Elon Musk is on everyone’s lips. The CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and X has been one of the most notorious faces during the election campaign, alongside Donald Trump. His alliance with the new president of the United States is not limited to his social media posts or appearing in his speeches: Musk, the world’s richest person according to Forbes, has a position of responsibility in the Republican’s government.
Since Donald Trump‘s inauguration on Monday, January 20, the tycoon has been in charge of the Department of Government Efficiency. Interestingly, its acronym (DOGE) coincides with the name of the cryptocurrency Dogecoin, a currency widely supported by Elon Musk. In fact, cryptocurrencies in general have experienced increases since the arrival of Trump. At his inauguration, Bitcoin reached an all-time high of $109,000.
The role of DOGE, led by Elon Musk
The Department of Government Efficiency will aim, as Trump explained during his inauguration, to “restore competition and effectiveness” of the federal government. On paper, limiting and streamlining public spending, avoiding what it considers unnecessary expenditure and polishing regulations are its objectives. However, the DOGE has already been sued, according to the Washington Post, for alleged lack of transparency.
The political involvement of Elon Musk
Elon Musk has not hidden his political positioning. Obviously, his support for Donald Trump has been clear throughout the campaign, but the tycoon has not limited himself to the geography of the United States. The Tesla CEO has also been critical of Keir Starmer, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, has interviewed the leader of the AfD in Germany, Alice Weidel, and has approached politicians such as Orban, Javier Milei or Giorgia Meloni.
Musk, rich and influential at a superlative level
The businessman, the richest man in the world, seems, by his movements in recent months, to be very involved in political issues. His influence and role on the world geopolitical chessboard is a matter of debate among leaders with different views. Pedro Sanchez, for example, criticised the advance of the “techno-caste”, while Meloni defended his figure: “Is the problem that he is rich and influential or that he is not left-wing?”.
In addition to the headlines he makes, Elon Musk is the owner of the social network X, formerly Twitter, one of the main forums for debate in the digital age. The European Union has this platform in its sights. This network, with more than 200 million monthly active users worldwide, is subject to the Digital Services Act and must therefore control content considered illegal by verification systems.