Elon Musk weighed in over the weekend on the increasingly tense battle for Treasury secretary in the second Trump administration — and that has reportedly raised the hackles of some Trump advisers, who worry that his influence could be too great. has increased.
The Washington Post reported that the social media endorsement of Musk by Howard Litnick, who is co-leading the Trump transition team, could add confusion to the process. A consultant suggested. Post that Musk was acting as a “co-president” and could exceed his advisory role with Trump;
Trump’s transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Musk encouraged people on X on Saturday to “weigh in” on who they think should be Treasury secretary, then endorsed Lutnick over hedge fund manager Scott Besant, saying “Besant is a business-as-usual choice.” , while @howardlutnick will actually make a difference.”
Besant is more skeptical of cryptocurrencies than Lutnick, who has suggested that people could use them to pay taxes.
Musk played a key role in Trump’s re-election, pouring more than $100 million of his own money into a Trump-focused political action committee and appearing at several rallies. However, Trump’s public push for Litnik before his decision caught many off guard.
Despite the apparent uneasiness of some Trump staffers over Musk’s actions, there is no evidence that a rift has developed between Musk and Trump. Musk is still spending much of his time at Mar-a-Lago and accompanied Trump to New York on Saturday to attend a UFC fight.
Whoever becomes Treasury secretary, Musk is likely to work somewhat closely with him as part of his duties with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). DOGE will work with the White House Office of Management and Budget to implement Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s recommendations. Musk has previously said he believes a $2 trillion cut from the federal budget is possible, though many are skeptical of that figure.
