“I think he realized that what big tech companies have spent decades concerned about, essentially how to censor or how to organize speech at this crazy scale, is that,” Magalhaes said. is not a problem”. “It was an opportunity for him.”
Since the election, Musk has not slipped into the shadows, content with behind-the-scenes meetings and covert influence. Instead, he joined the calls with foreign leadersweigh on selecting personnel for the new administrationand threatened to use America PAC to Funding primary challenges against lawmakers who do not support Trump's (and his) agenda.
In November, Trump announced that Musk would co-lead a new federal advisory committee called the Commission Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE, same as memecoin)responsible for cutting $2 trillion from the federal budget. (Eliminate all discretionary federal spending, including defense spending, this goal will not be achieved.) The Commission still doesn't exist, but Musk has used his presence on X and his juxtaposition to this new, if vague, government to dictate policy. Perhaps not coincidentally, on paper, estimated wealth is said to have increased by about $170 billion after the election.
“He has placed (ownership of X) in a position in government where his ability to influence policy affecting all of his business interests is enormous. And that could have huge financial returns,” said Phil Napoli, a public policy professor at Duke University. “I think that would be the scariest thing that could happen if a lot of these platforms get that signal from Musk.”
Early profits suggest other tech leaders are likely to follow suit. Mark Zuckerberg of Meta and Amazon's Jeff Bezos Have visited Mar-a-Lago kiss the ring. Meta officials said Zuckerberg wanted to take on an “active role” in helping shape the Trump administration's technology policies.
“Every time there is a new government, big capitalism, big money, we try to put ourselves in a position to benefit from it. And I think that's what they're doing,” Magalhaes said. And Musk's use of X for apparent political purposes could lead the Trump administration to expect similar behavior from other companies, he said. “I think in that sense it's a blueprint.”
Musk's ambitions are clearly not limited to the US. Since the election he has visited the UK to meet with far-right politicians there And posted about his support for Germany's far-right party, Alternative for Germany. Earlier this year he tried to challenge the court order in Brazil asked X to remove several far-right accounts that the court said were undermining the integrity of the country's elections.
All of this means that Musk's political control is not just a matter of his closeness to Trump. Even if the two giant egos predictably clash, Musk's influence will be felt as clearly in the new bonhomie between Silicon Valley and the MAGA movement, as in any other region. which world he chooses to keep an eye on.
In a way, it's a return to familiar ground. Even before buying Twitter in 2022, Musk was a super user, one of the most followed people on the platform. His tweets can affect the stock prices of his other companies, especially TeslaAnd His favorite memecoin, Dogecoin. Similarly, Trump was an active Twitter user before becoming president and during his first term as president. he is famous for making policy by tweet. Now, it seems likely that for the next four years at least, more management by social media post is likely to be seen — now just by another shitposter.