Elon Musk has tonight been confirmed by President-Elect Donald Trump as joining his White House cabinet.
Trump tonight announced that the world’s richest man will be collaborating with former presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy in leading the newly formed department of government efficiency.
The incoming President jubilantly claimed the pair “will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies”.
Taking to social media, Trump declared: “A smaller government, with more efficiency and less bureaucracy, will be the perfect gift to America on the 250th Anniversary of The Declaration of Independence. I am confident they will succeed!”
Musk, who had previously endorsed Trump and became a visible supporter during the campaign, is said to have participated in a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy alongside Trump, as per a Ukrainian official with knowledge of the call.
The anonymous official indicated that while Musk was not present for the entire conversation on Wednesday, he did engage with Zelenskyy during the call.
Trump apparently passed his phone to Musk, and the Ukrainian president expressed his gratitude to the SpaceX founder for providing his country with access to the Starlink satellite internet platform.
Over the past year, Musk has emerged as a key ally of the President-Elect, spearheading much of Trump’s ground campaign through his America PAC, to which he has made substantial contributions.
The America PAC is a super political action committee established by Musk, backed by several high-profile tech businessmen, to support Donald Trump‘s 2024 presidential bid. Musk’s involvement in the call underscores his sway within the president-elect’s inner circle, according to TheMirrorUS.
Trump has speculated that Musk could hold an official position in his administration focusing on government efficiency, sparking debates over potential conflicts of interest due to SpaceX’s profitable government contracts.
It comes after Trump said Tuesday that he is nominating Fox News host and Army veteran Pete Hegseth to serve as his defense secretary. Mr Hegseth deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and unsuccessfully ran for Senate in Minnesota in 2012 before joining Fox News.
“With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice — Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down,” Trump said in a statement. “Nobody fights harder for the Troops, and Pete will be a courageous and patriotic champion of our ‘Peace through Strength’ policy.”
Mr Hegseth, 44, is a co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend” and has been a contributor at the network since 2014. He is also the author of “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free.”
“Pete Hegseth has been an exceptional host on FOX & Friends and FOX Nation and a best-selling author for FOX News Books for nearly a decade. His insights and analysis especially about the military resonated deeply with our viewers and made the program the major success that it is today. We are extremely proud of his work at FOX News Media and wish him the best of luck in Washington,” FOX News Media said in a statement.