Elon Musk weighed in over the weekend on the increasingly tense battle for Treasury secretary in the second Trump administration—and that has reportedly raised the hackles of some Trump advisers, who worry his influence might have grown too large.
The Washington Post reported that Musk’s endorsement via social media of Howard Lutnick, who is co-leading the Trump transition team, could add confusion to the process. One adviser suggested to the Post that Musk was acting as a “co-president” and could be overstepping his advisory role with Trump.
The Trump transition team didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Musk on Saturday encouraged people on X to “weigh in” on who they thought should be Treasury secretary, then backed Lutnick over hedge fund manager Scott Bessent, saying “Bessent is a business-as-usual choice, whereas @howardlutnick will actually enact change.”
Bessent is more skeptical of cryptocurrencies than Lutnick, who has suggested people could use it to pay their taxes.
Musk played a significant role in Trump’s re-election, putting over $100 million of his own money into a political action committee focused on Trump and appearing at several rallies. However, his public push for Lutnick before Trump has made a decision caught many off guard.
Despite the apparent unease of some Trump staffers with Musk’s actions, there is no evidence that any rift has formed between Musk and Trump themselves. Musk is still spending much of his time at Mar-a-Lago and traveled with Trump to New York Saturday to attend a UFC fight.
Whoever becomes Treasury secretary, Musk is likely to work somewhat closely with them as part of his duties with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). DOGE will work with the White House Office of Management and Budget to implement the recommendations of Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. Musk has said previously he believes it is possible to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget, though many have been skeptical of this figure.
How many degrees of separation are you from the globe’s most powerful business leaders? Explore who made our brand-new list of the 100 Most Powerful People in Business. Plus, learn about the metrics we used to make it.
FedEx founder Fred Smith, who revolutionized package delivery, dies at 80
Fred Smith, the FedEx Corp. founder who revolutionized the express delivery industry, has died, the company said. He was 80....
AI that can modify and improve its own code is here. Does this mean OpenAI’s Sam Altman is right about the singularity?
Hello and welcome to Eye on AI. In this edition…the new Pope is all in on AI regulation…another Chinese startup...
Port of LA imports fell nearly 20% in May, and it may mean higher prices and fewer choices on back-to-school and Halloween items
As peak trade season approaches, import volumes at the Port of Los Angeles fell 19% in May compared to April...
Zoom’s CEO says work-life balance doesn’t exist: ‘work is life, life is work’ — but there’s one exception
Zoom CEO Eric Yuan says work-life balance doesn’t exist for leaders; in fact, he’s given up hobbies entirely to dedicate...
