Elon Musk’s Potential Benefits from a Trump Presidency

The prospective return of Donald Trump to the White House appears poised to benefit Elon Musk, one of his most prominent advocates. Mr. Musk, identified as the world’s wealthiest individual, was present with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on election night. On the social media platform X, which he owns, Mr. Musk stated, “The people of America gave @realDonaldTrump a crystal clear mandate for change tonight.” During his victory speech, Trump specifically acknowledged Mr. Musk, dedicating several minutes to commend his rocket company, SpaceX. The connection between Mr. Musk and the president-elect additionally led to an increase in the share price of Tesla, his electric vehicle manufacturer, consequently raising his net worth to an estimated $290bn. Mr. Musk publicly endorsed the Republican candidate shortly after the assassination attempt targeting Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July. While he had previously characterized himself as “politically moderate,” he indicated during the period leading up to the 2024 Presidential Election that he perceived no alternative but to back Trump as the Republican nominee. He has often expressed apprehension regarding the Biden administration’s policies on immigration and the economy, asserting that free speech would be jeopardized under another Democratic presidency. As a significant supporter of the president-elect, the technology billionaire contributed over $119m (£92m) to a Super PAC established to facilitate Trump’s re-election. Furthermore, in the weeks preceding election day, he organized a get-out-the-vote campaign in key battleground states, featuring a daily $1m giveaway to voters in those regions. This giveaway faced a legal challenge, but a judge subsequently permitted it to proceed. Having committed his name, financial resources, and platform to Trump, Mr. Musk stands to gain considerably from Trump’s re-election. The president-elect has stated that, should he serve a second term, he would invite Mr. Musk to join his administration with the objective of eliminating government inefficiencies. Mr. Musk has dubbed this prospective initiative the “Department of Government Efficiency,” or DOGE, a term derived from a meme and cryptocurrency he has helped popularize. The entrepreneur could additionally derive advantages from Trump’s presidency via his ownership of SpaceX, a company that already holds a dominant position in launching government satellites into space. With a strong ally in the White House, Mr. Musk might aim to further leverage these existing government connections. Mr. Musk has expressed criticism of competitors such as Boeing regarding the framework of their government contracts, which he contends discourage the timely and on-budget completion of projects. SpaceX has also expanded into the construction of spy satellites, coinciding with indications that the Pentagon and U.S. intelligence agencies are prepared to invest billions of dollars in such systems. Concurrently, Tesla could experience benefits from an administration that Trump has indicated would be characterized by “the lowest regulatory burden.” Tesla’s share price surged by over 12% on Wednesday subsequent to the announcement of Trump’s victory. Only last month, the U.S. agency responsible for overseeing road safety disclosed that it was investigating Tesla’s self-driving software systems. Mr. Musk has also faced scrutiny for purportedly attempting to prevent Tesla employees from unionizing. The United Auto Workers lodged unfair labor practice charges against both Trump and Musk following a discussion on X where they spoke about Musk allegedly dismissing striking workers. Trump has additionally committed to reducing taxes for corporations and affluent individuals. This represents another commitment Mr. Musk is presumably hoping will be fulfilled. Anthony Zurcher, North America correspondent, analyzes the presidential race in his bi-weekly US Election Unspun newsletter. UK readers can subscribe via this link, while those outside the UK can subscribe via this link. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC disclaims responsibility for the content of external websites. Information regarding our external linking policy is available here.