From the richest man to the political arena! How did Musk become a kingmaker? What impact does it have on American democracy?

Who did we just elect? At the top of the Republican ballot were two names: Trump and J.D. Vance. But this crazy part of November left an impression: others have taken control of our collective destiny.

We have known him in various roles - the acquisition of Twitter and the dismissal of more than half of the employees, the inventor who revived the space program, the car manufacturer whose new truck makes children pause on the sidewalk. Suddenly, Elon Musk entered the political industry, hosting rallies, guiding government appointments, and setting the agenda for the next US president.

For over three years, he has been one of the richest and most powerful people in the world. The market soars and plunges with his posts. Astronauts ride on his spacecraft. The military advances with signals from his satellites. Conspiracy theories become mainstream through his embrace. But it is only under the spotlight of these elections that his influence fully manifests.

Since the era of William Randolph Hearst, this newspaper tycoon has been providing impetus for Roosevelt's rise nearly a century ago. Since then, no ordinary citizen has had such a prominent life in America, and now his political influence has been incorporated into the power field. Standing beside him, even Trump appears almost full of awe. Rather than being a boss, he is more of a companion, because the challenges of this planet are not big enough for him.

Image source: Photo illustration by NurPhoto/Getty Images provided by Time magazine

Currently, they are connected like partners, through their shared desire for the benefits of their transactions and the disruption of government institutions. They may temporarily use a single voice to issue commands. However, their agendas are not consistent on all matters. Both are capricious, impulsive, and accustomed to controlling everything. What will happen if they start to conflict?

In this battle, Musk may not have the upper hand. Throughout history, there have been remnants of the supporters who fought against their appointed leaders. No matter how much wealth or influence Musk has accumulated, the tools of state power will remain in the hands of the president, and things will become chaotic if he decides to use these tools to deal with the billionaire who helped him return to the White House.

Ultimately, the longevity of their cooperative relationship may depend on Musk's motive: what drives him to be the MAGA prophet? If all he wants is money, then the mission is accomplished.

Due to the crazy pursuit of Tesla's stock by investors, his fortune soared by more than $50 billion in the week after the election, reaching a peak of over $320 billion. However, wealth has never been Musk's obsession. He has bet his fortune on moonshot projects, such as building greenhouses on Mars, which is enough to prove that his dreams are different from the ordinary Klingons on Trump's starship. (Jinse Finance Note: Klingons are a belligerent alien race in the fictional universe of Star Trek.)

People close to Musk say his ultimate goal hasn't changed since he started rocket company SpaceX in 2002. (The company's investors include Marc Benioff and Lynne Benioff, owners of Time magazine.) His favorite T-shirt reads: Occupy Mars. "It's all about this mission," a member of Musk's social circle recently spoke to him about his plans. "He just realized that direct or indirect control of the U.S. government budget would put us on Mars in his lifetime." It's slower to do it privately."

This does not mean that American taxpayers will foot the bill for Musk's interstellar travel dreams. But when eccentric dreamers take charge of the government, the public often pays the price. Millions of Americans, from retired factory workers to debt-ridden graduates and newborns, benefit from the social programs Musk has promised to cut. Despite Musk posting multiple tweets every day to his 205 million followers, he has consistently refused to answer reporters' questions since becoming the president-elect's advisor, including this one. He has not explained his contacts with America's adversaries, from China and Russia to Iran. Nor has he resolved conflicts of interest arising from his pivotal role in a government where his businesses are under investigation by regulatory agencies.

So far, Trump seems willing to cooperate. In his victory speech on November 6th, he spent four minutes praising Musk, the "super genius" who helped him campaign on the ground in Pennsylvania. According to reports, he paid campaigners to knock on 11 million doors and hired vans to bring the Amish to polling stations. "We have a new star," Trump cheered on stage in Florida. "A star is born - Musk!" It wasn't until about 19 minutes into the speech that the president-elect returned to the prompter and remembered to thank his voters.

