Why did Mr. Trump choose billionaire Elon Musk as his "right-hand man"?
Báo Dân trí•21/11/2024
(Dan Tri) - In addition to his role as leader of the committee supporting government spending cuts, billionaire Elon Musk is said to have great influence on personnel choices for the administration of US President-elect Donald Trump.
US President-elect Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk (Photo: Getty).
After working together in the final stages of the presidential campaign, US President-elect Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk continue to appear together in important activities. Earlier this week, Mr. Trump traveled to Texas to watch the launch of SpaceX's sixth Starship spacecraft with billionaire Elon Musk. The presence of the President-elect at the launch and his appointment of Elon Musk to head the Government Performance Board, the agency in charge of cutting government spending and removing policy barriers, showed his respect for this billionaire. During the election campaign, Mr. Trump praised the American billionaire as a "super genius" who revolutionized the space industry, revived the US manned space travel program and is on the way to sending humans back to the Moon and eventually Mars. The South African-born billionaire currently plays a major role in the fields of space exploration, US national security and the electric vehicle industry. This explains why Mr. Trump wants Musk to be by his side. But that's not the only reason the president-elect chose Musk. President-elect Donald Trump also enjoys the ego boost that comes with being endorsed by the world's richest man and the founder of a hugely influential social network. In many ways, Musk is a much more successful version of Trump. Trump rarely expresses his admiration for anything other than himself, but his appreciation for Musk seems entirely genuine. What's more, his relationship with Musk gives Trump access to a culture of young men, where Musk is seen as an icon. Their friendship also gives the president-elect credibility with that demographic. All of this has helped improve Trump's standing among young male voters. Despite their budding friendship, there has been much speculation about how long the relationship will last, as both men are outspoken and see themselves as celebrities. With Musk, President-elect Trump may get more than he bargained for. For example, Trump may not be willing to pay the political price for the massive layoffs, lost productivity and failure of government programs that Musk could cause with cuts recommended by his Government Performance Board. “At the end of the day, you can only have one star, and that star is Donald Trump,” said former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty. But he also acknowledged that Musk is smart, creative and has credibility with the president-elect.
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