How much power will Elon Musk attain in the coming Donald Trump administration

How much power will Elon Musk assert in the coming Trump administration

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Elon Musk played an active role during the 2024 U.S. elections, openly endorsing Donald Trump's presidential campaign. Musk contributed $75 million to Trump's Political Action Committee, which was dedicated to securing his return to the White House. He also hosted a live session on X-Space (formerly Twitter) with Trump and made appearances at several of his campaign rallies.

Musk's prominent support led Tim Walz, Kamala Harris' partner, to jokingly call him Trump's "running mate," although the official position belongs to JD Vance. Despite his visible involvement, there’s no evidence that Musk has been offered a formal role in the administration. His efforts appeared more focused on bolstering Trump's campaign rather than pursuing a political position himself.

However, both Musk and Trump are known for their commanding egos and need for the limelight, which could make their relationship in a Trump administration unpredictable. While Musk has a history of working with different governments to advance his business ventures, his candid and often polarizing approach might conflict with Trump's preference for unopposed authority. If their goals or personalities clash, their partnership could falter under the weight of their competitive natures. Musk's influence in a Trump administration would likely hinge on his ability to capitalize on opportunities in key areas like technology, space, and energy. Yet, with both figures being unpredictable, any collaboration between them could prove as unstable as it is potentially significant.
 
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He already is.

Elon Musk today has already replaced mainstream media (whom he and his friends are calling legacy media) with X through which it can be said that he flipped the entire US election on its head in Trump’s favour.

Elon when he was asked about being the richest man in the world and how great it feels replied something like you’re not rich enough until you can form a legion to follow you to battles and he have Putin’s example.

Political Power is the ultimate flex and he’s gone all in in getting Trump back and the way he’s conducting himself talking on behalf of the US government at times with all those department of government efficiency gimmick shows he’s bought Trump.
 
If Trump can become the president, Elon Musk can too.

Trump didn't have any political background and yet he won.
 
Why not. Musk can definitely be the one soon. He has gained a huge fan following since he backed trump.
 

Musk flexes influence over Congress in shutdown drama​


A funny thing happened on the way to a bipartisan agreement to fund US government operations and avoid a partial shutdown this week.

Conservatives in Congress – encouraged by tech multi-billionaire Elon Musk – balked.

Republicans tried to regroup on Thursday afternoon, offering a new, slimmed-down package to fund the government. That vote failed, as 38 Republicans joined most Democrats in voting no.

All this political drama provides just a taste of the chaos and unpredictability that could be in store under unified Republican rule in Washington next year.

The man at the centre of this week's drama holds no official government title or role. What Elon Musk does have, however, is hundreds of billions of dollars, a social media megaphone and the ear not just of the president of the United States but also rank-and-file conservatives in Congress.

On Wednesday morning, the tech tycoon took to X, which he purchased for $44bn two years ago, to disparage a compromise that Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson had struck with Democrats to temporarily fund US government operations until mid-March.

As the number of his posts about the proposed agreement stretched into triple digits, at times amplifying factually inaccurate allegations made by conservative commentators, opposition to the legislation in Congress grew.

And by Wednesday evening, Donald Trump – perhaps sensing that he needed to get in front of the growing conservative uprising - publicly stated that he, too, opposed the government funding bill.

He said it contained wasteful spending and Democratic priorities, while also demanding that Congress take the politically sensitive step of raising – or even doing away with - the legal cap on newly issued American debt that the US would reach sometime next summer.

Support for the stopgap spending bill then collapsed, forcing Johnson and his leadership team to scramble to find an alternative path forward. As they did, Musk celebrated, proclaiming that "the voice of the people has triumphed".

It may be more accurate, however, to say that it was Musk's voice that triumphed.

On Thursday afternoon, Republicans unveiled a new proposal that suspended the debt limit for the first two years of Trump's second term, funded the government until March and included some disaster relief and other measures included in the original funding package.

But Musk's involvement may not land well with some legislators. Democrats in the chamber joked about "President Musk", while even a few Republicans publicly grumbled.

"Who?" Pennsylvania Republican Glenn Thompson responded when asked about Musk. "I don't see him in the chamber."

Musk may have been the instigator, but this latest congressional funding crisis reveals what has been – and is likely to continue to be – an ongoing challenge for the narrow Republican majority in the House of Representatives.