The significance of Musk to the Trump campaign goes far beyond the $120 million he invested, the on-the-ground projects he built, or the social media momentum he provided. For many young people flocking to Trump, Musk is an ideal embodiment. He injects originality and possibility into familiar nostalgic behaviors. If Trump's promise to dismantle corrupt institutions excites his supporters, then Musk represents a commitment to creating new things and solving difficult problems. Trump doesn't look so old at rallies, with this edge-lord of playing Diablo jumping around beside him. While Trump's opponents portray his team as a bunch of fools, the greatest innovator of our time, with a track record of realizing quirky plans, promises to cut $2 trillion in spending, making it even more difficult for his opponents.

No matter how often the Democrats remind us, Trump's wealth comes from inherited wealth, multiple bankruptcies, and decades of corporate shenanigans, they cannot deny Musk's achievements as a businessman. Even billionaire Senator Bernie Sanders, a scourge of the millionaire class, recently sidestepped his criticism in a podcast: 'Elon Musk is a very, very ambitious and capable businessman, and his achievements are impressive. He says, 'I can do more in a week than the government can do in five years,' and in some ways, he's right.'

When people's confidence in the government is at a low ebb, many voters want to see a capable outsider, cold and independent, who knows how to use a large machine to make it leaner, faster, and more efficient. Musk's commitment to American bureaucracy has provided both impetus and cover for cost-cutting on a scale Washington has not seen in years. During Trump's first term, this agenda made little progress. Millions depend on government jobs and the protections offered by regulatory agencies to prevent predatory businesses, such as those that have led us to abuse opioids and smoke to treat asthma. But small-government Republicans will seek to follow in Musk's footsteps, getting caught up in ugly budget battles over federal waste and bloated welfare. Many Americans will support them.

During the campaign, Musk's most convincing argument was not on Joe Rogan's show or at a Trump rally. It was at Boca Chica, Texas, where Musk's aerospace company used robotic arms to catch a returning rocket, astonishing the world. If someone who does this so passionately supports Trump, can't Trump fulfill some of his promises?

Many voters seem to think so, especially young men targeted by Musk's grandstanding. "The most important factor here is that men need to vote," Musk told Logan on the eve of the election. The next day, when 60% of white people voted for Trump, Musk posted: "The cavalry has arrived." But his appeal goes far beyond the manosphere. This also touched a large number of voters who were tired of Trump's character but excited about his policies. TV experts say these people need a "permission structure"; Musk provided that to suburban women like Betsy Stecz. When she queued up for his October rally in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, she said, "Well, I can hold my head up and say: I'm not ashamed to vote for Trump." In her view, the reason is Musk.

Considering the role he played in this victory, Musk may expect some return. However, it is reported that his position during the Trump transition period made some followers uneasy. For most of November, Musk camped at the Lakehouse, weighing cabinet candidates and advising Trump on policy priorities. He played golf with the President-elect, sat ringside at an ultimate fighting championship, and took a photo with the Trump family; a grandchild praised Musk as the 'Uncle'. Musk coined a different term for his position: 'First Partner'.

Source: Kena Betancur-AFP /Getty Images On November 16, 2024, US President-elect Trump, TSL, and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, and Barron Trump (right) watched UFC 309 in Madison Square Garden, New York.

Even such a statement is an understatement. Turkish and Ukrainian leaders let Musk eavesdrop on their conversations with Trump. It was reported that an Iranian envoy accused of attempting to assassinate Trump met with Musk to discuss easing tensions. (The Iranian Foreign Ministry denied the meeting.) When House Republicans invited Trump to a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill, Musk followed, with the label 'GUEST 1' on the window of his car in the Trump motorcade.

At that time, Trump appointed him to lead a new entity called the Department of Government Efficiency. Its abbreviation DOGE is a tribute to Musk's joking promotion of a dog-themed Cryptocurrency. But its mission is serious. Trump claimed to "dissolve" federal bureaucracies and "reorganize" their institutions. "This will send shockwaves through the entire system," Musk said.

