Tech billionaire Elon Musk speaks at Trump’s rally in New York on October 27 (Photo: Reuters) |
Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will co-lead a newly created Department of Government Efficiency.
Trump said in a statement that Musk and Ramaswamy would pave the way for his administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies.
It’s no surprise that Trump chose Musk, the billionaire owner of Tesla and SpaceX to join his new administration. Musk became a key ally during Trump’s election campaign, reportedly spending well over 100 million USD to help the Republican win and repeatedly promoting Trump's candidacy on X, the social media platform he owns.
Alice Baxter, a sociology professor at City University in the UK, said: “I think what is quite unique with Musk is the fact that he is not only an entrepreneur but a tech entrepreneur who has influence over a variety of different industries and his influence extends really beyond his technical capacity.”
On Tuesday, Trump named South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to serve as his Secretary of Homeland Security. Trump also announced he was choosing his former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe to lead the Central Intelligence Agency. Trump named military veteran and Fox News host Pete Hegseth as his incoming Defense Secretary.