What kind of benefits will Elon Musk, who supported Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election, receive?



Businessman Elon Musk has contributed greatly to Donald Trump's victory

in the US presidential election, including by spending his personal fortune to encourage people to vote in the US presidential election . Several media outlets have reported on how Musk will benefit from the election victory.

Elon Musk Helped Elect Trump. What Does He Expect in Return? - The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/06/us/politics/elon-musk-trump-benefits.html



How Elon Musk stands to benefit from Trump's 2024 election : NPR
https://www.npr.org/2024/11/07/nx-s1-5182280/trump-2024-elon-musk-tesla-x

Musk's $119 million support for Trump could reshape auto policy
https://www.cbtnews.com/musks-119-million-support-for-trump-could-reshape-auto-policy/

How Musk's clout with Trump could enrich his companies | Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/how-musks-clout-with-trump-could-enrich-his-companies-2024-11-06/

How Elon Musk's $130 million investment in Trump's victory could reap a huge payoff for Tesla and the rest of his business empire | Fortune
https://fortune.com/2024/11/06/elon-musk-donald-trump-tesla-spacex-xai-boring-neuralink/

Trump's second term Cabinet: Here's who may fill key roles
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/4979519-trumps-second-term-cabinet-heres-who-may-fill-key-roles/

Musk implemented a reward program in which participants in the US presidential election could receive $100 (approximately 15,000 yen) if they voted in the battleground states, and donated $1 million (approximately 150 million yen) to one person per day who participated in the program, boosting support for Trump in those battleground states. Although some pointed out that the reward program was illegal, a court ruled that it could be carried out up until the election . According to reports, Musk had poured more than $100 million (approximately 15 billion yen) of his own money into the reward program.

Elon Musk announces he will donate 150 million yen to everyone who votes, but some point out that this is illegal - GIGAZINE



On election day, Musk watched the vote count with Trump in West Palm Beach, and after it became clear that Trump had won, he posted on his former Twitter account, 'Morning has come for America.'



In his victory speech, Trump praised Musk by name, saying, 'A new star is born' and 'A star is born! Elon!'

Musk owns several companies, including electric car maker Tesla and space development company SpaceX. These companies rely heavily on government subsidies . Specifically, Tesla has received millions of dollars in government funding to install EV charging stations, SpaceX has won billions of dollars in government contracts for lunar exploration missions, and satellite internet company Starlink also receives millions of dollars in government subsidies.

Multiple media outlets have reported that Musk will benefit greatly from Trump's inauguration as president.



Gita Johar, a professor at Columbia Business School who studies X and consumer psychology, said, 'Musk has provided unprecedented levels of support to Trump, not just financially but also by being by his side. I think Musk's thinking and expectation is, 'I'll take care of you, so you take care of me.''

In August 2024, during a livestream of X's '

Conversation with Trump ,' Musk raised the idea of establishing a 'Government Efficiency Commission' to act as an auditor for the entire federal government. Musk explained that the commission would ensure that tax money is spent appropriately. Three weeks later, Trump announced that he would establish the Commission and appoint Musk to head it.

During the first Trump administration, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross was reportedly able to ignore ethics rules with little penalty. Ross never sold millions of dollars of assets, despite telling ethics officials that he would. Musk's appointment as head of the Government Efficiency Commission could give him significant influence over agency budget allocations. However, details about what powers the Commission would be able to exercise were not available at the time of writing. However, the Commission is reportedly considering major budget cuts.

Trump repeatedly mentioned the Commission on Government Efficiency during the election campaign, and called Musk the 'Secretary of Cost Reduction' on multiple occasions. Musk has also stated that as head of the Commission on Government Efficiency, he would cut $2 trillion (approximately 300 trillion yen), which is equivalent to nearly one-third of the federal budget. However, similar commissions established in the past did not actually have the authority to cut government agencies' budgets, and were only authorized to make recommendations to Congress.



Regulatory scrutiny of Musk's companies has intensified under President Joe Biden's administration, with agencies including the Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission, National Labor Relations Board, Environmental Protection Agency and Federal Trade Commission conducting investigations into Musk's businesses.

The Department of Justice is investigating Tesla for misleading consumers about its Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is also investigating several fatal accidents allegedly caused by Tesla's FSD, which led Tesla to recall more than 2 million vehicles in 2023.

Tesla to recall all vehicles equipped with Autopilot, more than 2 million vehicles to be recalled - GIGAZINE



In response to the recall, Musk posted on X, 'The comedy police forced us to do a recall (sigh).'




Musk's social networking site X is under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission for its privacy practices, and the SEC has sued Musk for failing to disclose the amount of his investment in Twitter stock. Musk has also been sued by the SEC over Tesla, and in response to this, he posted a taunting message to the SEC saying, 'The 'E' in SEC stands for 'Eron.''

Elon Musk finally sued by the US government, because he ignored and did not comply with the order to appear in court regarding the takeover of Twitter acquisition - GIGAZINE



'Government contracts will be awarded to Musk's companies with very little oversight. That means a lack of regulation, a lack of oversight, all of which will benefit Musk's companies,' Dzhokhar said, pointing out that if Trump becomes president, Musk's companies will escape regulation and oversight.

Although Trump had previously criticized electric vehicles, he said at a rally in August 2024, 'I support electric vehicles. I had no choice but to do so because Elon strongly supported me.' Trump also suggested his support for SpaceX, saying, 'We're going to land American astronauts on Mars. Thank you, Elon.'

Throughout the election, Musk has heavily promoted his politicians through X, spread conspiracy theories about immigration and other key issues, and slandered Trump's opponent, Kamala Harris. Here is an example of one of Musk's posts slandering Harris. Along with an AI-generated image of Harris wearing a red outfit and a hammer and sickle hat, he posted, 'Kamala will be a communist dictator from day one in office.'




According to the Wall Street Journal , since Musk endorsed Trump in July 2024, he has increasingly emphasized pro-Trump posts and statements by conservative politicians. X's algorithms tend to recommend right-leaning partisan topics, and these political posts account for half of all posts in people's 'recommended' feeds. NPR reports that 'under Trump's administration, X could be seen as a platform backed by the president, and its influence will become even stronger.'

X is said to have had a huge impact on the US presidential election that cannot be quantified. When Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion (about 6.7 trillion yen), it was pointed out that the company was not worth that much, and Musk agrees, but Bloomberg reports that X's performance in this presidential election may have even overturned that assessment.

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