It could also influence Musk's relationship with many regulatory agencies overseeing his work. In the weeks leading up to election day, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced an investigation into TSL's self-driving cars following a crash. In June, California regulators ordered TSL to 'address ongoing air quality violations' at its Fremont plant. TSL has stated that its cars are safe and its facilities comply with environmental standards. SpaceX has also clashed with the Federal Aviation Administration, with Musk threatening to sue the agency in September. A New York Times commentary found that his companies are facing at least 20 regulatory battles and investigations from 'every corner of government.' Musk and several representatives declined to comment or respond to questions posed by TIME, including potential conflicts of interest.

He has not yet explained what principles will guide him in cleaning up the bureaucracy. DOGE co-chair Vivek Ramaswamy ran in the last Republican primary on a pro-business, liberal platform. In contrast, Musk's political leanings are harder to pin down. This summer, he called himself a "moderate Democrat" in history. He called climate change the defining challenge of our time. When Barack Obama ran for president in 2008, Musk waited in line for six hours to shake his hand.

His relationship with Trump has often been unstable. They have very different views on tariffs, and Musk resigned as a White House advisor less than six months after protesting against Trump's climate policies. Five years later, Musk said it was time for Trump to 'ride into the sunset,' sparking a strong response. Trump said, 'Musk should focus on getting himself out of the chaos of Twitter, because he may owe $44 billion for something that may be worthless.'

Trump makes sense. Musk's acquisition of Twitter does not have any obvious business significance. By 2022, the cost he paid is at least twice the value of the company, and then he spent weeks destroying the company's source of income and cashing in on its talents. He said that under his leadership, the number of company employees decreased from 8,000 to about 1,500. Some of the posts he posted on the platform (which he renamed 'X') are considered intermittent self-harm by the company. Some people call anti-Semitic theories the 'real truth'. (He later apologized.) Another person shared a conspiracy theory about a hammer attack, which resulted in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband being hospitalized with a fractured skull. In response, dozens of companies, including Microsoft and Coca-Cola, withdrew their ads from the platform. 'Don't advertise,' he told them on stage at a conference last fall. 'If someone wants to extort me with advertising, extort me with money, then you can f**k off.' Investment firm Fidelity evaluated in October that X has lost nearly 80% of its value in the past two years.

Image source: Jinse Finance From top left in clockwise order: Mark Seliger photographed for Time magazine, Mark Mahaney photographed for Time magazine, Nigel Buchanan illustrated for Time magazine, Tim O'Brien illustrated for Time magazine

Musk seems indifferent. Even without most of the employees, the platform continues to operate, often ranking at the top of the Apple App Store's most downloaded news applications. The main advertising clients have returned. For some observers, all of this is enough to applaud Musk's acquisition, calling it a masterpiece of corporate efficiency. A member of Musk's social circle said, "What Elon did to Twitter was, he entered Twitter, cleaned up the room, and now it's running better than before." "So people's emotions are, hoping that Musk can do the same thing with the US government."

This is a daunting task. Even fiscal hawks hesitate to Musk's commitment to cancel $2 trillion in federal spending. This requires cutting other parts of healthcare, social security, and the social safety net. Musk warns the nation to prepare for a period of "temporary difficulty" as these cuts take effect. But it is unclear whether he has the ability to make them. DOGE will remain outside the government and has no authority to dismiss federal employees. Many budget experts expect it to be like countless blue-ribbon panels that try to pressure politicians to cut popular programs, but fail. The U.S. Congress doesn't need help in identifying waste, fraud, and abuse: it already has an oversight department called the Government Accountability Office working diligently to do that.

Many early fans of DOGE have acknowledged the limitations of its potential, but still celebrate it. Wall Street Journal columnist Andy Kessler wrote on November 17th, "Yes, a government efficiency department may be a pipe dream, eventually as essential as the silly walk department of the Python troupe." "But even if Musk's DOGE only trims some fat, saving a few billion dollars, it's worth it.

During the election process, Musk repeatedly talked about the necessity in America. 'Honesty' and 'living within one's means.' But if his social media platform has any guiding significance, his goal may have less to do with efficiency and more to do with ideology. His claimed goal of acquisition of Twitter aligns with one of the reasons he supports Trump the most: he says he wants to save freedom of speech in America. 'Freedom of speech is the cornerstone of democracy,' he told Joe Rogan on the eve of the election. 'Once you lose freedom of speech, you lose democracy. Game over. That's why I bought Twitter.' Multiple reports and studies have concluded that under his management, the platform has become a haven for hate speech and harmful content, partly due to his dismissal of its content moderation team.