For two years, Republicans in the chamber have grappled with keeping a united front amidst a party populated, at least in part, by politicians with an active contempt for the government they help to run.

Internal divisions delayed Kevin McCarthy's election as speaker of the House in January 2022 and led to his removal – a first in American history – the following year. Johnson ultimately replaced him, but only after weeks of leaderless limbo.

Some Republicans had hoped that with Trump's election, members of their majority, which will become even slimmer when the new Congress is sworn in next month, would be more willing to march in lockstep to support the new president's agenda. And some are.

"I think President Trump pretty much laid out the plan, so I don't know what the discussions are about," Florida Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna told reporters after internal Republican meetings on Thursday afternoon.

What this week has revealed, however, is that the president-elect may not always offer the legislature the clear, consistent direction it requires.

His insistence on raising the debt limit, for instance, caught many in his own party by surprise. And outside influences, such as from Musk or others, could inject extra instability into the process.

If Republicans aren't able to reach near unanimity in the House, they will have to find ways to win over Democrats if they want to achieve any kind of legislative success. And what this week showed (once again) is that the kind of political compromises necessary could prompt a greater number of Republican defections.

Trump's party will be challenged to effectively govern on its own – but it also may not be able to tolerate governing with the help of Democrats.

If there is no political equilibrium in the chamber, it would put Trump's more ambitious legislative priorities at risk before he even takes office.

Republicans may yet find a way to avoid a lengthy government shutdown through a temporary budget resolution, even though the first round of pressure from Trump resulted in an embarrassing failure to win enough support within his own party.

For Johnson, however, the damage may have already been done. His authority over House Republicans has been undercut – first by Musk and then by Trump - just a few weeks before he stands for re-election as speaker of the House.

Already one Republican, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, has said he will not support Johnson's re-election. Others, including members of Johnson's own leadership team, have been noncommittal. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the firebrand Georgia congresswoman who unsuccessfully pushed to remove Johnson in May, suggested Musk become speaker.

Meanwhile, Trump – the one man who could throw Johnson a lifeline – has been equivocal, telling Fox News that Johnson could "easily" remain speaker if he "acts decisively and tough".

Decisiveness may not be enough, however, when every direction for the speaker appears to lead to a dead end.

 

Trump said to see Elon Musk as useful activist after spending deal showdown​


Donald Trump’s relationship with Elon Musk is showing no signs of fraying, even after at times he appeared to eclipse the president-elect’s influence as he bullied House Republicans into paring down their bipartisan spending deal to avert a government shutdown with just hours to spare.

The move by Musk to detonate the political equivalent of a nuclear bomb – by demanding that Republicans sink the deal or face a primary challenge – was viewed as a test run of the kind of role Musk might play to pressure Congress once Trump takes office, people familiar with the matter said.

Behind the scenes, even though Trump did not get his own demand for Republicans to raise the debt ceiling, the president-elect suggested Musk’s performance showed he could be a useful catalyst of activity once he takes office and leads the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency”.

The consensus view at Mar-a-Lago was that Musk proved an effective cudgel to pressure Congress and a scapegoat for any backlash, the people said.

It appears to mark a shift in approach for Trump and could suggest he has become more savvy about the political process since his first presidency, when he routinely ran into legislative and optics hurdles as he pursued his agenda.

In 2018, Trump said he would be proud to shut down the federal government if he could not reach a deal with Democrats to include the funding that he wanted for his proposed wall along the US southern border.

“I’ll be the one to shut it down,” Trump boasted to reporters at the time, to the bemusement of then House speaker Nancy Pelosi and then Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer. “I will take the mantle. And I will shut it down for border security.”

The partial government shutdown that followed was the longest in US history, and Trump was caught off guard by the negative public reaction directed at him and his gambit, according to a former Trump White House official. Trump later backtracked on his border-wall funding demand.

This time around, Trump did not publicly back a shutdown himself, even if he privately remarked to aides that he did not mind if it occurred because it would technically happen on Joe Biden’s watch, the people said.

Instead, he left it largely to Musk to make the threat and receive the criticism, before House Speaker Mike Johnson put forward a narrower spending package that Democrats agreed to support just hours before the government was set to shut down.

But although House Democrats mocked Trump as acting like the vice-president with Musk as the president, in an attempt to get under his skin, the extended honeymoon between the two men has continued – in another notable shift for Trump, whose political alliances often lack for longevity.

