Former President Trump is considering offering billionaire Elon Musk an advisory role in the White House if Trump reclaims the presidency in this fall's election, according to a report.
The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the talks, that Trump and Musk have discussed a role that would give the Tesla CEO a formal opportunity to provide input and have influence over border security and economic policies – areas in which Musk has been outspoken on his social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
Trump and Musk previously had a contentious relationship, which has since warmed as the two talk on the phone regularly, the Journal reported. The outlet noted that some of its sources indicated that Musk and billionaire investor Nelson Peltz have discussed an initiative to prevent voter fraud with Trump, as well as an effort to persuade elites against supporting President Biden's re-election campaign.
Musk has increasingly weighed in on political issues in recent years, criticizing a number of liberal policies as being the result of what he calls the "woke mind virus." He has been particularly critical of the Biden administration's handling of border security as record numbers of people have entered the U.S. illegally through the southern border in the last few years.
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Last week, Musk posted a video of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., discussing immigration policy and wrote on X, "The goal of citizenship for all illegals is very clearly stated by the leader of the Senate. For some reason, a lot of people still think this is some crazy conspiracy theory!"
Musk's potential involvement as an advisor in a future Trump White House could further complicate his leadership role at companies he founded like Tesla, SpaceX, X, and artificial intelligence startup xAI.
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His role as Tesla CEO is under scrutiny with shareholders set to vote in June on the reinstatement of his $56 billion pay package, which was struck down by a Delaware judge in January.
Proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis cited Musk's numerous commitments as a reason that the compensation plan should be rejected because of his "slate of extraordinarily time-consuming projects" as well as the "excessive size" of the pay package.
