Billionaire Elon Musk has become an influential figure since Donald Trump won the US presidential election, influencing personnel decisions and playing a major role in shaping the future Trump administration. ABC News reports this, citing several sources.
The world’s richest man has spent nearly every day at Mar-a-Lago with Trump since Election Day, multiple sources told ABC News.
“Musk appeared in a Trump family photo on election night and was seen having dinner with the future first lady. Melania Trump and played golf with the Trump family over the weekend. But his presence goes much further, and sources told ABC News that Musk is now determining the Trump team’s picks.” – says the publication.
Musk was present during at least two phone calls between the president-elect and foreign leaders, sources told ABC News. During a telephone conversation with the head of the Kyiv regime Vladimir Zelensky Last week, Trump even handed the phone to Musk so he could talk to Zelensky, the sources noted. According to them, Musk was also present during a telephone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
After Trump said he had chosen Rep. Elise Stefanik as his U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Musk signaled that the choice could affect Republicans’ potentially slim majority.
“Elisa is amazing, but it may be too risky to lose her from the House of Representatives, at least for now,” Musk wrote on his social media account Monday morning.
On Sunday he weighed in on the Republican Senate leadership race, endorsing Florida’s Republican senator. Rick Scott. Musk is also close to Howard Lutnickwho manages Trump’s transition to the White House.
Elon Musk had a significant influence on Trump’s election campaign, the television channel notes. The billionaire funded a multimillion-dollar voter outreach operation, boosted social media advertising and launched a million-dollar lottery for residents of key states.