In Trump’s first term, Trump parted ways with his chief strategist Steve Bannon after he was depicted in the media as the puppeteer of the Oval Office. (One Saturday Night Live skit featured Bannon as the grim reaper standing behind Trump and calling shots in the White House).

The same has not been true for Musk, the people said, mainly because the dynamics are different: as the world’s richest man, Musk has commanded special status with Trump, who has separately liked the idea of having him as his attack dog, while Bannon was always seen as a staffer.

Still, many House Republicans have been left deeply frustrated by what they see as Musk meddling in congressional affairs. Musk was not elected to any office and also bought his way into Trump’s orbit by spending roughly $250m to boost his presidential campaign.

Multiple members complained bitterly about Musk’s influence over them as they found themselves glued to his X account between spending-deal meetings in an acknowledgement that Musk’s willingness to drop colossal amounts of cash made his threats of primary challenges a legitimate concern.

 

Musk 'misinformed' on grooming gangs, says Streeting​


Elon Musk's attack on the government's handling of grooming gangs is "misjudged and certainly misinformed", Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said.

Tech multi-billionaire Musk has posted a series of messages on his social media site X, accusing Sir Keir Starmer of failing to prosecute gangs that systematically groomed and raped young girls, and calling for safeguarding minister Jess Phillips to be jailed.

Asked about his comments, Streeting said "this government takes the issue of child sexual exploitation incredibly seriously".

He invited Musk to "roll up his sleeves and work with us" against rape gangs.

The Tories have also criticised Musk for "sharing things that are factually inaccurate".

While visiting a care home in Carlisle on Friday, Streeting said Labour was getting "on with the job" of implementing the recommendations of the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse led by Professor Alexis Jay "in full".

He told reporters: "Some of the criticisms Elon Musk has made I think are misjudged and certainly misinformed.

"But we're willing to work with Elon Musk who I think has got a big role to play with his social media platform to help us and other countries tackle these serious issues.

"If he wants to work with us and roll his sleeves up, we'd welcome that."

Musk, a key adviser to US President-elect Donald Trump, has accused Sir Keir of failing to properly prosecute rape gangs while director of public prosecutions (DPP), and has repeatedly retweeted Reform UK and Conservative MPs calling for a national inquiry.

He also suggested safeguarding minister Jess Phillips "deserves to be in prison" after she rejected a request for the Home Office to order a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham. She said the council should commission a local inquiry instead, as happened in Rotherham and Telford.

The decision was criticised by several senior Tories, despite the previous Conservative government turning down a similar request in 2022.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has called for a full national public inquiry into what she called the UK's "rape gangs scandal".

But the party has also criticised Musk for "sharing things that are factually inaccurate" and distanced itself from his call for Phillips to be jailed.

Alicia Kearns – who shadows Phillips as the Conservative spokesperson on safeguarding – told BBC Radio 5 Live Musk had "fallen prone" to sharing things on his X platform "without critically assessing them".

She accused Musk of "drawing away attention from the survivors and from the victims" of rape gangs, and "lionising people like [far-right activist] Tommy Robinson - which is frankly dangerous".

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has told the BBC that Musk, the world's richest man, is in talks about making a donation to the party. The two men met at Trump's Florida retreat last month.

Jay inquiry​

There have been numerous investigations into the systematic rape of girls and young women by organised gangs, including in Rotherham, Cornwall, Derbyshire and Bristol.

Inquiries into Greater Manchester Police's handling of historical child sex abuse cases in Manchester, Oldham and Rochdale have also been carried out.

Earlier on Friday, health minister Andrew Gwynne suggested Musk "ought to focus" on US politics, where he is set to act as an unelected adviser to the Trump administration on cutting federal spending.

Speaking to LBC Radio, Gwynne added that child grooming was a "very serious issue", pointing to previous investigations which had taken place into sexual abuse scandals.

"There comes a point where we don't need more inquiries, and had Elon Musk really paid attention to what's been going on in this country, he might have recognised that there have already been inquiries," he said.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse (IICSA), which published its final report in 2022, described the sexual abuse of children as an "epidemic that leaves tens of thousands of victims in its poisonous wake".

It knitted several previous inquiries together alongside its own investigations.

Professor Jay said in November she felt "frustrated" that none of her report's 20 recommendations to tackle abuse had been implemented more than two years later.

She said: "It's a difficult subject matter, but it is essential that there's some public understanding of it.

