Photo illustration by 731.
In the aftermath of Donald Trump’s felony conviction for fraud, his followers scrambled to be first to reaffirm their fealty to the twice-impeached Republican. But for some reason, Trump’s new status as a convict also was accompanied by a resurgence of stories about another right-wing figure—Elon Musk—and their warming relationship.
Bloomberg has reported on how Musk is advising the presumptive GOP presidential candidate on all things crypto (maybe Dogecoin?), and the Wall Street Journal has related details about their time together in Florida—as well as the Tesla chief executive’s potential role in a second Trump administration. Bloomberg’s national politics correspondent Nancy Cook joined Bloomberg Businessweek senior writer Max Chafkin and tech reporter Kurt Wagner to talk about all of this. Also, the panel looked at some recent legal issues.
Musk is to be deposed soon as part of a US Securities and Exchange Commission probe into his Twitter deal. Specifically, the regulator wants to know why Musk didn’t disclose the 9.2% share of Twitter he bought before starting his acquisition. He’s also been sued for an alleged $7.5 billion insider trading scheme involving Tesla shares he sold—ostensibly to fund his Twitter purchase. And these are just a few items from the very long list of legal actions pending against him—including a dozen or more lawsuits from former Twitter vendors and employees looking to get paid.
Musk’s critics might argue that the allegations, if true, could be considered part of a larger pattern of the billionaire showing little reverence for business norms. Coincidentally, it’s a characteristic he would share with the freshly convicted Trump, also the subject of three pending indictments for, among other things, mishandling America’s defense secrets and subverting a 248-year-old democracy.
Speaking of Trump, it seems his on-again-off-again relationship with Musk is very much “on.” Bloomberg reporting shows that the two men are talking regularly on the phone, including conversations about crypto policy, which the Trump campaign has been considering more closely as something younger voters might care about.
Musk has denied having those discussions, at least about crypto. But there’s no disputing that his public embrace of Trump’s views on immigration has been prominent this year. There is also talk of Musk appearing at the Republican National Convention.
The support that Musk has shown for the Republican Party and its standard bearer so far doesn’t seem to be financial, at least according to public records.
X will be partnering with NewsNation on a series of “town halls,” featuring Trump and Robert Kennedy Jr. This is a kind of return to Twitter for Trump, although he is still tied to TruthSocial in terms of his regular communiqués.