In 2008, Elon Musk was known as a billionaire and the CEO of Tesla. He identified politically as Independent and was a leading voice in the talk of lessening carbon emissions with electric cars and other mediums. By May of 2022, he was no longer an Independent, stating on X, “[Democrats] have become the party of division and hate, so I can no longer support them and will vote Republican.” He continued to buy shares of different companies, such as X, formally known as Twitter, becoming its CEO in late October of 2022. In taking on this role he reversed the decision the former administrators made in blocking President Donald Trump from posting on the platform. A few years later Musk decided to donate millions of dollars every month to America PAC, a Super PAC, that supported Trump, despite stating X was not going to support either presidential candidate.
A month later in August of 2024, Musk hosted a discussion with Trump on X and suggested that Trump make a commission on government effectiveness and appoint him as its leader. Both showed lasting verbal and monetary support for the other. Notably, after Trump’s assassination attempt, Musk shared the stage with Trump at his rally in Butler, PA and Trump later went to a SpaceX rocket launch. Trump later won the election and Musk was invited to attend the Inauguration. At the event, Musk walked across the stage and gestured twice to the audience with what many people considered to be a Nazi salute.
Trump and Musk’s connection only grew stronger when Trump created the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and appointed Musk as the leader. DOGE is tasked with cutting federal spending to lessen the United State government’s debt. Currently under DOGE, the Department of Education, Department of Justice, Department of Labor, Social Security Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of State and National Institutes of Health, and more, have suffered losses and thousands of federal employees have been fired. Musk has been encouraged by Trump and others in the Republican party to continue his work. Musk reposted a post by @DogeDesigner on March 5 that stated, “Breaking: President Trump thanked Elon Musk for his contributions to DOGE. The crowd erupted in cheers as the President introduced him. In Trump’s words, ‘Thank you Elon. He is working very hard. He didn’t need this. We appreciate it.’”
Currently, Musk’s ultimate plan with DOGE is unknown. However, his rise to political power has not gone unnoticed by the American people. Questions have been raised by both the public and government representatives as to how Musk, a non-elected official with little political experience, has had great influence on the United State’s government. While he’s already garnered a considerable amount of executive power, people are concerned that his presence in American politics will continue growing.
