President-elect Donald Trump hugs Elon Musk during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in October. In recent months, the two men have maintained a warm relationship.

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On Wednesday morning, after the US election, Elon Musk posted what looked like a message AI-generated image of yourself on X, the social media platform he owns. In it he salutes the American flag in front of a dusty pink sky. His caption reads: “It’s morning again in America.”

It was the culmination of his frantic efforts to re-elect Donald Trump as president. In recent weeks, Musk pogote with excitement During one of Trump's rallies, he poured out more than $100 million of his personal money into a pro-Trump super PAC and hunkered down with Trump in West Palm Beach as vote counts came in on election night.

When Trump gave his victory speech, he singled out Musk. “We have a new star,” he explained. “A star is born – Elon!”

Musk is the richest man in the world with a fortune of around $290 billion and has a lot to gain from a Trump presidency. Many of the companies he owns, including Tesla, SpaceX and Starlink, are heavily dependent on government subsidies. He is already profiting from the stock market with his investments an increase of more than $26 billion on November 6th. With a friendly government, Musk could continue to amass wealth and consolidate his power, while also using his feed on X as a megaphone to empower his allies.

“The whole idea of ​​quid pro quo is pretty clear,” says Gita Johar, pointing to the very public interaction and warm relationship between the two men over the course of the campaign. Johar is a professor at Columbia Business School and researches X and consumer psychology. “Musk has so explicitly supported Trump with unprecedented support – not just financially, but also through his personal presence. And I think the idea and the expectation was, 'You take care of me and I'll take care of you.'”

The Trump campaign, representatives for X and Musk did not respond to requests for comment.

Here are several ways the Trump administration could potentially benefit Musk and his companies.

Musk could become Trump's new “Minister of Cost Cutting”.

In August, Musk floated the idea of ​​creating a “Government Efficiency Commission” to act as an auditor for the entire federal government. He brought it up first during a live streaming conversation with Trump on X. Musk said the commission can ensure taxpayers' money is “spent well.”

Just three weeks later, Trump announced he would create the commission and location Musk is in charge.

Ethics experts immediately pointed out many conflicts of interest: Musk's businesses being regulated by multiple federal agencies. His electric car company Tesla receives government funding and received millions Install charging stations for electric vehicles. His rocket company SpaceX has won billion-dollar government contracts for lunar missions. And his satellite internet company Starlink did also received millions in subsidies from the federal government.

During the first Trump administration, at least one administration official — Wilbur Ross, who was commerce secretary — was reportedly able to do this Disregarding ethical rules with few consequences. Ross failed to divest his multi-million dollar fortune even after he said he would and despite telling ethics officials he had done so.

As head of a government commission, Musk could have significant influence over federal agencies and the allocation of budgets. Trump did not detail how the commission would work or what kind of autonomy it would have. However, he has stressed that major budget cuts are being considered.

During his campaign rallies, Trump repeatedly referred to the commission and called Musk the “secretary of cost cutting.” Musk has said that in this role he would cut nearly a third of the federal budget – a a staggering $2 trillion. Similar commissions in the past did not have the authority to actually make cuts, only to make recommendations to Congress.

What will happen to the federal investigation into Musk's business empire?

During President Joe Biden's administration, Musk's companies have been under increased regulatory scrutiny. The Justice Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Trade Commission have all launched investigations into his dealings.

The Ministry of Justice has investigated Tesla for allegedly misleading consumers about the autonomous driving capabilities of its vehicles and for wire fraud. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration an investigation has been initiated in Tesla's Autopilot driver assistance system, which has been blamed for several fatal accidents. This led to the recall of more than 2 million vehicles last year.

In response to the recall, Musk said posted to X: “The funny police forced us to do this (sigh).”

The Environmental Protection Agency has investigated and fined several of Musk's companies, including Tesla And SpaceX. According to NPR's reports, there were almost 20 methane gas turbines installed in Musk's xAI artificial intelligence supercomputer facilitysaid the EPA was “reviewing the matter.”

X was also the focus of government investigations. The Federal Trade Commission has investigated the social media site's privacy practicesand the Securities and Exchange Commission has clashed with Musk his stock purchase at the company and said he did not initially disclose his investment. Musk began accumulating shares in 2021 and bought the company about a year later for $44 billion.

At one point, during another dispute with the SEC – this time over Tesla – Musk mocked the agency publication“SEC, three letter acronym, middle word is Elons.”

Like Musk, Trump's disdain for regulation is well known. And experts like Johar say looser regulation would likely be encouraged under his presidency.

“I think the government contracts would be given to Musk without much oversight,” Johar says. “And that’s a lack of regulation, a lack of oversight – all of that will benefit Musk.”

Trump has already made it clear that he is a fan of Musk's company. The former president, who once criticized electric carsnow seems to support Tesla. During a rally in August, Trump announced: “I’m for electric cars. I have to be, you know, because Elon has been very supportive of me.” And in October, with a nod to SpaceX, he said, “We're going to land an American astronaut on Mars.” Thanks, Elon.”

During Trump's victory speech Wednesday morning, he called out Musk and said, “We have to protect our geniuses. We don't have that many of them.”

X could become more of an influence machine

It's been like this since Musk bought X becoming more and more of a megaphone for conservative politics. He often supports right-wing leaders, talking points and political views. He has hyped his favorite politicians, spread conspiracy theories about immigration and other hot-button issues and denigrated Vice President Kamala Harris.

“Kamala has sworn from day one that he is a communist dictator,” Musk said posted in September, together with an AI-generated image by Harris in a red outfit and a hat decorated with a hammer and sickle. “Can you believe she’s wearing that outfit?”

Musk has the largest account on For example, he spread the false claim that Haitian immigrants eat other people's pets in Springfield, Ohiowhich quickly spread across X and spilled over into real life in the small town. After city officials dismissed the claims as false, they received anonymous threats, including 33 bomb threats against local schools. according to CNN.

Since Musk endorsed Trump in July, he has increasingly promoted pro-Trump posts and conservative politicians, according to a report detailed analysis of The Wall Street Journal. The Magazine'S The analysis shows that the algorithm of

“(Musk) has the megaphone now. And I think Trump will get that megaphone more broadly,” Johar says. “There's a universe of people on X who are just going to keep cheering it on. And when we talk about how we all live in our bubbles, I think that’s a huge bubble.”

Under Trump, X could be seen as a platform endorsed by the President of the United States – making it an even bigger influence machine.

On election night, one of Musk's contributions He read to his millions of followers: “You are the media now.”