti-woke

Musk’s twist didn’t come completely out of the blue either. “His political views shifted during the corona period, when his factories had to close temporarily,” says Mac. “And he became radicalized by his own daughter’s transition, which he blames on the liberalism and progressivism that influenced her. He became alienated from the Biden administration, which was also very pro-union and didn’t really get along with Tesla. “

Ives: “I think Musk thought about the assassination attempt: this is the time to take a big gamble and bet fully on Trump.”

Musk’s ambitions have always extended far beyond running companies, says tech professor James Grimmelmann (Cornell University). “He wants to create a human future beyond this planet. All of his companies are logical steps toward realizing what ours is to Mars will bring, what powers us there and how we transform society around that goal.”

Mac: “Musk sees himself as a crucial hero for humanity. He wants to create a backup for when the earth comes to an end, for example due to climate change.”

That sounds megalomaniac, but through Trump, Musk thinks he can actually realize the plans, Grimmelmann suspects. “Once he is in government, he can try to reduce regulations and supervision because they get in the way of what he wants to achieve.”

Cut two trillion

Under Trump, Musk will lead a temporary government efficiency agency. He promises to cut as much as $2 trillion, about a third to a quarter of the government budget. Grimmelmann: “He will make it easier to fire government employees, for example if they are not loyal to Trump.”

In this role, Musk does not have to sideline interests in his companies. This seems to allow him to delete rules that are inconvenient for him at his own discretion.

Commercial influence in American politics is not itself new. Washington D.C. is notorious for its many lobbyists. And there is a rich history of it businessmen starting a political career. But the way Musk is doing it now is unprecedented, says Ives. “The degree of influence is becoming historic,” says tech analyst Ives. “Musk’s companies will soon be able to operate much more autonomously.”

Economically, tech companies have been very large in the US for decades, with billion-dollar companies such as Microsoft and Apple. They played less of a role as a political factor, says Ives. “And recently these companies have been attacked by the left and the right for all kinds of problems. They have started throwing money and influence at them to fight government restrictions. With Musk in power, tech has definitively arrived as a political force. Musk appears to be becoming Trump’s right-hand man, his strategic whisperer.”

Grimmelmann: “The sector will hope that Trump and Musk will significantly weaken corporate supervision and anti-monopoly rules.”

Journalist Mac does place a nuance on Musk’s power. “He also thought Twitter was poorly managed. He fired a lot of people worse than when it was still Twitter.” Grimmelmann: “X is a huge financial loss for him.”

“On the other hand,” says Mac, “with Tesla and SpaceX he’s very successful. So this could go either way.” Grimmelmann: “There is a chance that Musk will enable Trump to fulfill some of his most far-reaching promises, such as deporting millions of migrants.”

The question remains whether Trump will allow Musk to amass a lot of power. “There comes a time when Musk sticks his neck out in a way that Trump doesn’t like,” says Grimmelmann. Ives: “This could become a soap opera.”