The richest man in the world Elon Musk was already one of the most striking figures during the campaign. He threw his full weight behind Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, in word and deed. The Washington Post called him the “human October surprise”.
He also sat next to Trump at Mar-a-Lago on election night. Musk soon let the world share in his victory via X, even before the race was officially decided. “Game, set and match,” he first tweeted. A few hours later, Musk tweeted that America has given Donald Trump a clear mandate. “The future will be fantastic,” he said. Musk also shared a photo of himself talking to Donald Trump, along with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) organizer Dana White.
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It seems the billionaire already sees himself in the White House. With a tricked-out photo of a sink in the Oval Office, he makes the world think about the future. “Let that sink in”, it says in the caption. After Musk bought Twitter, he walked into the office with a sink. He then carried out a major restructuring.
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Trump mentioned Musk in his victory speech. He described how he recently saw SpaceX catch a rocket with mechanical arms. “Was that you, Elon? ‘Yes’. Can Russia do that? ‘No’. Can China do that? ‘No’. That’s why I love you. Elon Musk is a super genius. We must cherish that.”
Deregulation
The boss of Tesla, SpaceX and X (formerly Twitter) has been doing everything he can for several months. He has already pumped more than $118 million into Trump’s campaign. He pushed the limits of what is allowed and went beyond that, with gifts of $47 for people who refer potential voters to the battleground states. He appeared on stage several times with Trump, as if he and not JD Vance is Trump’s running mate.
On X, people read more and more political messages from Musk, including deepfakes from Kamala Harris and disinformation about fraud during the election process.
“If he loses, I’m fuckedMusk said to political commentator Tucker Carlson. The stakes are influence in the White House. Trump has already said that he is one of Musk’s “secretary of cost cutting” want to make. The Tesla boss could decide where the government can downsize, perhaps without officially joining the government. Deregulation becomes his mantra.