Donald Trump is considering giving Elon Musk a White House advisory role if the former president wins the upcoming election.
The pair have discussed ways for Musk, who runs social media platform X, to have influence over key policy issues including border security and the economy.
Musk and Trump connected in March at the estate of billionaire investor Nelson Petz, who was hosting an event at his Palm Beach estate. Barron, Trump’s youngest child, was also in attendance.
Whilst Musk has said he will not donate to either campaign, he has reportedly told Trump he will host gatherings with Petz to “use his clout … to help defeat Biden by galvanising the support of influential allies”, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Musk and Peltz are also understood to be working on a project to combat voter fraud.
Trump campaign spokesperson Brian Hughes told the outlet that only Trump will decide “what role an individual plays in his presidency”.
The pair appeared to have turned a leaf, as a little as two years ago, Musk and Trump exchanged insults with each other.
At a rally in 2022, Trump called Musk “another bulls**t artist”. Meanwhile, the Tesla chief executive posted that the 45th President should “hang up his hat and sail into the sunset”.
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The pair have discussed ways for Musk to have influence over key policy issues including border security and the economy
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However, relations have started to improve and the pair now reportedly speak on the phone with each other a few times a month, discussing topics including technology, the US Space Force, and voter fraud.
Musk also reinstated Trump’s X account when he took charge of the platform. He allegedly also asked Trump, who now only posts on Truth Social, to return to posting on X.
After meeting in March on Peltz’s estate, Trump told CNBC: “I’ve been friendly with him over the years. I helped him when I was president. I helped him. I’ve liked him.”
Musk’s potential role under Trump has not been formalised, with talks not in the advanced stages, according to the WSJ.
Musk’s potential role in the possible Trump administration has not been finalised and talks are still in the early stages
Reuters
However, as the conversations between the two continue, Musk’s swing to the political right becomes more apparent.
The Space X founder said that he voted Republican for the first time at the 2022 midterms. Previously, he voted for Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Biden at the past three presidential elections.
Recently, Musk publicly backed a conspiracy theory that Biden was purposefully “importing” millions of undocumented migrants into the US to skew votes for the Democrats and turn America into “a permanent one-party deep socialist state”.
He also commented under a video about the migrant crisis in New York, stating: “There is either a red wave this November or America is doomed. Imagine four more years of this getting worse.”