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    • Elon Musk says Trump’s victory is just the beginning of his political ambitions
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    Elon Musk says Trump’s victory is just the beginning of his political ambitions

    Harry Posted on

    Trisha Thadani, Elizabeth Dwoskin
    | Washington Post

    Elon Musk played video games with former President Donald Trump on his private jet flying quickly towards Palm Beach, Florida, where he would watch the election results. As airplane engines whirred in the background, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX told an audience of thousands that the 2024 presidential campaign is just the beginning of his political ambitions.

    In his livestream statement, Musk said that America PAC, the pro-Trump political group that Musk created with his own money and financed with at least $118 million, “will continue after this election and will prepare for the midterm elections and the midterm elections.” On social media platform X. He said his super PAC will “aim to weigh heavily” in the next round of races for the House, Senate and even some local offices.

    Later, as Musk hung out at Mar-a-Lago with other wealthy donors and Trump’s victory appeared assured, his posts about X became increasingly triumphant. “The future will be amazing,” he wrote over a picture of a SpaceX rocket launching on a column of flames.

    Musk’s presence at Trump’s side on Tuesday night marked a turning point in an unprecedented transformation that has seen the world’s richest man vow to bring his erratic but forward-thinking ethos more fully into the nation’s politics. Since endorsing Trump in July, Musk, once known primarily for pushing boundaries on electric vehicles and rockets, has become a prominent force in the conservative political movement as he prepares to return to the White House.

    As election results continued to pour in, Musk tweeted his excitement at working with Trump to cut government spending. Trump posted a photo of himself deep in conversation with former president and Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White at the viewing party, adding a fire emoji and four American flags. And over a photo of herself holding a ceramic sink in the Oval Office, she wrote: “Let this sink in.”

    Trump further reinforced his sense of destiny by fawning over Musk, his rockets and satellite internet service as he declared victory early Wednesday. “We have a new star,” Trump said. “A star is born – ELON!”

    Wealthy donors have long used thick wallets to shape the political landscape, but longtime Republican strategists have said Musk has unique power and appeal. In addition to his immense wealth—Bloomberg estimates his net worth at over $260 billion—Musk has hundreds of millions of followers, controls a major social media platform, and his willingness to push political and legal boundaries is allowing him to redefine the concepts of how a businessman can engage in politics. an example.

    “You have the richest man in the world who also owns the largest or most visible online political message board and is also one of the most prominent surrogates of the Republican Party,” said Tyler Brown, former digital director for the Republican National Party. Committee. “We have seen these pieces independently, but to see them come together in one role is something unique.”

    For most of the two decades since PayPal’s IPO made Musk a major figure in the tech world, he has generally stayed away from politics. He talked more frequently about major technological endeavors, such as colonizing Mars, and said he voted for Hillary Clinton and Joe in 2016. Biden in 2020. “I am not donating money to any of the US Presidential candidates,” he wrote to X as recently as March.

    This spring, Musk quietly chose a side and launched America PAC with the lofty goal of triggering a “red wave” on November 5th. The super PAC has launched a massive door-knocking campaign in swing states, focusing on encouraging people in rural areas. Registering to vote and heading to the polls early — a strategy that appears to have paid off for Trump, based on early results.

    Musk paid close attention to tactical details, at one point joining weekly Zoom calls to get updates on the number of new voters the PAC was reaching. But he did not pledge his support to Trump until July 13, after the former president was injured in an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

    After that, Musk went all out and became one of Trump’s most visible surrogates. In the final weeks of the campaign, he hosted town halls in battleground states and gave $1 million checks to undecided state voters in exchange for signing a petition ratifying the First and Second amendments. X used his account to broadcast conspiracy theories about crimes committed by illegal immigrants and false claims of election fraud to his 200 million followers.

    Musk’s involvement was exciting for Trump voters like Don Marx, 65, of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, who said he was glad to have someone like Musk “on our side.”

    “Clever but eccentric,” Marx said after an American PAC propagandist knocked on his door last month. “You have money to get votes on the Democratic side and do all that. And it’s nice to see someone on the other side.”

    Political operatives were also fascinated. “We are used to donors giving money and moving on. But Musk is innovative, young and passionate,” said a strategist with America PAC who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss his employer candidly.

    Musk, 53, who was born in South Africa and immigrated to the United States via Canada, said he supports Trump because he is the only candidate who can “protect democracy in America.” The entrepreneur also said he shares Trump’s views on crime, the economy and stopping illegal immigration; however, Musk began his own career while working illegally in the United States.

    Musk also shares important cultural values ​​with Trump’s conservative movement. The entrepreneur, who has at least 11 children with three women, often speaks about the moral imperative of starting a family and warns of population collapse. And as his relationship with his trans daughter publicly deteriorated, he became increasingly sympathetic to right-wing views.

    In an interview with Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson this summer, Musk said his experience with his daughter had made him a staunch opponent of gender-affirming care and fueled his desire to “destroy the woke mind virus.”

    Now Musk’s pivotal role in Trump’s victory puts him in a position to help transform Washington. He has repeatedly discussed with Trump the idea of ​​joining a new commission to cut federal spending by up to $2 trillion. The effort, which will likely involve laying off large numbers of federal employees, mirrors the strategy Musk has implemented across many of his businesses.

    Meanwhile, industry experts say Musk’s companies in the aerospace and automotive industries, which are already major federal contractors, stand to make billions more under Trump.

    NASA relies on SpaceX for rocket launches, including the supply of the International Space Station, and the company’s Starlink communications satellite division is expanding into surveillance contracts. Tesla is working to launch autonomous taxi vehicles without steering wheels or pedals, a goal that would require federal approval.

    Musk is known for instilling in his companies a free spirit of innovation that can transcend technical boundaries but also avoid regulatory restrictions. He is famous for setting very high expectations for his employees and then letting go of individuals or entire teams who disappoint him.

    Musk’s recent political operations have shown some of these signs. Several contractors who worked with America PAC were abruptly fired, and the group received a warning from the Justice Department last month that Musk’s daily million-dollar voter gifts could violate election laws.

    While some Republican strategists said they were eager to see Musk pour his money and energy into the new Trump administration and the MAGA movement, others were skeptical about Musk’s long-term commitment to politics. Blake Masters, a venture capitalist, former GOP congressional candidate and aide to tech billionaire Peter Thiel, said he doesn’t expect Musk to be a “predictable corporate player.”

    “The only thing you can predict is that his involvement will be less predictable and more suited to certain circumstances,” Masters said. Guys like Musk “are good investors, and the last thing they want to do is become a jet-setting employer for legions of political consultants to kind of mooch around.”

    Harry
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