Elon Musk has been establishing himself in the first hours of the Trump transition as a powerful advisor and gatekeeper with sweeping influence.
The billionaire Tesla CEO and X owner has been a constant presence at Mar-a-Lago as he’s spent the past days weighing in on a contested race to determine control of Senate leadership.
He’s also wading in on debate over reshaping the bureaucracy and allowing lawmakers to skirt traditional paths to confirming Trump’s Cabinet appointments.
And he’s been spotted chatting at dinner alongside incoming First Lady Melania in Palm Beach and spending time with Trump’s many grandchildren.
The use of his X platform – a vast online presence capable of influencing politics around the world – is only part of his expanding political power.
Musk has been spotted repeatedly at Mar-a-Lago since Trump won the election and thanked him onstage election night.
And he even joined Trump on a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week, despite not having a formal role within the quickly-forming administration.
Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk weighed in on a Senate leadership race, dined with Donald and Melania Trump, and is playing a role in Trump’s transition
Musk threw his support behind Florida Sen. Rick Scott, the most Trump-aligned candidate in the battle to lead the new Republican-led Senate.
The race to fill Trump antagonist Sen. Mitch McConnell's leadership position is heating up this week.
As Scott, John Thune of South Dakota and John Cornyn of Texas all vie for the top role, it remains to be seen if Musk's endorsement tips the scale in favor of the Floridian.
Musk’s X platform has been in self-congratulation mode, after Musk used it to help power Trump to victory – even hosting him for a streamed interview.
‘You are the media; the voice of the people,’ the X account posted, with its multi-billionaire owner reposting and amplifying the message to his millions of followers.
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Trump first floated an inside role for Musk during a New York speech in September.
It was unusual at the time, and came before Musk would plow at least $119 million into the race and campaign for Trump across Pennsylvania.
‘I will create a government efficiency commission tasked with conducting a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government,’ Trump promised.
‘I look forward to serving America if the opportunity arises," the Tesla and Space X boss wrote on X in response. ‘No pay, no title, no recognition is needed.’
That role, though important to the budget an federal workforce bracing itself for a second Trump term, is now looking like a mere sideline for Musk, whose corporate achievements Trump recounted in nearly every campaign rally during the last weeks of the campaign.
Staying within the corners of efficiency and personnel, it stood the chance of being little more than another ‘Reinventing Government’ commission or Blue Ribbon panel.
Now, Musk is weighing in not just on who should serve in government, but over the power of the executive and the Senate. 'We have to protect our geniuses, we don’t have that many of them,' Trump said during his election night speech, saluting the billionaire who jumped on stage during his second rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
On Sunday, Trump posted a loyalty test on Musk’s X platform amid a three-way race to run the Senate Republican Conference and there for the Senate.
Musk has been a constant presence at Mar-a-Lago, and appeared in an image posted by Kai Trump, the daughter of Donald Trump, Jr.
Musk jumped on stage at Trump's second Butler, Pennsylvania rally
Elon Musk has gotten close to Melania Trump, the two are seen with Musk's son at Trump's rally at Madison Square Garden in October
Musk gave a big endorsement Sunday in the three-way race for Senate GOP leader
‘Any Republican Senator seeking the coveted LEADERSHIP position in the United States Senate must agree to Recess Appointments (in the Senate!), without which we will not be able to get people confirmed in a timely manner. Sometimes the votes can take two years, or more,’ Trump wrote.
Musk chimed in with his own immediate reply: ‘This is essential. There is no other way.’
Channeling Trump, he wrote on the platform he bought for $44 billion: ‘Without recess appointments, it will take two years or more to confirm the new administration! This would make it impossible to enact the change demanded by the American people, which is utterly unacceptable.’
That came despite Trump being able to confirm his nominees with Republican control of the Senate, even after a Supreme Court ruling restricted the opportunities to use the fast-track process.
It set up a new loyalty challenge with prospective Senate leaders, and all three immediately complied.
Sometimes, Musk’s role has taken on elements of a lower level communications official.
‘Congratulations @RealTomHomanon being given responsibility for enforcing our borders!’ he wrote, soon after Trump designated the former ICE official as being ‘czar’ in charge of deportations and the border along with aviation, maritime, and border security.
But his posts also reveal his role in shaping who joins the administration, amid the long-held axiom that personnel is power.
‘A band of small-government revolutionaries will save our nation. It’s the only way,’ wrote entrepreneur and Trump-backing former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
‘Absolutely!’ Musk wrote back. ‘Would be interesting to hear recommendations for roles in the new administration for consideration by the President.’