Elon Musk is the X-factor in the new Trump administration

Billionaire Elon Musk dedicated important idiosyncratic clip and astatine slightest $260m to Donald Trump’s statesmanlike campaign.

That monolithic concern paid disconnected for Trump, who has present returned to the White House. And it’s paid disconnected for Musk, who has bought himself a prime spot astatine the caller president’s array – helium virtually dined with the Trump household connected Thanksgiving.

Musk has besides been fixed a perchance almighty relation arsenic caput of the “Department of Government Efficiency”, a nebulous nongovernmental entity charged with auditing the full national government. And arsenic Trump begins to reassert his overseas argumentation successful his aboriginal days backmost successful office, Musk has made himself a cardinal beingness successful Trump’s advertisement hoc diplomacy.

Musk joined Trump connected a call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and astatine the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral successful Paris hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron.

Musk’s increasing relation arsenic an adviser, and possibly more, connected issues of overseas argumentation presents 1 of the biggest chaotic cards for the caller Trump administration. If Musk remains arsenic influential successful the Trump medication arsenic helium has been during the run and modulation periods, we are poised to spot an American overseas argumentation driven by Musk’s nett worth, his worldview, and, astir notably, his ego.

Musk’s nine-figure concern successful getting Trump elected has already benefitted Musk financially. Tesla’s marketplace headdress topped $1 trillion and Musk’s idiosyncratic luck grew to much than $300bn instantly aft Trump’s win. Investors are counting connected Musk’s companies benefitting from entree to Trump, and they person bully crushed to judge that adjacent American overseas argumentation volition crook to service these firm interests.

Musk has managed to funnel American payer dollars into his concern ventures for years by coating his bottommost enactment arsenic a nationalist good. Early successful the Obama administration, the national authorities extended a $465m loan to Tesla arsenic portion of its economical stimulus and cleanable vigor agendas, helping the institution determination from a niche subordinate to a large unit successful the car industry. In 2015, the Los Angeles Times documented astir $5bn successful authorities subsidies acquired by Musk’s companies, including Telsa and SpaceX, and that fig has lone grown implicit time. For instance, though Musk had initially donated the usage of his Starlink outer net work to Ukraine during its warfare against Russia, the Pentagon softly picked up the tab for an undisclosed magnitude aft Musk threatened to chopped the work off.

But adjacent these examples airy successful examination to the grade to which American overseas argumentation whitethorn beryllium dictated by Musk’s firm interests going forward. Amid European efforts to modulate Musk’s societal media level X and punish Musk for noncompliance, incoming Vice President JD Vance suggested that continuing American enactment for NATO beryllium conditioned connected Europe rolling backmost its efforts against X.

Musk has lobbied the Trump medication to kill a taxation credit connected electrical vehicles, a determination that would woody a stroke to US car manufacturers similar General Motors and Ford – helping Musk’s ain Tesla by hurting these competitors – and payment China, which already has a immense pb connected the EV market, including overmuch of Tesla’s production.

Musk’s power connected overseas argumentation whitethorn person an outsized interaction connected areas of the satellite wherever Trump is simply uninterested. Take sub-Saharan Africa, a portion that Trump mostly ignored extracurricular of dismissing countries determination arsenic “s***holes” and targeting respective of them with his alleged “Muslim ban”. Musk’s Starlink work is rapidly expanding crossed Africa. This has boosted net entree successful a fig of countries, but continued enlargement faces regulatory hurdles. This is simply a argumentation country successful which Musk could usage the levers of American power to unit these governments to driblet their attempts to restrict oregon modulate Starlink. Such a determination would person some benefits and costs for the countries involved, expanding connectivity for their citizens but perchance costing telecom jobs if section providers are pushed retired of business. But the benefits to Musk are clear, and Musk is well-positioned to usage his leverage present and elsewhere to the payment of his firm empire.

Outside of promoting positions and policies that would summation his already monolithic nett worth, Musk has besides established an progressively blimpish governmental docket which sometimes supersedes his fiscal interests. Musk’s impulsive acquisition of Twitter seems to person been driven by his absolutist presumption connected “free speech” and his tendency to ain a level wherever helium tin freely stock his ain opinions astir the world. As Musk has drifted to the acold close successful his ain views, which helium regularly shares connected X, helium has recovered a kindred tone successful Donald Trump. In caller months, Musk has tweeted successful favour of cutting foreign aid and expressed scepticism astatine international treaties that “restrict the freedoms of Americans,” ideas that resonate with Trump.