"But we can only do what we can to press the government to look at the delivery of all of this.

"It doesn't need more consultation, it does not need more research or discussion, it just needs to be done."

 
One thing I do not like about Musk is that he is becoming too political. While it is his choice, he is too important to waste his time on stuff going around the world. I wish he focusses 100% his energy on Tech that changes the future of humanity.
 
Musk and Kanye West being spoken about as being Presidents of the US is like Salman Khan or Sreesanth being likely PM of India.

Not that Narendra is much better, mind.
 

Musk's grooming gangs attack on Phillips 'disgraceful smear'​


Elon Musk's attack on Jess Phillips over grooming gangs is a "disgraceful smear", Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said.

Tech multi-billionaire Musk posted messages on his social media site X saying the safeguarding minister should be jailed and calling her a "rape genocide apologist", as well as criticising Sir Keir Starmer for failing to prosecute gangs.

It came after Phillips rejected a request for the government to lead a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham - which sparked calls from the Conservatives and Reform UK for a national inquiry into grooming gangs.

Streeting told the BBC Musk's comments were "ill-judged" as Phillips had "done more than most people ever do" to fight sexual abuse.

On Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Streeting said: "It is a disgraceful smear of a great woman who has spent her life supporting victims of the kind of violence that Elon Musk and others say that they're against.

"It's all very easy to sit there and fire off something in haste and click send when people like Keir Starmer and Jess Phillips have done the hard yards of actually locking up wife beaters, rapists and paedophiles."

Musk's latest intervention came after Phillips instructed Oldham Council in October to launch its own local inquiry into historic child sexual abuse in the town, similar to inquiries set up in Rochdale and Telford.

Musk said that she "deserves to be in prison" for her response.

The decision was also criticised by several senior Tories, despite the previous Conservative government turning down a similar request in 2022.

Musk, a key adviser to US President-elect Donald Trump, also suggested Sir Keir had failed to properly prosecute rape gangs while director of public prosecutions (DPP), and has repeatedly retweeted Reform UK and Conservative MPs calling for a national inquiry.

Streeting's comments came after Reform UK leader Nigel Farage defended Musk after he attacked the UK government's response to grooming gangs.

Speaking on the same programme, Farage said Musk had used "very tough terms" but that "free speech was back" on X under his ownership.

He said the public is "absolutely right to be" angry about grooming gangs and to ask why there had not been a full public inquiry.

Streeting challenged Musk to "roll up his sleeves" and help tackle violence against women on online platforms.

"Online platforms have got a role to play in keeping people safe online, helping law enforcement on perpetrators of violence against women and people who want to groom kids online."

The health secretary said Sir Keir and Phillips both had "records that their critics can't even begin to touch".

While director of public prosecutions, Sir Keir introduced a special prosecutor for child abuse and sexual exploitation to oversee convictions against grooming gangs.

Starmer also changed the Crown Prosecution Service guidance to encourage police to investigate suspects in complex sexual abuse cases and court reforms aimed at making the process less traumatic for victims.

"As director of prosecutions, Keir Starmer opened up historic cases, going after people who thought they had got away with it," Streeting said.

"As for Jess Phillips, the work that she has done in her professional life outside politics, supporting victims of violence against women and girls, she has helped support them to get their day in in court and lock up their abusers" he added.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has called for a full national public inquiry into what she called the UK's "rape gangs scandal".

But the party has also criticised Musk for "sharing things that are factually inaccurate" and distanced itself from his call for Phillips to be jailed.

Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp criticised Musk's comments on Phillips as "not appropriate" but argued he was "right to be raising the general issue".

Speaking on the same programme, Philp said politicians have an "obligation" to speak about difficult issues in a calm manner "but they also have an obligation to tell the truth" on these matters.

Oldham abuse inquiry​

In a letter seen by the BBC, Phillips and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper wrote to the Conservatives setting out why they had asked Oldham Council to set up its own inquiry, rather than grant its request for a government-led one.

The letter pointed out the local authority had already started setting up its own inquiry, and added victims have said "loud and clear" they want action.

They said they supported an independent review commissioned by Mayor Andy Burnham, which covered historic abuse in Oldham and led to a new police investigation, as well as other child protection work across Greater Manchester.

The letter highlighted the work of the Child Sexual Abuse Inquiry which published its final findings in 2022. It made clear "abuse must be pursued and challenged everywhere with no fear or favour" - whether in care homes, churches, homes or by grooming gangs.

