Behind the Curtain: The Trump, Musk fusion
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President-elect Trump and Elon Musk, two billionaires with strikingly similar DNAs, are fusing into a new, powerful governing-media paradigm.
Why it matters: This Trump-Musk fusion seems to grow stronger by the day. The two are working together to shape the new White House, the new Senate and the new Cabinet, plus future foreign relations and governing blueprints.
The pair plots and plans at Trump's Mar-a-Lago, where Musk is often camped out. He's one of only a couple of confidants who attends Cabinet-selection sessions in Trump's makeshift Situation Room. The two amplify their thinking and desires on Musk's X.
- You saw this with Trump demanding on X that Senate Republicans allow recess appointments for his cabinet picks, Musk quickly amplifying it — and all three candidates for majority leader quickly falling in line.
Behind the scenes: Musk, rocking an "OCCUPY MARS" T-shirt, loves to think out loud as he drops innovative — sometimes quirky — ideas for rewiring the federal government.
- Musk thinks differently and is bringing fresh eyes and his unique brain to government structures and systems that can be 70+ years old.
- We hear Trump drinks it in, debating and stress-testing the torrent of ideas from Musk, whose instinct is to start with a blank sheet of paper when determining government staffing.
"I'm happy to be first buddy!" Musk tweeted after a reporter gave him that nickname.
- Kai Trump — Trump's 17-year-old granddaughter, a talented golfer with a big online following — tweeted a photo with Musk at one of Trump's golf clubs on Sunday: "Elon achieving uncle status."
The big picture: Some of Musk's free-flowing ideas for government are impractical. But some of them are sure to be tried, Trump advisers tell us.
- We're told Trump is clear-eyed that Musk's companies, including Tesla and SpaceX, benefit from federal incentives and contracts — and could reap a windfall from deregulatory moves by Trump. Plus Musk is trying to maximize the value of his X purchase.
- It's unclear if, or how much, Trump cares about this conflict of interest. And Trump has his own platform, Truth Social, home to most of his social media posts.
Musk, who threw himself into the presidential campaign this past year, has his hands in several Trump projects:
- He's helping pick the Cabinet and top White House staff.
- Trump handed Musk the phone during a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week. Musk is expected to attend Trump's meeting at Mar-a-Lago this week with Argentina's libertarian President Javier Milei.
- Musk is working on a project that would sit outside the official government to use technology to find trillions in possible budget cuts — his so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE, in homage to the Musk-friendly cryptocurrency).
- He's mobilizing his 204 million followers on his X platform to try to elect dark-horse Senate majority leader candidate Rick Scott, a staunch MAGA ally, in Wednesday's secret ballot election.
The backstory: Musk visited Trump Tower and the White House back in 2017, at the dawn of the first Trump presidency. But they fully embraced each other in the final months of this past campaign, forming a political alliance unlike any of the modern era.
- Musk poured more than $119 million into a super PAC backing Trump.
- Top Republicans tell us Musk made a real difference in Pennsylvania by revving up turnout at a time when the campaign thought the Keystone State might determine who won the presidency.
- Musk amped up swing-state registration with his controversial $1 million-a-day sweepstakes. He headlined his own rallies — and we're told he was greeted so effusively that they seemed like Trump rallies.
Between the lines: The 78-year-old Trump and 53-year-old Musk might seem like an odd couple at first blush. But, they have striking similarities, according to Republicans close to both men.
- Both have insatiable ambition and have been huge risk-takers.
- Both understand the power — and tricks — of social media.
- Both had tough, dominating dads.
- Both are rich and have their tentacles in numerous businesses.
- Both revel in stirring the pot — and spreading fact and fiction at scale.
- Both lack the empathy that holds others back.
- Both believe the country and government need a massive shock to be saved.
- Both view themselves as immune to rules and norms that hold other people back.
What to watch: The joke among some Trump officials is that neither man enjoys sharing the stage or power or acclaim — so the bromance could easily go sideways.