Trump and Musk so stock a penchant for cosying up to authoritarians and the acold right. After sparking contention connected Inauguration Day by giving what appeared to beryllium a Nazi salute – an accusation that Musk has subsequently mocked online – the billionaire appeared by video astatine an lawsuit held by Germany’s far-right AfD party. Musk has antecedently insisted that “only AfD tin prevention Germany.” Musk has likewise backed far-right absorption parties successful countries specified arsenic the UK. In the past, Musk made statements appearing to appease Russian power implicit Crimea – seemingly aft Musk had communicated with Putin implicit the contented – and Chinese ambitions to instrumentality power of Taiwan. Musk is besides processing a relationship with Argentina’s right-wing President Javier Milei, who has slashed the country’s budget successful a determination to combat out-of-control inflation, but astatine the outgo of plummeting GDP and rising poverty. Musk sees Milei’s policies arsenic a exemplary to beryllium duplicated successful the US. When it comes to alienating longstanding American allies and placating autocrats and ideologues, Musk is acceptable to reenforce Trump’s ain tendencies.

But figuring retired the ideological absorption that Musk volition crook American overseas argumentation is possibly not the astir applicable framework for viewing his engagement with the incoming administration. From Musk’s constituent of view, his concerns astir the directions that the satellite volition instrumentality connected important issues similar warfare and bid look rooted little successful rule and much successful the thought that helium should beryllium the 1 guiding these outcomes. Musk is an egoist; helium wants to beryllium the 1 implementing the expansive visions for the world, adjacent if his mercurial quality means that the contented of those visions changes frequently.

Look astatine his engagement successful the Russia-Ukraine war. Shortly aft the Russian penetration successful 2022, Musk challenged Vladimir Putin to a fistfight to resoluteness the issue. When that solution did not work, Musk volunteered the usage of his Starlink services to Ukraine, giving the country’s subject a much-needed logistical lifeline. But Musk’s donation of his Starlink outer net services to Ukraine has not simply been an enactment of generosity oregon solidarity with Ukraine. Rather, it’s portion of a larger effort by Musk to negociate the conflict. This tin beryllium seen by Musk’s decisions to limit what Starlink tin beryllium utilized for – implicit the objections of the Ukrainian authorities and its subject strategists. Furthermore, Musk has reportedly had initially undisclosed conversations with Vladimir Putin, and the businessman offered an unsolicited “peace plan” that was rapidly rejected by Zelenskyy arsenic appeasement to Russia.

In short, Musk unilaterally decided to insert himself arsenic a large subordinate successful the Russia-Ukraine war. Having attempted to micromanage the struggle arsenic a backstage citizen, Musk’s increasing relation arsenic a quasi-government cause for Trump volition lone magnify his consciousness of self-importance successful planetary affairs.

As a businessman, Musk has taken the attack of casting a wide net, invested successful everything from electrical vehicles to abstraction question to societal media successful bid to make a many-headed firm hydra. As helium enters politics, his ill-defined Department of Government Efficiency has seen itself arsenic having the full national authorities arsenic its jurisdiction. Musk is apt to instrumentality a likewise all-encompassing presumption of overseas policy, stepping into immoderate and each concern successful which helium sees himself arsenic smarter than the experts.

And Trump, who values loyalty and wealthiness supra credentials erstwhile selecting his apical aides, seems to beryllium encouraging this benignant of overreach.

Musk met with Iran’s ambassador to the UN successful a speech towards resetting relations betwixt the 2 countries. This task is simply a gangly bid aft Trump authorised the sidesplitting of a apical Iranian wide during his archetypal presidency and Iran allegedly authorised an assassination crippled against Trump successful retaliation. Most administrations, seeking to negociate specified a important reboot of bilateral relations with a large geopolitical foe successful the mediate of a precarious clip for the Middle East, would delegate the task to top-level nonrecreational diplomats alternatively than a mercurial billionaire.

But Donald Trump is not astir presidents and Elon Musk is not astir billionaires. The semi-isolationist “Make America Great Again” Trump is lone somewhat funny successful the remainder of the world, and Musk has expansive designs to rework the world, and other worlds arsenic well, according to his ain whims. Whether it’s Middle East diplomacy, European struggle oregon African infrastructure, look for Elon Musk to asseverate that helium knows best, with the value of the US authorities present down him.

The views expressed successful this nonfiction are the author’s ain and bash not needfully bespeak Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.