Opinion: Elon Musk’s Wins in the U.S. Presidential Election

The historic 2024 U.S. presidential election resulted in a victory for more than the Republican nominee. Elon Musk increased his support for Donald Trump as the election wound into the home stretch and launched past the line of advisors and sycophants. With Trump now the president-elect, Musk’s relations with government institutions at home and abroad are likely to change.

Putin, NASA, and DoD

On 29th October, I wrote an editorial calling for an investigation into Musk’s communications with the Russian president. I wasn’t the only one to do so. After the Wall Street Journal broke the news about Musk’s recurring calls with Putin since late 2022, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told Semaphor that the news needed to be confirmed and that if found to be true, NASA would have to consider the consequences. Since Musk has a security clearance, and SpaceX launches military satellites, the Department of Defense would have to do the same. This issue is highly unlikely to move forward under the Trump administration.

EPA

SpaceX and other companies owned by Musk, such as xAI, have repeatedly run into problems with the Environmental Protection Agency. Yes, the personal connection between the owner and the president will alleviate some of these problems. Even if that personal relationship were to fail, the EPA is unlikely to continue its present course. Presumptive Trump nominee Lee Zeldin will be tasked mostly with tearing down regulations connected to global warming.

Musk does agree with the main thrust of climate change arguments. Can or will he try to convince Trump that the issue needs attention? Perhaps a bit, but not enough to put his goal of a presence on Mars on the line.

NASA and DoD

Even without the consequences of talking to Putin, Musk’s relations with NASA and the Department of Defense can be termed complicated. Those relations will shift. For one, on directions where NASA and Musk agree, the agency might be glad to have the help. Where they don’t agree could get messier than before.

Could military contract awards become murkier? It’s not a given. The continued slide at Boeing and the unique capabilities at SpaceX could be more defining than relations between the CEO and the president.

X

It’s not directly connected to Elon Musk and his government connections, but space agencies and industry companies still use X a lot for communicating. Will the nature of his posts change and will the readership be affected politically? We can’t tell just yet.

Between now and the inauguration in January, a lot will (not can, will) happen to set the tone and pace of the new Trump administration’s directions. How much of this involves Elon Musk and his relations with the other players in the Trump team is more of a variable, but it’s coming.