By THOMAS BEAUMONT, SARAH PARVINI and AMELIA THOMSON-DEVEAUX, Related Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Elon Musk, clad in tuxedo and black tie, took the stage at President-elect Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort shortly after the election with all of the swagger of the profitable candidate himself.
“The public has given us a mandate that could not be more clear, the clearest mandate. The people have spoken. The people want change,” Musk instructed the viewers of Trump’s greatest donors, marketing campaign leaders and appointment seekers. “We are going to shake things up. It’s going to be a revolution.”
Musk’s attachment to Trump has created an alliance between America’s strongest politician and its richest businessman — and roughly the identical percentages of Individuals have favorable views of every, in line with a brand new ballot from the AP-NORC Heart for Public Affairs Analysis.
Consultants are cut up on whether or not that overlap in public opinion is an effective or dangerous factor for Musk’s companies or for Trump’s politics. However it might have far-reaching results in each realms.
Musk, whose web price tops $400 billion, oversees six companies whereas persevering with to work intently with Trump: electrical automotive producer Tesla, the X social media platform, area expertise firm SpaceX, mind hyperlink firm Neuralink, the startup xAI and tunneling operator The Boring Co.
“Even though there’s a negative impact, in terms of potentially alienating some of their customers that might not be fans of Trump, the benefits far outweigh any negatives when it comes to having a right-hand seat next to Trump in the White House,” stated Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities.
Ross Gerber, CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Funding Administration, recognized himself as an investor in Musk’s Tesla and a driver of Tesla’s new Cybertruck, the futuristic pickup that has gotten large quantities of consideration but additionally been the topic of security considerations and a number of recollects.
“Having your CEO not working at your company and working at the job of having to fire government employees … as a shareholder, I’m paying someone to not work for my company,” he stated. “As a Cybertruck owner with self-driving that sucks and doesn’t work, I’m like, ‘Dude, this isn’t fair.’”
However regardless of his skepticism, Gerber stated he gained’t cease investing in Musk’s companies.
“I’ve made a lot of money with Elon,” he stated. “I’m not in the business of investing based on the popularity of CEOs.”
Musk’s favorability is much like Trump’s
Musk doesn’t seem to present Trump a lot enhance with individuals who don’t again the incoming president.
He’s no extra in style with the U.S. public than the president-elect himself, and seen unfavorably by about half of Individuals, in line with the AP-NORC ballot.
On this image taken by means of a window, President-elect Donald Trump, from left, Trump’s decide for the deliberate Division of Authorities Effectivity Elon Musk and Vice President-elect JD Vance attend the NCAA faculty soccer sport between Military and Navy at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Md., Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Picture/Stephanie Scarbrough)
About 4 in 10 Individuals have a considerably or very favorable view of the world’s richest particular person, similar to the share who view Trump positively. Likewise, about half of adults have a considerably or very unfavorable view of Musk — once more, much like Trump.
As a substitute, stated one political strategist, Musk is the perfect validator for somebody who cultivates a picture of success in enterprise and who has stocked his Cupboard and key adviser roles with billionaires.
“Trump has always pushed this narrative that he’s a successful developer and a very successful businessman. I think having Musk with him is his double-down on this business success, good-for-the-economy, good-for-everybody-making money kind of persona,” stated Christine Matthews, a nationwide political pollster who has labored for Republicans. “In this case, Musk is seen as this successful, innovative, tech entrepreneur, frontier-buster.”
Musk additionally has at his disposal X, the social media platform previously referred to as Twitter that he bought and was a megaphone for conservative concepts. And having spent an estimated $250 million to help Trump within the election, Musk has signaled he’s keen to again Republican major challenges to GOP members within the Home and Senate searching for reelection in 2026 who waver on Trump’s appointments and agenda.
Trump has tasked him with main a gaggle to scale back the dimensions of the federal authorities and scale back the rulemaking authority of the federal paperwork.
Musk retains a wide selection of companies
Tesla stands to make important features below a Trump administration with the specter of diminished subsidies for different vitality and electrical autos doing essentially the most hurt to smaller opponents. Trump’s plans for in depth tariffs on Chinese language imports make it much less seemingly that Chinese language EVs will probably be offered in bulk within the U.S. anytime quickly.
Some analysts consider the billionaire’s position will create a really pleasant panorama for Tesla over the approaching years. Ives, the analyst at Wedbush Securities, stated Musk’s relationship with Trump might “revolutionize the Tesla story, especially around robotics, AI and autonomous.”
Buyers, he stated, are betting on Musk and see his political ascent as a “champagne moment.” Not like Gerber, Ives believes that ending the EV credit score and taking subsidies from Detroit carmakers, Hyundai and different corporations will create solely alternative for Tesla.
“I think Wall Street is starting to fully digest the potential benefits from Musk,” Ives stated.
Tesla shares closed at a document excessive on Tuesday, with a lot of the corporate’s latest features coming after Trump’s victory. However Gerber feels that bounce is as a result of buyers consider Tesla could have a bonus relating to autonomous driving as a result of Trump might grant the corporate a nationwide autonomy license.
Nonetheless, he thinks Tesla would be the “big loser” of Musk’s companies due to Trump’s promise to finish the EV tax credit score for carmakers.
“For Tesla, I don’t see a ton of benefit from this,” he stated. “Elon is misleading people to say it hurts the competition if the credit goes away.”
Musk’s different corporations — together with his synthetic intelligence firm, xAI — might reap the advantages of working throughout the Trump administration, he stated.
“AI is a transformative investment that will create lots of regulatory and governmental issues, especially around safety and information,” Gerber stated. “There’s a lot of benefit, from an AI perspective, to having Elon where he is.”
The connection between the 2 males has no parallel in U.S. historical past, stated David Nasaw, biographer of American enterprise tycoons Andrew Carnegie and William Randolph Hearst. He famous that Musk, to a stage not like different tycoons, has relied on subsidies and favorable authorities selections for his success from Tesla to SpaceX.
“He’s a unicorn,” Nasaw stated of Musk.
Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa, and Parvini reported from Los Angeles.
Initially Revealed: December 18, 2024 at 8:03 AM PST
