While Trump’s list of political appointees grows, there’s another group that remains small — and extremely influential.
Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, works full-time at Trump’s transition headquarters in Mar-a-Lago. According to media reports, he advises the president-elect on cabinet nominees and even joined a conversation between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week.
On Tuesday night, Trump announced that he had assigned Musk to work with tech entrepreneur and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy in a “department of government efficiency” tasked with identifying new budget cuts.
Musk has regularly voiced his political opinions on his social media platform X, including endorsing Florida Sen. Rick Scott’s bid to be the next Senate Majority Leader.
Musk’s political action committee has spent about $200 million helping Trump’s presidential campaign, and he is pledging to continue funding the group’s efforts to advance the president-elect’s agenda and help Republican candidates in upcoming congressional elections.
Meanwhile, it remains to be seen where Robert F. Kennedy Jr., another key figure, will land. Trump said he plans to give the former Democrat and vaccine skeptic, who dropped his independent bid and endorsed a Republican, a role in making America “healthy” again.
“He wants to do some things, and we’re going to let him do them,” Trump said in his election victory speech.
