Former President Donald Trump said he would consider giving Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk a Cabinet position if he wins the election, but presumes Mr. Musk is too busy.
“He wants to be involved. Now look, he’s running big businesses and all that, so he can’t, really, I don’t think he could be [in the] Cabinet,” Mr. Trump, the GOP nominee, said in an excerpt of an interview with former Navy SEAL Shawn Ryan for the “Shawn Ryan Show.”
“I’d put him in the Cabinet, absolutely, but I don’t know how he could do that with all the things he’s got going,” he said. “But he could sort of, as the expression goes, consult with the country and give you some very good ideas.”
He said he and Mr. Musk “have a great relationship.”
“He’s great. He is a totally unusual character,” Mr. Trump said, adding that he’s “smart [and] brilliant.”
He discussed Mr. Musk’s knowledge of artificial intelligence and said what he really wants to do “is get involved in cutting some of the fat.”
Mr. Trump and Mr. Musk have been friendly for some time, but used to have a rough back-and-forth relationship. They sat together for an interview on X earlier this month where they talked about some of Mr. Trump’s policy plans.
Mr. Musk endorsed Mr. Trump last month after the attempted assassination of the former president.
He said he would be open to helping with a government efficiency commission.
“I think it would be great to just have a government efficiency commission,” Mr. Musk said in the interview with Mr. Trump. “And I’d be happy to help out on such a commission.”
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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