The once-strained relationship between Elon Musk and Donald Trump has healed to the point that the Tesla CEO said Monday he is willing to be a part of Trump’s cabinet, if the Republican presidential nominee is elected in November.
Trump brought up the idea of Musk serving in his cabinet Monday in an interview with Reuters. Asked if he would consider naming Musk to a cabinet job or an advisory role, Trump said, “He's a very smart guy. I certainly would, if he would do it, I certainly would. He's a brilliant guy.”
Musk replied on X within hours, posting, “I am willing to serve.” Musk’s sincerity in that statement, though, was undermined by the image he attached to it—an AI-created picture of him at a podium labeled "Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E.)." (Musk has long been a backer of the Dogecoin meme cryptocoin.)
Musk endorsed Trump for president after the candidate survived an assassination attempt and recently interviewed him on the social media platform. There were reports that Musk had committed $45 million per month to a super PAC supporting Trump, but Musk later denied making that pledge.
The possibility of Musk as a member of the cabinet or an advisor is a substantial change in thinking from where Musk and Trump stood just two years ago.
In July of 2022, Trump called Musk a “bulls**t artist” after Musk said he was leaning towards voting for Ron DeSantis. Musk fired back on X that “it’s time for Trump to hang up his hat and sail into the sunset,” later adding, “Trump would be 82 at end of term, which is too old to be chief executive of anything, let alone the United States of America.”
Musk had also previously criticized Trump, calling him a “bull in a china shop.”