When asked to explain his right-leaning views, Musk often refers to the 'work mindset virus,' which is his term for the left-leaning trend in American society. In his view, this left-leaning trend has led to identity politics, cancel culture, and allegedly rampant online censorship. His resentment towards these forces is not just political. During the pandemic, one of his children sought gender-affirming medical services, and Musk claims he was deceived into approving it. His transgender daughter, now 20 years old, has a strained relationship with her father and legally changed her name to Vivian Jenna Wilson in 2022. In a July podcast, Musk said his child 'is already dead, killed by the woke virus. I swear to eliminate the work mindset virus from now on.'

Wilson responded the next day, 'As a dead bitch, I look pretty good.' On November 5th, as the election results became clear, Wilson posted another message, 'Blame those damn politicians and Oligopoly that caused all this to happen,' she wrote. 'Vent your anger on them.'

In ancient Greek, the term Oligopoly in politics means "rule by a few." Its earliest critic was Aristotle. In the 4th century BC, this philosopher described it as a situation where "those who possess wealth rule the government." In medieval Venice, the leaders of the Oligopoly group exercised lifelong rule, and their title was the same as the one Musk gave to his new department: Governor.

Image source: Rolling Stone / Getty Images Elon Musk spoke at a rally for former President and presidential candidate Donald Trump in the United States. Sasha Leka

The most pure embodiment of this system in modern times was in Russia in the 1990s, when a few businessmen acquired control of the national economy during the chaotic transition to capitalism. In Russian, the term for the political Oligopoly is 'semibankirshchina' - the rule of seven bankers.

The most powerful of them is Boris Berezovsky, who used his media assets to help Putin win the first election in 2000, hoping that the new president would share the spoils of power. Instead, the two started quarreling. The Russian government quickly forced Berezovsky into exile and confiscated his television network. The oligopoly went bankrupt and lonely, and died in his mansion in the British countryside in 2013. The authorities ruled it as suicide. To this day, his former media channels still convey information from the Kremlin.

One of Boris Berezovsky's close associates, Alex Goldfarb, now lives in New Jersey, following in the footsteps of Musk and Trump with a mix of familiarity and dread. 'It seems that an Oligopoly is also forming here,' he said. 'Under Putin's leadership in the early years, the Oligopolies fought fiercely against the state,' Goldfarb said. 'Here, it seems that we have two Oligopolies, Musk and Trump, working together to take over the country.'

The outcome may depend on how this new duopoly treats the institutions they are about to control. If the goal is to hone them into leaner, more effective governance tools, the public could benefit from reshaping a system long hobbled by bureaucratic sclerosis. But Trump also uses these tools as Putin does in Russia— to benefit his fren and sideline enemies.

Musk could benefit immensely from this arrangement. As long as he insists on playing the role of the "first partner," he can expect to easily circumvent the regulatory agencies appointed by Trump throughout the government. Therefore, the clearest path to Mars for him would be straight through the Oval Office. But besides witnessing his spectacular success, what benefits can ordinary Americans get?

Institutions that provide us with healthcare, maintain clean water, and educate children should not operate like businesses. They are not built for profit, but that does not drop their value, especially for citizens who cannot afford the cost. If these institutions are eliminated in Musk's drive for efficiency, the difficulties will not be temporary for those who rely on government support. For them, this pain may be devastating, and Musk's commitment to the future of space cannot help them solve today's problems.

[Disclaimer] There are risks in the market, and investment should be prudent. This article does not constitute investment advice. Users should consider whether any opinions, viewpoints, or conclusions in this article are suitable for their specific situation. Investing based on this is at your own risk.

This article is authorized to be reproduced from: 'Foresight News'

Original Author: Simon Shuster, Time

'From the richest man to the political arena! How did Musk become the kingmaker? What impact does it have on American democracy?' This article was first published in '01928374656574839201 City'