Professor Alexis Jay, who led that inquiry, said in November she felt "frustrated" that none of its 20 recommendations to tackle abuse had been implemented more than two years later.

There have been several investigations into grooming gangs in various parts of England, including Rotherham, Bristol, Cornwall and Derbyshire.

An inquiry into abuse in Rotherham found 1,400 children had been sexually abused over a 16-year period, predominantly by British Pakistani men.

An investigation in Telford found that up to 1,000 had been abused over 40 years - and that some cases had not been investigated because of "nervousness about race".

 
If Trump can become the president, Elon Musk can too.

Trump didn't have any political background and yet he won.

If Trump could become US president, then he could too.
Trump is another joker to keep the masses busy and divided. Trump is President because he is part of the deep state, backed by the bankers. You do not become President of the USA if you do not listen.
 
Musk is a naturalized citizen. Not eligible.

But he has every chance to be politically very powerful.

Look how he is calling out UK politicians. There's nothing the UK government can do. Because moving against Musk will mean moving against Trump.

Musk has far more resources than Soros. He can influence things like no one else did before.
 
Musk is a naturalized citizen. Not eligible.

But he has every chance to be politically very powerful.

Look how he is calling out UK politicians. There's nothing the UK government can do. Because moving against Musk will mean moving against Trump.

Musk has far more resources than Soros. He can influence things like no one else did before.
the general level of respect for British politicians has been on a downward spiral for twenty years now. anyone can call out british politicians, its common place in the UK for politicians to be called out. The only difference is musk has a platform which gives him a louder voice.

the emergence of reform and the falling of the mainstream parties was an issue long before musk jumped on the bandwagon. hes gonna be a huge financial boon to farage, but farage also knows musk cant be trusted so is likely to be worried about associating too closely with him.
 

Norway PM says worried by Elon Musk involvement in domestic politics outside of US​


Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said on Monday that he found it worrying that billionaire Elon Musk was involving himself in the political issues of countries outside of the United States.

Musk, a close ally of US President-elect Donald Trump, last month endorsed a German anti-immigration, anti-Islamic political party ahead of that country’s national elections in February, and recently made remarks on British politics.

“I find it worrying that a man with enormous access to social media and huge economic resources involves himself so directly in the internal affairs of other countries,” Stoere told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK.

“This is not the way things should be between democracies and allies,” he added.

If Musk were to involve himself in Norwegian politics, the country’s politicians should collectively distance themselves from such efforts, Stoere said.

Musk, the world’s richest person, spent more than $250 million to help Trump get elected and has been tasked by Trump to prune the federal budget as a special adviser.

The German government last week accused Musk, who owns social media platform X and is CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, of trying to influence Germany’s upcoming election with a guest opinion piece for the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck said Musk’s support for Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) was a “logical and systematic” play by the billionaire for a weak Europe that will not be able to regulate as strongly.

 

Norway PM says worried by Elon Musk involvement in domestic politics outside of US​


Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said on Monday that he found it worrying that billionaire Elon Musk was involving himself in the political issues of countries outside of the United States.

Musk, a close ally of US President-elect Donald Trump, last month endorsed a German anti-immigration, anti-Islamic political party ahead of that country’s national elections in February, and recently made remarks on British politics.

“I find it worrying that a man with enormous access to social media and huge economic resources involves himself so directly in the internal affairs of other countries,” Stoere told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK.

“This is not the way things should be between democracies and allies,” he added.

If Musk were to involve himself in Norwegian politics, the country’s politicians should collectively distance themselves from such efforts, Stoere said.

Musk, the world’s richest person, spent more than $250 million to help Trump get elected and has been tasked by Trump to prune the federal budget as a special adviser.

The German government last week accused Musk, who owns social media platform X and is CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, of trying to influence Germany’s upcoming election with a guest opinion piece for the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck said Musk’s support for Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) was a “logical and systematic” play by the billionaire for a weak Europe that will not be able to regulate as strongly.


All this is forgotten when German or Norwegian or western owned media interferes in elections of other countries.
 
Musk is fast becoming a issue for Trump. The Money behind Trumps election Triumph is power hungry. This could get ugly.
=====

Musk has attached himself to Trump - now he risks becoming his ball and chain
Bets are already being laid in Washington about the number of weeks or months it will take for the power couple’s bromance to whither

As the UK government and now even Nigel Farage are convulsed by questions about how to handle the vicious, daily, and sometimes hourly attacks unleashed by Elon Musk, a similar question may soon be engulfing president-elect Donald Trump’s own administration.

