OPINION:
The richest man on the planet with sprawling financial interests ranging from medical technology to publishing to military-grade rocketry has taken over the Trump presidency before it even begins.
Elon Musk invested over $100 million in President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign. Now, the multibillionaire is a constant presence at Mar-a-Lago, where he dishes advice on all things, including — perhaps especially — on matters that directly influence his own mammoth business interests.
The value of Mr. Musk’s Tesla has already reached $1.5 trillion, double its value on the day Mr. Trump got elected.
Understandably, political observers — from the foul, gutter-dwelling political hacks to high-minded good governance types — are concerned about this relationship and how it might be abused to Mr. Musk’s benefit.
Here is why you don’t need to be alarmed. (And, that said, keep an eagle eye on it. As Ronald Reagan advised: “Trust, but verify.”)
First, consider the explosive value of Tesla’s stock. That says nothing about Mr. Musk’s influence over Mr. Trump’s government policies. Mr. Trump is not president yet.
As the colorful, tobacco-spitting miner had to explain to his new payroll guards, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, they don’t rob you going down the mountain when you have no money. They rob you on the way back up after you have picked up the payroll from the bank.
“Morons,” he says, shaking his head and squirting a stout stream of tobacco into the rocky Bolivian soil. “I’ve got morons on my team.”
If anything, the rise in the value of Tesla’s stock tells you how investors believe things work in Washington. And they are not wrong.
Which brings us to Point No. 2.
Your federal government is already irretrievably corrupt. Even worse, it is corrupted by a thousand hidden hands we will never see.
Every government agency that is supposed to be a watchdog over any industry that makes money (all of them) has been captured by the industry they oversee to at least some degree. The government is so vast and intrusive that no single human could possibly keep track of all the self-dealing.
This is why becoming the secretary of health and human services, chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission or head of the Pentagon in a regular administration is so wildly profitable. It is a revolving door of influence and money.
The only people who pay the price and never get a swing through that revolving door are the innocent taxpayers who pay for it all and suffer under the perverted actions of these rogue agencies.
Say whatever you want about Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Kash Patel, Pete Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard or any of Mr. Trump’s other nominees. Not one of them is going into government with an eye for a payout on the other side.
And even if Mr. Kennedy wanted to go from the Department of Health and Human Services to a vaccine company, not a company left would take him.
The reason that the Trump-Musk bromance is better than the current corruption is that it is so out in the open. There are no “hidden hands” here. Sen. Elizabeth Warren frets about Mr. Musk being an unelected “co-president” who is “whispering” in Mr. Trump’s ear.
Well, sorry to blow up your teepee, Ms. Warren, but Mr. Musk does not whisper anything. He is incapable of whispering. Everything between Mr. Trump and Mr. Musk is right there for all to see.
That is not to say we should not keep an eye on this relationship and the policies that spring forth from it. Just be grateful it is out in the open.
Finally — and this is the funniest part of all of it — nobody tells Donald Trump what to do.
The only person in this world Mr. Trump might be a bit scared of is his wife. Like all happily and successfully married men, Mr. Trump appears to tread carefully around her.
Otherwise, Mr. Trump is always the only bull in every china shop.
Anyway, Mr. Trump and Mr. Musk are actually business rivals. Mr. Musk owns X, the company formerly known as Twitter. Mr. Trump owns Truth Social, which he started after he got kicked off the old Twitter, which was one of the reasons Mr. Musk bought it in the first place.
It’s all very complicated.
But it is out in the open for all to see. And if anything, the Trump-Musk bromance demonstrates once again that Mr. Trump has the clarity, strength, wisdom and confidence to surround himself with brilliant, outspoken visionaries who can contribute to his presidency and make America great again.
• Charles Hurt is the opinion editor at The Washington Times.
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