Elon Musk and Donald Trump seem besotted. Where is their bromance headed?
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. During his victory speech on election night, Donald Trump touched on most of the standard topics for such occasions. He thanked his supporters and his staff.
He praised his wife and children. He pledged to keep faith with voters. But mostly, he talked about Elon Musk.
Fully 17% of his remarks—as much time as he spent sketching out his plans for his presidency—were devoted to the “super-genius" who had taken a break from managing his various businesses to help Mr Trump’s campaign. He banged on about Mr Musk’s generosity, his efficiency and, most of all, the technological prowess of his firms: “That’s why I love you, Elon." Mr Musk, the world’s richest man, and Mr Trump, soon to be the world’s most powerful, are in the throes of a heady bromance. The pair have been inseparable since the election, with Mr Musk accompanying Mr Trump to Washington to meet Republicans in Congress and Mr Trump heading to Texas with Mr Musk to watch a test flight of a rocket built by SpaceX, one of Mr Musk’s firms.
Mr Musk, who styles himself “the first buddy", appears to be involved in every element of the presidential transition. He is sitting in on interviews with prospective nominees to the cabinet. He has himself been named as the co-head of a new “Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE), which is supposed to slash both red tape and wasteful spending.
He has joined Mr Trump’s calls with world leaders, such as Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine. He has also conducted freelance diplomacy on his own, meeting Iran’s ambassador to the un, according to the New York Times. The hope that Mr Musk may bring a little business nous and technical wizardry to the Trump administration is alluring.
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