Consider the position of Senator Marco Rubio. Within weeks, he is likely to become America’s next Secretary of State, succeeding Antony Blinken atop America’s foreign policy org chart. Shortly thereafter, he may choose to travel to Europe, making the predictable stops at Number 10, the Elysées Palace, and the German Chancellery.

Moments before he steps across Europe’s thresholds of power, as things currently stand he would be sensible to check his phone, just in case the richest man in the world has suddenly pulled the rug out from under him.
 
Pakistanis and UK news agencies hating Trump.

He called out people over the grooming scandal, do bound to happen.
 
Those claiming he will become a US president have absolutely zero clue about the constitutional laws of the US.

You cannot become President unless you are born here. I don't see such a massive constitutional change happening. He can be the de facto president if he has silly putty like poppet in place, that's quite possible. But not the official president.
 
Pakistanis and UK news agencies hating Trump.

He called out people over the grooming scandal, do bound to happen.

Pakistanis should have no issues with Trump calling out the grooming scandal, since he really doesn't give a crap about it, this is just an attempt to grab the low hanging fruit when it comes to getting the popular vote.

The UK media on the other hand is right to be wary. He is only bothered about the US, his policies would probably be bad for Europe in general.
 
Pakistanis should have no issues with Trump calling out the grooming scandal, since he really doesn't give a crap about it, this is just an attempt to grab the low hanging fruit when it comes to getting the popular vote.

The UK media on the other hand is right to be wary. He is only bothered about the US, his policies would probably be bad for Europe in general.

BBC regularly publishes hit jobs on governments of different countries, including India.

UK allows Khalistanis to protest outside Indian HC. Allow them to hold referendums.

Farmer protests were discussed in the UK parliament.

It seems UK government cannot take what it dishes out. They seem to think they have the right to poke their nose everywhere. When others do it, its interference.

UK media needs to understand, this isn't 1925.
 
The most power Musk might have is a cabinet position IMO. He cannot he US president according to US law I believe (correct me if I am wrong)
 
Chinese vice president meets with Elon Musk ahead of inauguration

Chinese Vice President Han Zheng met with Tesla CEO Elon Musk and other members of the U.S. business community in Washington, the Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry said.

Han "welcomed Tesla and other U.S. companies to seize opportunities and share the fruits of China's development while contributing to the advancement of China-U.S. economic and trade relations," the ministry said in a statement.

Musk's extensive business interests in China — including EV maker Tesla, whose biggest production base is in Shanghai — have raised hopes that he could have a moderating effect on Trump, who has vowed to impose tariffs of 60% or more on all imports of Chinese goods, threatening trade between the world's two largest economies.

Chinese vice president meets with Elon Musk ahead of inauguration, continued
Earlier in the day, Han also met with Vice President-elect JD Vance, according to the Trump transition team.

Han is the first senior Chinese official to attend a U.S. presidential inauguration, attending as a “special representative” for President Xi Jinping, who was invited to the event in a highly unusual move.

NBC News
 
Trump is here now, OFFICIALLY

Elon must be the happiest man alive in USA.

What changes can we expect now from MUSK???
 
Musk responds after backlash over gesture at Trump rally

Elon Musk has caused outrage over a one-armed gesture he gave during a speech celebrating the inauguration of Donald Trump.

Musk thanked the crowd for "making it happen", before placing his right hand over his heart and then thrusting the same arm out into air straight ahead of him. He then turned and repeated the action for those sitting behind him.

Many on X, the social medial platform he owns, have likened the gesture to a Nazi salute.

In response, Musk posted on X: "Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The 'everyone is Hitler' attack is sooo tired."

Musk, the world's richest man and a close ally of President Trump, was speaking at the Capital One Arena in Washington DC when he made the gesture.

"My heart goes out to you. It is thanks to you that the future of civilisation is assured," he said, after giving the second one-armed salute.

There was immediate backlash on social media.

Claire Aubin, a historian who specializes in Nazism within the United States, said Musk's gesture was a "sieg heil", or Nazi salute.

"My professional opinion is that you're all right, you should believe your eyes," she posted on X, in reference to those who believed the gesture to be an overt reference to Nazis.

Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a history professor at New York University, said: "Historian of fascism here. It was a Nazi salute and a very belligerent one too."

Andrea Stroppa, a close confidant of Musk who has connected him with far-right Italian PM Giorgia Meloni, was reported by Italian media to have posted the clip of Musk with the caption: "Roman Empire is back starting from Roman salute".

The Roman salute was widely used in Italy by Benito Mussolini's Fascist Party, before later being adopted by Adolf Hitler in Germany.

Stroppa later deleted his post, Italian media said. He later posted that "that gesture, which some mistook for a Nazi salute, is simply Elon, who has autism, expressing his feelings by saying, 'I want to give my heart to you'," he said.

"That is exactly what he communicated into the microphone. ELON DISLIKES EXTREMISTS!"

The gesture comes as Musk's politics have increasingly shifted to the right. He has made recent statements in support of Germany's far-right AfD party and British anti-immigration party Reform UK.

But some have defended him, including the Anti-Defamation League, an organisation founded to combat anti-Semitism.

"It seems that Elon Musk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute," the group posted on X.

Musk has become one of Trump's closet allies and has been tapped to co-lead what the president has termed the Department of Government Efficiency.

BBC
 
Not sure why anyone is bothering to pretend Musk DIDN'T make a Nazi salute. It is pretty distinctive, hardly like it could be mistaken for a royal wave or a 🫶 gesture.

His recent statements have all been aimed at attracting the white supremacist vote. Whether he believes in white supremacy is another matter, it might just be the votes he wants.
 

Germany’s leader says Musk’s support for European far-right is ‘completely unacceptable’​

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Friday that Elon Musk’s support for the far-right in Europe is “completely unacceptable,” adding to his previous criticism of Musk’s interventions in the German election campaign.

Musk has said over the past month that only the far-right party Alternative for Germany, or AfD, can “save Germany.” Last week, the tech billionaire livestreamed on his social media platform X a chat with Alice Weidel, the party’s candidate for chancellor in Germany’s Feb. 23 election, amplifying its message ahead of the vote.

His interest in Germany and politics elsewhere in Europe, after he poured money and energy into helping Donald Trump win the U.S. election, has set off alarm bells among politicians across the continent. The Tesla and SpaceX chief executive also has demanded the release of jailed U.K. anti-Islam extremist Tommy Robinson and called British Prime Minister Keir Starmer ‘s government tyrannical, claiming Starmer should be in prison.

Scholz has said it’s important to “stay cool” over personal attacks, but that Germany’s way forward “will not be decided by the owners of social media channels” but by German voters.

Source: AP News
 
Not sure why anyone is bothering to pretend Musk DIDN'T make a Nazi salute. It is pretty distinctive, hardly like it could be mistaken for a royal wave or a 🫶 gesture.

His recent statements have all been aimed at attracting the white supremacist vote. Whether he believes in white supremacy is another matter, it might just be the votes he wants.
The Anti Defamation League in the US have said the following

 
The Anti Defamation League in the US have said the following



Aren't they a Jewish protection body or something? I doubt Elon was making the gesture aimed specifically at Jewish people to be honest, I think it was more just a general salute to the far right white supremacist vote, and again, I think his motives are financial not racist. Could be fascist leanings though, haven't really given it much thought.
 
Aren't they a Jewish protection body or something? I doubt Elon was making the gesture aimed specifically at Jewish people to be honest, I think it was more just a general salute to the far right white supremacist vote, and again, I think his motives are financial not racist. Could be fascist leanings though, haven't really given it much thought.
Yeah they are. They are catching some flack for the support for Elon because as you said it is very clearly a Nazi salute
 
Yeah they are. They are catching some flack for the support for Elon because as you said it is very clearly a Nazi salute

It must be pretty galling for the ordinary man who has sympathised with the plight of the Jewish people down the years to see the ADL display such hypocrisy when the shoe is on the other foot. I think this is the reason the US wanted the ban on Tik Tok, a lot of Americans have started to question the views pushed by orthodox media.
 
It must be pretty galling for the ordinary man who has sympathised with the plight of the Jewish people down the years to see the ADL display such hypocrisy when the shoe is on the other foot. I think this is the reason the US wanted the ban on Tik Tok, a lot of Americans have started to question the views pushed by orthodox media.
He has Trumps ear and the ADL and others are playing it safe or as we giving a beghairati response
 
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