Elon Musk’s role in Trump’s inauguration shows tech titan’s influence

Getting humans to Mars has long been an obsession for SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. On Monday, that project got a full endorsement from the newly sworn-in president.

During his inaugural address, President Donald Trump promised he would “pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts who plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars.”

Musk, standing just a few feet away, grinned widely and pumped his fists in the air.

The moment sharply illustrated the unusual partnership the billionaire tech titan, who has lucrative contracts with the federal government, has established with the incoming president.

The blossoming relationship was on full display throughout the inaugural ceremonies. Musk heaped praise on Trump during a rally shortly after the swearing-in, repeating Trump’s promise of a coming “golden age” for the country.

“It is thanks to you that the future of civilization is assured,” Musk told the crowd at Capital One Arena.

On his social media platform X, Musk posted his approval of Trump returning to power for a second term: “The Return of the King.”

During the inauguration inside the Capitol Rotunda, Musk was seated in a row that included other tech giants, including Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. All were seated behind Trump’s wife, Melania, and children, though Musk was seated closest to Trump.

Shortly after Trump’s youngest son, Barron, arrived at his seat in the second row, he turned and shook hands with Musk, who was visible in the televised shot of the podium throughout much of the proceedings. The treatment follows a hearty embrace by Trump of Musk, the Tesla owner and world’s wealthiest person.

Musk contributed roughly $200 million to America PAC, a super political action committee that worked to organize Trump support last fall.

The proximity of so many of the world’s wealthiest people to Trump’s incoming government led former President Joe Biden to warn of a burgeoning U.S. oligarchy of tech billionaires.

Among the projects Trump has assigned Musk is to work with former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy on an effort known as the Department of Government Efficiency. The mandate of the advisory group, which operates outside the formal government, is to slash federal bureaucracy, regulations and spending, a target Musk set last year at $2 trillion, roughly the size of the deficit.

Cuts of that scale would likely require targeting entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare, as well as laying off hundreds of thousands of federal employees. Though still bullish on the prospect for deep cuts, Musk noted during a public forum earlier this month that the $2 trillion target might be difficult to achieve.

“I think if you try for $2 trillion, I think we can get to 1 (trillion),” Musk said during a question-and-answer session on X with pollster Mark Penn.

Since the election, Musk has been a regular visitor to Trump’s resort in Palm Beach, Florida, and has been part of calls and meetings with prospects for Cabinet positions and world leaders.

It hasn’t all been rosy. There has been some early tension between Musk and influential Trump supporters, including former campaign adviser and conservative podcaster Steve Bannon, over Musk’s support for immigration visas that bring skilled foreign workers to the U.S.

Though Trump appears to have sided with Musk and others in the tech industry, Bannon criticized the program as at odds with the administration’s “America first” mantra. In what could signal a division within Trump’s base, Bannon vowed this month in an interview with an Italian newspaper to “have Elon Musk run out of here.”

Musk also stirred up some Republican lawmakers after he helped scuttle a bipartisan government funding proposal last month, in part by posting false claims on X, where he has over 200 million followers. The platform has largely abandoned guardrails against misinformation and has experienced a surge in conspiracy theories and bogus claims since Musk bought what was then Twitter nearly three years ago. That has raised concerns about how it could be used to manipulate public perception given its owner’s ties to the Trump administration.

During his rally speech later at the arena, Musk could hardly contain his enthusiasm about Trump’s second term.

“Man, I can’t wait,” he said. “This is going to be fantastic.”

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Associated Press writer Ali Swenson in New York contributed to this report.