Musk and Trump are viewed about the same by Americans, AP poll finds

WASHINGTON (AP) Elon Musk, dressed in a tuxedo and black tie, took the stage at President-elect Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort shortly after the election with all the swagger of the winning candidate. -even.

The public has given us a mandate that could not be clearer, the clearest mandate. The people have spoken. The people want change, Musk told the audience of Trump's biggest donors, campaign executives and nomination seekers. We're going to make things happen. This is going to be a revolution.

Elon Musk's attachment to Trump has created an alliance between America's most powerful politician and its richest businessman, and roughly the same percentage of Americans have a favorable opinion of each, according to a new survey from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Experts are divided on whether this overlap in public opinion is a good or bad thing for Musk's companies or for Trump's policies. But it could have far-reaching effects in both areas.

Musk, whose net worth exceeds $400 billion, oversees six companies while continuing to work closely with Trump: electric car maker Tesla, social media platform brain link Neuralink, startup xAI and tunnel operator The Boring Co. .

While there is a negative impact, in terms of potentially alienating some of their customers who might not be fans of Trump, the pros far outweigh the cons when it comes to having a seat on the right next to Trump at the White House, Dan said. Ives, analyst at Wedbush Securities.

Ross Gerber, CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management, identified himself as an investor in Musk's Tesla and a driver of Tesla's new Cybertruck, the futuristic pickup truck that has garnered enormous attention but also made headlines. subject to safety concerns and multiple recalls.

“The fact that your CEO doesn't work for your company and has to lay off government employees… as a shareholder, I'm paying someone not to work for my company,” he said. he declared. As the owner of a Cybertruck with autonomous driving that sucks and doesn't work, I'm like, man, that's not fair.

But despite his skepticism, Gerber said he wouldn't stop investing in Elon Musk's companies.

I made a lot of money with Elon, he said. I don't invest based on CEO popularity.

Musk's favorability is similar to Trump's

Musk doesn't seem to give Trump much support from people who don't support the new president.

He is no more popular with the American public than the president-elect himself, and is frowned upon by about half of Americans, according to the AP-NORC poll.

About 4 in 10 Americans have a somewhat or very favorable view of the world's richest person, a percentage very similar to the percentage who view Trump positively. Similarly, about half of adults have a somewhat or very unfavorable view of Musk, similar to Trump.

Instead, one political strategist said, Musk is the ideal validator for someone who cultivates an image of business success and who has filled his cabinet and key advisory roles with billionaires.

Trump has always maintained that he is a successful developer and a very successful businessman. I think having Musk with him is his double take on this kind of business success persona, good for the economy and good for everyone, making money, said Christine Matthews, a national political pollster who worked for the Republicans. In this case, Musk is considered a successful, innovative and boundary-breaking technology entrepreneur.

Musk also has at his disposal X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, which he purchased and transformed into a voice for conservative ideas. And after spending about $250 million to support Trump in the election, Musk indicated he was willing to support Republican primary challenges to GOP members of the House and Senate seeking re-election in 2026 and who are hesitant about Trump's appointments and agenda.

Trump tasked him with leading a group aimed at shrinking the size of the federal government and reducing the regulatory power of the federal bureaucracy.

Musk maintains a wide range of businesses

Tesla is expected to make significant progress under the Trump administration, with the threat of reduced subsidies for alternative energy and electric vehicles hurting smaller competitors the most. Trump's plans to impose significant tariffs on Chinese imports make it less likely that Chinese electric vehicles will soon be sold wholesale in the United States.

Some analysts believe that the role of billionaires will create a very Tesla-friendly landscape in the years to come. Ives, the Wedbush Securities analyst, said the relationship between Musk and Trump could revolutionize Tesla's story, especially when it comes to robotics, AI and autonomy.

Investors, he said, are betting on Musk and seeing his political rise as a champagne moment. Unlike Gerber, Ives believes that ending credit for electric vehicles and getting subsidies from Detroit automakers, Hyundai and other companies will only create opportunities for Tesla.

I think Wall Street is starting to fully digest Musk's potential upside, Ives said.

Tesla's stock price has nearly doubled since Trump's victory, creating an additional $750 billion in wealth for shareholders over the past six weeks. But Gerber believes the jump is because investors believe Tesla will have an advantage in autonomous driving because Trump could grant the company a national autonomy license.

Still, he believes Tesla will be the biggest loser among Musk's companies because of Trump's promise to end the electric vehicle tax credit for automakers.

For Tesla, I don't see much benefit, he said. Elon is misleading people by saying it will hurt competition if credit disappears.

Other Musk companies, including his artificial intelligence company, xAI, could reap the benefits of working within the Trump administration, he said.

AI is a transformative investment that will create many regulatory and government challenges, particularly around security and information, Gerber said. There are a lot of advantages, from an AI perspective, to having Elon where he is.

The relationship between the two men has no parallel in U.S. history, said David Nasaw, biographer of American business magnates Andrew Carnegie and William Randolph Hearst. He noted that Musk, unlike other tycoons, has relied on subsidies and favorable government decisions for his success, from Tesla to SpaceX.

He's a unicorn, Nasaw said of Musk.

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Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa, and Parvini reported from Los Angeles.

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