Welcome Elon Musk, the shadow president-elect of the United States

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Leading members of the US political and economic establishment are either ecstatic or nervous about Donald Trump’s second term, depending on their respective world-views. Many imponderables cloud the horizon, given some of the unknown quantities in the Trump cabinet or the difficulty in predicting the gap between pre-poll rhetoric and actual policy roll-out.

One such X-factor (pun unintended) is Elon Musk. The businessman has been a vocal Trump supporter and now sits at the centre of Trump’s policy universe. There is intense speculation over Musk’s new role, as well as attempts to understand the man, his psyche and its likely impact on the incoming administration.

There are multiple ways to skin this, just like the proverbial cat. The first persona is one with an official role. Officially, he has been designated as co-head of the department of government efficiency (DOGE), a new ministry designed to trim federal flab.

Musk will share responsibilities with Vivek Ramaswamy, whose survival instincts, after his failed presidency bid, drove him into Trump’s arms. A fog blankets DOGE’s exact role; in a co-authored article for Wall Street Journal, Musk and Ramaswamy wrote: “The two of us will advise DOGE at every step to pursue three major kinds of reform: regulatory rescissions, administrative reductions and cost savings." His second identity revolves around his actual vocation: tech entrepreneurship with large investments spread across social media, space, artificial intelligence and electric vehicles. This part of Musk’s character has given rise to guesswork on whether he will be able to maintain a distance between his government role and his businesses, or he will use one to further the