Imagine Elon Musk as Donald Trump’s boss
Here’s a tantalizing, or terrifying, prospect, depending on how you look at it: The world's richest man could get behind Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and use his billions to help Trump get elected.
Elon Musk made a recent pilgrimage to Florida to meet with the former president, according to the New York Times, fueling speculation that the Trumpy, irascible CEO of Tesla and SpaceX could get far more involved in presidential politics this year than he ever has before.
Musk later tweeted that he is “not donating money to either candidate for US President.” But Musk is well known for Trumpian turnabouts. “He’s exaggerated, overpromised, skirted facts, and lied,” Rolling Stone wrote last year in a story listing 13 of Musk’s biggest whoppers. So Musk could recant and get behind Trump after all.
Musk, who also owns the social media platform X, certainly fancies himself a geopolitical influencer. In 2022, he pitched a peace plan for the Russia-Ukraine war, and he may or may not have spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin to get his views. At certain points in the war, Musk has made decisions about the battlefield use of SpaceX’s Starlink internet service that influenced military outcomes on the ground.
Musk also has strong opinions about “free speech,” electric cars, government regulation, immigration, and other hot-button political issues, just as Trump does. Musk’s a libertarian who seems to be getting more conservative as he gets older, and he’s no fan of President Joe Biden. He called Biden a “damp sock puppet" in 2022 and has jabbed him on a variety of issues.
Trump, meanwhile, needs money, so the stars might be aligning for a bromance between Trump and the 21st century's wannabe overlord.
If Musk got behind Trump, there could be tension over who’s really in charge. Musk is nobody’s No. 2, and if he financed Trump’s path to victory, he’d probably want to call the shots on issues that matter to him. Money talks, especially in politics, and Musk has about 100 times as much as Trump. And money wins, especially with Trump.
What would Musk want from Trump? If Musk actually helped Trump win the presidency, it’s not hard to imagine these five asks:
Dismantle the Securities and Exchange Commission. Musk hates the SEC, which punished him for a bogus 2018 tweet about taking Tesla private and has continued to stay up in his grill. Trump hates government regulation about as much as Musk does. Done.
Turn AI over to Tesla. In the wrong hands, artificial intelligence could eliminate all jobs or allow Musk’s business competitors to gain an edge. Only Musk, and maybe Joe Rogan, can safeguard this revolutionary technology and save humanity. All it will take is Justice Dept. pressure and some friendly judges appointed by Trump to force AI divestitures at Microsoft and Google and establish Tesla as the favored bidder.
Drop Rick Newman a note, follow him on Twitter, or sign up for his newsletter.
Ban Facebook. Shut. Them. Down! Shut. Them. Down! Also Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. Only X upholds the First Amendment by allowing anybody to say anything. Once X becomes the everything app, there will be no need for other social media platforms, anyway.
Halt all immigration. Except from South Africa.
Make sure space remains nonunionized. Space Force, the agency Trump created, would be the enforcer. Much better than letting Biden’s unions infiltrate space and bring all hopes of colonizing Mars to a halt over trifling issues such as interplanetary working conditions.
Those are softball requests that align closely with Trump’s own views. Three other Musk requests could be a tougher sell.
Electric cars. Musk made most of his fortune from them, but Trump wants electric car supporters to “rot in hell.” Hmmmm. Awkward. Maybe Trump is persuadable. Musk could give him a ride in a bulletproof Tesla Cybertruck, show off the beast mode, and even let Trump fire some arrows at the vehicle. Before you know it, a stretch version of the Cybertruck could get the next contract for a presidential limousine.
Climate change. Musk says it’s real, Trump says it’s a hoax. But Trump would probably change his story if Musk offered to pay some of his legal fees or court fines.
Truth Social. As a condition of gaining Musk’s support in the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump’s social media network would have to buy X for $44 billion. That might seem like a lot until you think about how much money a shrewd self-promoter can make by monetizing the American presidency. And it could all start with the Tesla Cybertruck, President Donald J. Trump Limited Edition.
Rick Newman is a senior columnist for Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter at @rickjnewman.
Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance
