The world’s richest person, not known for his humility, is still learning the cutthroat courtier politics of Donald Trump’s inner circle — and his ultimate influence remains an open question.
www.nytimes.com
In private meetings at Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Musk shows little familiarity with policy or the potential staff members being discussed, but he returns repeatedly to a central point: What is required, he says, is “radical reform” of government and “reformers” who are capable of executing radical changes, according to two people briefed on the meetings, who insisted on anonymity to describe the internal conversations.
On Wednesday, Mr. Musk, who often criticizes the mainstream news media, wrote an essay in The Wall Street Journal with Mr. Ramaswamy that detailed more of their plan for the new agency they call DOGE.
Mr. Musk has not been particularly aggressive about pushing his preferred names for administration roles. But his tech-world orbit is emboldened and widely seen as influential.
Mick Mulvaney, who served as Mr. Trump’s second chief of staff and now works at a lobbying firm, Actum, has told clients that tech executives are likely to have extraordinary access.
“Elon Musk, Marc Andreessen, David Sacks, Joe Lonsdale and other tech leaders are influencing Trump’s preparations for his second term, something which no other business leaders have been able to do at this level in past presidential elections,” reads a presentation shared by Mr. Mulvaney with clients, which was seen by The New York Times.
