Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s once frosty relationship seems to have almost completely thawed at this point as the former (and possibly future) president apparently told the Tesla CEO about how much he loves the Cybertruck. It’s a match made in shithead heaven.
In fact, Musk actually gave Trump a shoutout as he addressed his fans and Tesla shareholders at the automaker’s annual meeting, according to Bloomberg. He told them that Trump calls him often and is a “huge fan” of that stainless steel monstrosity. Here’s what Musk said about his interactions with Trump during the meeting:
“I have had some conversations with him and he does call me out of the blue for no reason,” Tesla’s chief executive officer said Thursday from the company’s Austin headquarters. “I don’t know why, but he does.”
[…]
“A lot of his friends now have Teslas, and they all love it, and he’s a huge fan of the Cybertruck,” Musk said. “So I think maybe those are contributing factors.”
This also represents a bit of a shift in thinking and rhetoric from Trump, a guy who has long rallied against the rise of electric vehicles. At a rally in Arizona, Bloomberg reports he said he was a “big fan” of both Musk and electric vehicles. In the past, we’ve reported on how he feels EVs would hurt U.S. auto workers and will just simply not work in this country. Money talks, I guess, and Elon has a lot of money. The multi-company CEO says Trump is always “very nice when he calls,” and has said that EVs are actually good for the future, and the U.S. is a leader in battery-powered cars.
Recently, Trump and Musk have gotten a whole lot closer. He has been counseling the former president on cryptocurrency policy, according to Bloomberg. God, those conversations must be awful. Overall, the two men have become more and more aligned when it comes to political positions. In fact, we’ve reported that Musk could actually take on some sort of advisory role should Trump be reelected in November.
Here’s more reporting on the matter, from The Wall Street Journal:
Musk, along with the billionaire investor Nelson Peltz, has also briefed Trump on a plan they have developed to invest in a data-driven project to prevent voter fraud, according to some of the people. Peltz and Musk also told Trump of an influence campaign in elite circles that is already under way, in which Musk and his political allies host gatherings of powerful business leaders across the country to try to convince them not to support President Biden’s re-election campaign.
As recently as two years ago, Trump and Musk were publicly trading insults. But in recent months, the two men are developing a friendly rapport and talk on the phone several times a month as the election nears, the people familiar with their talks said.
The pair have held discussions on immigration, technology and science, including the U.S. Space Force. Their views and interests have grown more aligned, the people said, with Musk calling Trump directly on his cellphone.
Trump has told Musk, one of the world’s wealthiest people, he wants to find a way to get him more involved if he wins in November.
Musk—who has a long history of flouting convention in the business world—has signaled he isn’t interested in simply writing a check to a super PAC, which can accept unlimited amounts of money from donors and is a popular way for the billionaire class to support candidates. Instead, he has elected to use his clout in elite business and technology circles to help defeat Biden by galvanizing the support of influential allies.
I cannot imagine what sort of diabolical ideals these two guys could put together if they were actually running the country. Scary stuff.