Elon Musk (L) and Donald Trump (R).
David Swanson | Vincent Alban | Reuters
Former President Donald Trump said that Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk likely couldn’t serve in his hypothetical White House cabinet due to the demanding schedule of running his various companies.
“He wants to be involved. Now look, he’s running big businesses and all that, so he can’t, really, I don’t think he could be cabinet,” Trump said of Musk in an interview with former Navy Seal Shawn Ryan, an excerpt of which was published on Sunday. “I’d put him in the cabinet, absolutely, but I don’t know how he could do that with all the things he’s got going.”
Trump’s comment gives him a potential exit ramp from his newly formed alliance with Musk if he wins the November election against Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.
“He can sort of, as the expression goes, consult with the country and give you some very good ideas,” Trump said. He used artificial intelligence as an example of where Musk could help.
As recently as two years ago, Trump and Musk were in an open feud, exchanging insults on public forums like social media and at political rallies.
But they’ve become allies in this election as Musk wades further into right-wing politics. Musk publicly endorsed Trump last month, moments after the assassination attempt on the former president.
Prior to that, Musk helped form a pro-Trump super political action committee in May. Meanwhile, Trump has revived his presence on the X platform after a years-long hiatus during which he was exclusively posting to Truth Social, the site owned by Trump Media.
Both men have floated the idea of governing together if the former president wins a second term.
“I think it would be great to just have a government efficiency commission,” Musk said in a conversation with Trump earlier this month streamed on X. “And I’d be happy to help out on such a commission.”
Trump’s comments to Ryan suggest there will still be some distance between the two.
“Elon and I have a great relationship. He’s great,” Trump told Ryan. “He’s a totally unusually character…But he is a brilliant guy.”