Trump says Elon Musk will put America before Tesla or SpaceX
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President-elect Donald Trump says there aren’t any potential conflicts of interest that come with Elon Musk leading a group scrutinizing the same federal agencies that regulate his companies.
Trump has given Musk co-leadership of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). It’s not actually a government department, bur rather an outside group that plans to work with congressional officials and the White House to recommend ways to reduce federal spending. DOGE plans to take aim at remote work for federal employees, non-government organizations, and regulations Musk and his allies deem burdensome. All in all, Musk wants to slash some $2 trillion in spending.
Musk is the CEO of Tesla (TSLA) and SpaceX, the owner of the social media network X, and founder of Neuralink, xAI, and The Boring Co. Tesla and SpaceX have received billions of dollars in government contracts and frequently come into conflict with regulators, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation.
Several agencies are potentially on the chopping block for DOGE, according to Musk and his co-leader, billionaire entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. Musk has frequently slammed the agencies regulating his companies, even preparing to sue the Federal Aviation Administration and attempting to dismantle the National Labor Relations Board.
“I don’t think so,” Trump told Time magazine when asked whether Musk has a potential conflict of interest.
“I think that Elon puts the country long before his company,” Trump said in an interview that accompanied his selection as the magazine’s Person of the Year. “I mean, he’s in a lot of companies, but he really is, and I’ve seen it. He considers this to be his most important project, and he wanted to do it.”
Trump has a clear motive for saying as much. Some of Musk’s own rivals have voiced similar sentiments, despite privately expressing alarm.
OpenAI’s Sam Altman said earlier this month that he believes “pretty strongly that Elon will do the right thing,” adding that it would be “profoundly un-American to use political power” to hurt competitors. “
“I take it face value, what has been said, which is that he’s not going to use his political power to advantage his own companies or to disadvantage his competitors,” Amazon (AMZN) founder and Blue Origin owner Jeff Bezos said at the annual New York Times (NYT) DealBook Summit. Bezos noted that he “could be wrong about that, but I think it could be true.”
Musk has had unprecedented access to the president-elect as he gears up for his ssecond term in office, according to ethics experts. During the 2024 presidential campaign, he spent more than $260 million supporting Trump’s candidacy through several groups, as detailed by Syracuse University researchers.
He’s become an almost constant presence in Trump’s orbit since the 2024 election, even sleeping at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, and joining calls with major CEOs and world leaders. Several of his allies, including Jared Isaacman, David Sacks, and the next head of the Federal Communications Commission, have been selected for roles in the new Trump administration.
The valuation of Musk’s companies has risen since the election, with Tesla stock soaring 69% and reaching new all-time highs. SpaceX and xAI have also been valued at new highs of $350 billion and $50 billion, giving Musk a net worth of almost $450 billion.
