Elon Musk's Political Astuteness

Running multiple money-making companies around the world, Musk has shown his ability to navigate rising geopolitical tensions.

Billionaire Elon Musk has always been a fierce advocate of free speech, and he has always been bold in his confrontations with American politicians. However, he has taken a softer approach when dealing with foreign leaders who hold power over his global business network. The Wall Street Journal calls it the “Musk Doctrine.”

This was evident this past week, especially during a live interview on CNBC , where Musk poked fun at President Joe Biden, criticized the Federal Reserve, and defended his controversial social media posts. “I’m going to say what I want, and if the consequence of that is losing money, that’s fine,” Musk said on May 16.

But in the same interview, when discussing the topic of China - which accounts for more than 20% of Tesla's annual sales - Musk had a different attitude. He supported the view that China has always considered Taiwan a part of its territory awaiting reunification. "I simply said that is their policy. And I think they should take their word seriously," he assessed.

Previously, in October 2022, Musk also expressed a similar view on the Financial Times . The statement at that time quickly received praise from the then Chinese Ambassador to the US Qin Gang, who said it was a "call for peace".

Elon Musk meets French President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace on May 15. Photo: Press Pool — Elon Musk meets French President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace on May 15. Photo: *Press Pool*

The WSJ assessed that Musk is skillfully adjusting between his outspoken personality and the cold calculation of a Western CEO in a world where governments can force him to submit.

Bradley Tusk, a venture capitalist and political strategist who has advised Uber on legal issues, said Musk understands that while in the US, there are complexities beyond the law in other countries. So as the head of Tesla, SpaceX, and Twitter, Musk is at the center of the political influence, global agenda, and risks facing the company.

Some critics have suggested that Musk would adjust Twitter to China because Tesla relies heavily on that market. Although China has long banned Twitter, the country has been actively using it outside its borders to exert influence.

Musk’s changes at Twitter are seen as beneficial to the country, according to Fergus Ryan, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. For example, Twitter last month removed the state-affiliated media label from its entities, including Xinhua.

Beyond Tesla and Twitter, Musk’s role as CEO of SpaceX also requires him to be diplomatic. The company’s Starlink satellite internet service began operations in 2019 and now provides service in more than 50 countries, including Ukraine, where the government is using it to support the war effort.

Still, Musk doesn’t want to offend Russian President Putin. Before buying Twitter, Musk said that some eastern regions of Ukraine prefer Russia. The statement drew criticism from Washington that the billionaire was more pro-Moscow despite his support for Ukraine’s Starlink. In response, Musk said he had only spoken to Putin once in the first half of 2021 about space.

SpaceX also provides space services to countries, such as a deal with Türkiye to launch the Turksat 6A communications satellite later this year. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the standard price for a Falcon 9 launch has been publicly announced as $67 million.

Earlier this month, Twitter said it was restricting the visibility of some content in Türkiye ahead of the country's presidential election, where Mr Erdoğan faces his tightest race in 20 years. Faced with criticism from users, Musk responded: "The choice is to regulate all of Twitter or restrict access to some tweets. Which do you want?" he said.

In December, Elon Musk and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan were photographed shaking hands at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Erdoğan is just one of several heads of state Musk has met in recent years, including Indonesian President Joko Widodo in May 2022 and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in April of this year.

As the debate over Musk's stance on Türkiye continues, he flew to Paris earlier this week to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace in a bid to attract foreign investment to France.

He flew in after a weekend of diplomatic duties at a music festival in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. In a video posted to social media, Musk was seen looking upbeat, swaying to the music and making a heart sign with his hands.

Phien An ( according to WSJ )

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