Having thrown his name, money and platform behind Trump, Musk has a lot to gain from Trump’s re-election.
The president-elect has said that in a second term he would invite Musk into his administration to eliminate government waste.
Musk has referred to the potential effort as the “Department of Government Efficiency,” or DOGE, the name of a meme and cryptocurrency he has popularized.
The businessman could also benefit from Trump’s presidency through his ownership of SpaceX, which already dominates the business of sending government satellites into space.
With a close ally in the White House, Musk could seek to further leverage those government ties.
Mr. Musk has criticized rivals including Boeing for the structure of their government contracts, which he says discourages finishing projects on budget and on time.
SpaceX has also moved into building spy satellites just like the Pentagon and US spy agencies seem ready to invest billions of dollars in them.
Musk’s electric vehicle maker Tesla, meanwhile, could reap benefits from an administration that Trump has said would be defined by “the lowest regulatory burden.”
Just last month, the US agency responsible for regulating road safety revealed that it was investigating Tesla’s self-driving software system.
Mr. Musk has also come under fire for allegedly trying to block Tesla workers from unionizing. The United Auto Workers filed charges against both Trump and Musk after the two talked about Musk allegedly firing striking workers during a call at X.
Trump has also promised to cut taxes on corporations and the wealthy.
That’s another promise Musk probably hopes he’ll keep.
