Trump has the richest man in the world at his side. What does Musk want?

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The tech billionaire appeared alongside Trump at a rally earlier this month.

Zander Mundy was in the middle of a typical day at his office when he heard the news: tech billionaire Elon Musk was speaking at a nearby school in the town of Folsom, in the US state of Pennsylvania.

“How often is the richest man in the world in town?” Mr. Mundy remembers thinking to himself.

With a population of just under 9,000, Folsom is a quiet place. Residents are generally reluctant to speak openly about their politics, and political signs are rare.

Mr. Mundy, 21, who works for a rental agent in an apartment complex, admits he had no intention of voting in the November election.

But once he saw the crowd forming – and felt the excitement – ​​he decided to go in, eager to hear Musk.

By the time he left school, he remembers being more inclined toward Donald Trump than Kamala Harris.

“[If] “Someone like that tells you that this is the election that is going to decide our future, not only who will be president for the next four years, but also what the world will look like… I think that's enough huge,” he told the BBC. “It's important. It's significant.”

Musk, who previously cultivated an image as an eccentric tech genius who was only on the fringes of politics, has now pledged his full allegiance to Trump.

In full view of the American public, the 53-year-old invested his time, operational know-how and considerable portfolio in trying to get the Republican elected – a rarity among the country's business elite who traditionally prefer to influence the politics behind power. scenes.

It's a very different approach than traditional CEOs, many of whom are better known for hosting expensive, exclusive fundraising dinners or hosting potential donors at lavish Hamptons mansions.

And it has prompted observers to ask questions about Mr. Musk's motives.

The traditional CEO approach “is not exposed to the general public,” says Erik Gordon, chair of the department of entrepreneurship at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. But “Musk does it loud and clear and, as a result, perhaps makes himself a lightning rod.”

Elon Musk's political action committee America PAC, which supports Trump, has already spent more than $119 million ($91.6 million) this election cycle, according to Open Secrets, a tracking organization. non-profit.

Additionally, Musk's own contributions make him one of the largest individual donors in the presidential race and would play a critical role in Trump's door-to-door and on-the-ground operations in key states in which the campaign hopes to mobilize voters.

Steve Davis, a key Musk lieutenant who has worked for his companies including SpaceX,

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America PAC grants $1 million per day to voter who signs Musk-backed petition

Mr. Musk's personal investment in the campaign was quickly noticed by Mr. Mundy.

“That alone shocked me,” he said. “That someone would really spend that much time and money to influence voters. That means they're doing it for a reason.”

Some Democrats, like Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, have urged their party not to ignore the threat Mr. Musk poses ahead of the election.

Mr. Musk appeals to a demographic of people who view him as “undeniably brilliant” and among whom traditional Democratic outreach efforts have proven difficult, Fetterman believes.

Since first endorsing Trump following the July 13 assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, Mr. Musk has become a fixture on the campaign trail, where he often warns that only Trump can “save” American democracy.

In the final days of the race, Mr. Musk crisscrossed the state of Pennsylvania, a key battleground state that has become a target for both Trump and Kamala Harris.

The America PAC is now doling out $1 million a day until Election Day to a random voter — regardless of party affiliation — provided they are registered to vote and sign a petition.

For example, at “town hall” events in Harrisburg and Pittsburgh this weekend, Mr. Musk handed out giant lottery-style checks to winners, while enthusiastic crowds chanted “Elon.” He responded by telling the crowd that their energy “lights a fire” in his soul.

At a rally in Philadelphia on Monday, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Mr. Musk was dangling a million dollars to many of us who are struggling to make ends meet if they would dance for him. .

Elon Musk thinks that throwing money in front of a worker is a cute thing to do when the election of our lives is in front of us, because that's what people and billionaires like him do.” she added.

Some observers, however, have questioned his motivation and suggested that Mr. Musk and his companies would benefit from a relationship with Trump.

Among these observers is Matt Teske, CEO of electric vehicle charging platform Chargeway.

Mr. Teske said Mr. Musk's policy shift has been difficult for many in the electric vehicle industry, but is not a surprise after several years of increasing political activity.

“I think Musk's interests are primarily focused on a handful of things that are important to him and related to his businesses, [with] “Regulation is something he has expressed concern about,” Mr. Tesks said. He notes that Mr Musk “strongly pushed back” on restrictions implemented during the Covid-19 pandemic in California.

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Musk, the SpaceX boss, has expressed concerns that excessive regulation could stifle innovation.

Professor Gordon of the University of Michigan agrees. He says Mr. Musk sees himself as someone who has been held back by regulators and believes government intervention has stifled the development of technologies he focuses on, like autonomous driving.

“He wants to be sort of on the frontier, [a] a wild and woolly entrepreneur who can blaze new trails and not get bogged down in regulation, which tends to lag five, 10, 20 years behind technological progress,” says Professor Gordon.

“Musc wants to go the opposite way,” he adds. “He wants to go to Mars.”

If he wins in November, Donald Trump suggested Mr Musk could oversee “cost cutting” in the US government. Even if he doesn't do exactly that job, Mr. Musk would have Trump's ear through his support during the campaign, observers say, and he could have a strong influence on the administration's decision-making.

Mr. Musk, for his part, said he was open to the idea of ​​leading a “department of government effectiveness” to end the “strangulation” of the United States by regulation.

Democrats say the position could present a complex conflict of interest, given the billions of dollars in government contracts Mr. Musk has received for SpaceX and Tesla.

“This is both deeply unethical and illegal,” says Lenny Mendonca, former chief economic and trade adviser to California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Mendonca believes that those with intertwined government and regulatory relationships “may have a voice,” but should not be in a position of authority over those same interests.

Lawrence Noble, former general counsel for the Federal Election Commission, questioned the legality of Mr. Musk's gifts during the election cycle.

Noble believes this form of campaigning should resonate with Americans who value safe work environments and consumer protections.

We know what businesses do when left to their own devices. They put profit, shareholder value and CEO pay above safety, and they sort of view safety issues as a cost of doing business, he told the BBC.

“It's dangerous to have someone who sees business that way and sees government that way, in charge of security,” he adds.

For Mr Musk – who enjoys being a “disruptor” and a renegade – there is no doubt that his lucrative relationship with the US government will continue, whatever the outcome of the November election.

But his brand and reputation are now tied to those of Donald Trump — and his actions suggest he knows it.

Additional reporting by Pratiksha Ghildial

North American correspondent Anthony Zurcher makes sense of the race for the White House in his biweekly newsletter US Election Unspun. UK readers can subscribe here. Those outside the UK can register here.

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