Scott Gurvey's Public Offerings

What do you get the guy who has everything? Better still, what does the guy who has everything buy for himself? Elon Musk bought himself a president.

Musk spent about $277 million to back Donald Trump in his successful campaign to win a second term. In return, Trump apppointed Musk, along with Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur and former candidate turned rabid Trump supporter, to run the grandiosely named “Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)“. This sounds official but in fact is a sort of advisory panel with no legal authority, charged by Trump to focus on regulating government spending and to cut regulations. How much influence Musk has is a function of how much attention Trump pays to him. It appears $277 million buys you a lot of attention.

Elon Musk’s net worth is currently estimated to be around $440 billion. This makes him the wealthiest person in the world, with his fortune primarily tied to his stakes in Tesla, SpaceX, and other ventures. His wealth has seen significant growth due to the success of these companies and his role in shaping industries of the future.

Musk has never been content with being rich. For more of Musk’s story, pre-politics, I suggest the wonderful biography by Walter Isaacson. What is important to know in this context is that Musk clearly believes he is not only the richest man in the world but also the smartest man in the world and has an obligation to share his wisdom with the world, whether the world wants to hear his advice or not. His ego may even exceed that of Trump. One wonders how both of those heads fit into a single room.

Buying the presidency is the American way of life. Even more so since the conservatives on the Supreme Court eviscerated the campaign finance law Congress had enacted to put some limits on spending. But there is a constraint that keeps Musk from getting his hands on the nuclear codes, at least for now. Article II, section 1, clause 5 of the Constitution of the United States says, “No Person except a natural born Citizen … shall be eligible to the Office of President….” Elon Musk was born in South Africa.

I did say “at least for now” because Musk, and Trump, have shown little regard for the Constitution and the rule of law, at least when they get in the way. There is a right-wing move to call a constitutional convention to make gross changes or even rewrite it. By the time 2028 rolls around we may find the provisions they find inconvenient have been removed. But for now, Musk must be content to be puppet master to Trump’s marionette. Musk pulled the strings with gusto to block a carefully negotiated bipartisan law to keep the government funded through the holidays and through the inauguration starting the second Trump presidency. The result has been chaos.

Unhappy with the agreement, Musk raged against the bill in more than 150 separate posts on X, complaining about the raises it would have given members of Congress, falsely exaggerating the proposed pay increase, and worrying about billions in government spending that wasn’t even in the bill. He told his followers over and over that the bill was “criminal” and “should not pass.” Musk bludgeoned Republicans, “Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!” According to X, the posts received tens of millions of views.

Republicans in Congress heard the message loud and clear. So did Trump, who initially did not oppose the bipartisan compromise. After Musk’s deluge of posts, Trump jumped in with messages of his own condemning the deal. By the end of the day, Republicans had scrapped the bill. Last night, another attempt to fund the government, this time supported by Musk, also failed. Musk has become at the least a shadow president.

Since buying Twitter in 2022 for a collosal $44 billion and turning it into X, Musk has used the platform to inflate the reach of his posts (and thereby his own influence on discussion). This may inflate his ego but it hasn’t helped his bank account. Advertisers have fled the site, as have users—especially since last month’s election, after which liberals have flocked to Bluesky. A recent estimate suggested that X is now barely worth more than $10 billion.

For now, Musk has Trump’s ear, Republican Party, and thus a large chunk of American democracy, sitting neatly in his pocket. This is a danger. Musk’s views are to the right of Atilla the Hun and even many Republicans. Today Musk posted on X that “only the AfD can save Germany.” The Alternative für Deutschland, or AfD, is one of Germany’s furthest-right parties, some say neo-Nazi, whose jingoistic desires don’t just stop at mass deportations. AfD politicians have reportedly discussed “remigration,” the process of deporting nonwhite residents, including naturalized citizens and their descendants.

Musk’s proximity to Trump has only amplified his political clout. Musk has been at Trump’s side since the election. Unvetted and unconfirmed, Musk has world-wide contacts which raise serious concerns about mixed loyalties. He has reportedly been a concern for intelligence agencies considering security clearances. And the companies he runs do billions of dollars worth of business with the federal government creating major conflicts of interest.

So who is really in charge in Trump land? It does not appear to be Donald Trump.

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