Elon Musk decyduje się inwestować w administrację Trumpa pomimo różnic politycznych
Elon Musk emerged from political shadows ahead of the scheduled November 5th US presidential elections. The South African-born billionaire openly supports Trump, who already served as the head of the US administration from 2017 to 2021. As the owner of companies such as X platform, Tesla, and SpaceX, Musk not only donates hundreds of millions of dollars to the Republican candidate’s campaign but also enjoys his trust. To such an extent that Trump’s staffers agreed to delegate paid Musk agitators to visit voters at their homes and persuade them with the slogan „make America great again.”
Experts, whom the BBC asked for comment on this close collaboration, view the eccentric businessman’s alliance with the eccentric politician with cool detachment. Musk seems to believe that America will be great when a president who favors his business ventures sits in the Oval Office. And in reality, political beliefs seem to be of secondary importance here.
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Matt Teske, CEO of the electric vehicle charging platform Chargeway, says there are no illusions about Musk’s intentions. „I think Musk’s interests mainly focus on a few key issues related to his business activities. Regulations are something that concerns him,” says Teske. He cites Musk’s stance when he „strongly opposed” restrictions imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic in California.
Does Musk want regulations?
Erik Gordon, head of the entrepreneurship department at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, agrees that Musk may see himself as someone hindered by state regulations in conducting business. „He wants to be in a sense a pioneer, an unrestrained entrepreneur who can pave new paths and not get entangled in regulations that typically lag five, 10, or 20 years behind technological progress. Musk wants to go in a different direction. He wants to fly to Mars,” evaluates Prof. Gordon.
Access to Trump’s ear
„Moreover, Trump has already suggested that his donor could oversee 'cost-cutting’ in the US government. Even if he does not carry out this work precisely, Musk will have Trump’s ear due to his support in the campaign and may have a significant influence on decision-making by the administration, observers believe,” writes the BBC.
Moreover, the 53-year-old entrepreneur has admitted that he is open to the idea of leading the „government efficiency department” to put an end to the „strangling” of the USA by regulations.
A vision that Democrats clearly see as a conflict of interest due to the billions of dollars in government contracts that Musk has received for SpaceX and Tesla. „This is deeply unethical and illegal,” evaluates Lenny Mendonca, former chief economic and business advisor to the Governor of California.
Profit over safety
According to him, individuals associated with the government and regulations „may have a voice,” but should not hold a managerial position in the same area.
Lawrence Noble, former chief legal advisor of the Federal Election Commission, did not leave a single thread untouched on Trump’s collaboration with Musk. „We know what companies do when left to their own devices. They prioritize profit, shareholder value, and executive compensation over safety, and to a certain extent, they dismiss safety concerns as a cost of doing business. It is dangerous to have someone responsible for safety who sees business in this way and sees government in this way,” Noble warns on BBC.
In conclusion, the unprecedented alliance between Elon Musk and Donald Trump raises eyebrows and concerns among experts and observers alike. The intertwining of business interests, political influence, and regulatory concerns calls into question the ethical implications and potential conflicts of interest that may arise from such a close relationship between a businessman and a politician.
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