Is There a Spot for Elon Musk in a Second Trump Administration?

Donald Trump is said to mulling over a possible commission to cut government spending if he’s reelected, which is something billionaire Elon Musk has shown interest in. But would that be a conflict of interest?

With the election between the former president and Vice President Kamala Harris only two months away, there has been speculation about what each candidate’s future administration would look like.

On Monday, The Washington Post reported that Trump and his advisers have been privately talking for months about creating a commission led by a business executive to identify thousands of government programs to eliminate in a Trump administration.

Last month, Musk, an ardent Trump supporter, the owner of X (formerly Twitter) and the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX—posted what appears to be a photo of himself generated by artificial intelligence. It shows him standing at a podium that says on its front “Department of Government Efficiency.” In the post, he wrote simply, “I am willing to serve.”

Newsweek reached out via email to Trump’s campaign for comment, as well as Tesla for comment from Musk, on Monday morning.

It’s unclear if Musk is seriously considering a role in cutting government programs in a possible Trump second administration, but could that even ethically be done?

“It raises questions that the commission’s focus is on saving taxpayer dollars, but you have someone potentially involved whose company is one of the biggest recipients of federal spending,” Anna Massoglia, a money in politics expert at the nonprofit OpenSecrets, told the Post.

Tesla and SpaceX have both received government funding. Tesla got $36 million in federal money to install at least 328 electric vehicle charging plugs, according to data from Atlas Public Policy.

Meanwhile, SpaceX has received $2.2 billion from a 2021 NASA contract worth up to $4.4 billion to build a human landing system for the agency’s Artemis moon missions.

“Cracking down on government waste and abuse is important, but we also need to have accountability mechanisms so private sector actors involved in this kind of program can’t manipulate it for personal gain,” Massoglia said.

Meanwhile, Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., wrote on X on August 13, “Who else loves the idea of Elon Musk heading up a government efficiency committee to eliminate the likely trillions of dollars of waste we have in our bloated bureaucracy? I can’t imagine a better person for the task. Trump will make this happen!”

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Who else loves the idea of Elon Musk heading up a government efficiency committee to eliminate the likely trillions of dollars of waste we have in our bloated bureaucracy? I can’t imagine a better person for the task.

Trump will make this happen!

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) August 13, 2024

Trump picked a few wild cards in his previous administration, as when he tapped Anthony Scaramucci, a Wall Street financier, to be the White House communications director. Or when he chose retired Marine General James “Mad Dog” Mattis, who once said it was “fun to shoot” the enemy in war, as defense secretary. Scaramucci lasted in the White House only 11 days and is now a Trump critic. As for Mattis, he resigned in December 2018, telling Trump that his views on “treating alliances with respect” were different than the president’s.

But Trump told former Navy SEAL Shawn Ryan on his YouTube show, which was streamed on August 26, that he doesn’t see a Cabinet position as a possibility for Musk, given all the business he’s running.

“What he really would like to do is get involved in cutting some of the fat, and he does know how to do it. He loves the country,” Trump said. “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 added that Musk could serve as a consultant to his administration.