Donald Trump’s victory in the US elections and the role played by Elon Musk offer the latter a unique opportunity to influence the composition of the presidential administration. The Financial Times talks about which of the billionaire’s businessmen, investors and senior managers friends can come to power.
Author:
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Musk’s influence on American politics continues after the election. According to Axios, last week he participated in a phone conversation between Trump and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. Now new powers await him: Trump promised the billionaire the position of head of the new Department of State Efficiency.
Previously, Musk announced the need to cut the US budget by $2 trillion, lay off hundreds of thousands of civil servants and lift restrictions that slow innovation.
FT sources familiar with the situation say that in his new role, Musk will be able to maintain control over his companies Tesla, X, SpaceX, xAI and Neuralink. At the same time, it will appoint its trusted representatives to government bodies: partners, experts, investors and senior managers.
Among them is the president of The Boring Company. Steve Daviswho Musk turns to when changes to the corporate structure are required. After purchasing Twitter in 2022, Davis joined the social network team. He spent nights at the San Francisco headquarters with his wife and newborn son while leading a “transition team” that ultimately laid off 80% of the workforce.
Since then, Twitter, renamed X, has become Musk’s key tool for spreading pro-Trump news and opinions, and Davis has become part of billionaire America Pac’s lobbying group.
Another ally of Musk, Omid AfsharHe calls himself a “firefighter” on the businessman’s team. He helped manage the construction of the Tesla gigafactory in Texas and participated in the reduction of employees at X and Tesla, where about 14,000 people were laid off in April. “You will find a way to deal with difficult work, even if it seems hopeless. “Elon adores him,” a source who previously worked with Afshar told the FT.
The purchase of Twitter strengthened Musk’s ties with representatives of the financial industry and Silicon Valley. A few days after the agreement, the venture capitalists showed up at the social network’s offices. David Sachs and Jason Calacanis, on whose joint podcast Musk has participated several times. A major Republican donor told the Financial Times that Sachs is a “political fanatic” who could play a role in the new administration.
According to the Financial Times, this can also be stated by the manager of the American hedge fund Pershing Square. Bill Ackmanone of Musk’s most frequent correspondents on the social network X. The interlocutors usually exchange ideas about trade, taxation and immigration policy.
Another candidate from Musk’s inner circle is Jared Birchalla financier who holds senior positions at Boring, xAI and Neuralink. A committed Mormon and former employee of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, he played a major role in the Twitter acquisition, negotiating with the board of directors, lobbying shareholders, and raising funds.
One of Musk’s biggest assets, Tesla, may face problems due to Trump’s distrust of electric vehicles and increased regulatory attention. To influence this, the billionaire will act at the state level, placing trusted people in local governments, a source familiar with the billionaire’s thinking told the Financial Times. According to him, the right candidates are the head of Autopilot development at Tesla. Peter Shevtsov AND Suraj NagarajResponsible for checking the safety of machines.
Musk’s contacts in Silicon Valley are also eager to use their connections to gain a foothold in the Trump administration. Two sources said one of Musk’s public fans, the Palantir co-founder Joe LonsdaleHe took a leadership position at America Pac and regularly interacted with Musk and Trump during the campaign.
Lucky Palm Treeco-founder of the defense startup Anduril, previously said in an interview that he was working with Trump’s transition team, participating in discussions about nominees for defense secretary and would be willing to “rise up to the challenge” if he were offered a position in the administration. .
According to the New York Times, Musk also asked Trump to consider appointing two top SpaceX executives to the Department of Defense. He is a retired general of the United States Air Force. Terrence O’Shaughnessy and Government Relations Specialist Tim Hughes. Potential candidates include SpaceX’s head of government relations. Matthew Dunnadded sources from the Financial Times.
An interlocutor close to Musk pointed out that the billionaire went into politics because “he likes to take risks,” but he does so “with full knowledge of the numbers and probabilities.” “Working with him is a complete nightmare. But the truth is that the government needs more trained and faster people to control autonomous technologies, missiles and artificial intelligence,” the source concluded.
Author:
Elena Likhanova
Source: RB

I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.