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What Elon Musk Stands to Gain from a Trump Presidency · Elon Musk Podcast

• 0:01
  Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the Elon Musk
• 0:04
  Podcast. This is a show where we discuss
• 0:07
  the critical crossroads that shape SpaceX, Tesla X, The
• 0:11
  Boring Company, and Neurolink. I'm your host, Will Walden.
• 0:15
  How would a Trump presidency potentially benefit Elon Musk?
• 0:18
  And also, could Musk gain even greater influence over U.S.
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  policy? And what specific impact might
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  Musk's alliance with Trump have on Tesla, SpaceX and his other
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  ventures? Now, Elon Musk, who has spent
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  election night alongside Donald Trump at Mar A Lago, has
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  expressed clear enthusiasm about the former president's return to
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  the White House after Trump's victory.
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  Musk took to X writing. The people of America gave at
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  real Donald Trump a clear, crystal clear mandate for change
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  tonight. Now, Musk's endorsement of Trump
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  reflects a major shift for the billionaire entrepreneur, who
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  had previously described himself as a politically moderate.
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  Now, in his victory speech, Trump signaled that Musk had
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  spent a lot of time with him and he talked about his
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  achievements, especially with SpaceX.
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  And as a result, Tesla's stock saw a significant jump, with its
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  price rising by over 12% the day after Trump's victory was
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  confirmed. Now, the game boosted Musk's net
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  worth, which now stands at an estimated $290 billion,
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  highlighting the immediate financial impact of Musk's
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  alliance with Trump. Now, Musk's financial support
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  for Trump's campaign has been extensive, though we donated
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  more than $119,000,000 to a pro Trump super PAC in a direct
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  attempt to sway voters in Trump's favor.
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  No. In addition, Musk funded a large
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  Get Out the Vote campaign across key battleground states,
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  offering daily giveaways of $1,000,000 to incentivize
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  participation, a tactic that eventually survived a legal
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  challenge. Now Musk's alliance with Trump,
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  however, extends beyond monetary contributions.
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  Trump announced he would consider appointing Musk as head
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  of a newly imagined Department of Government Efficiency if he
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  takes office now. Musk has expressed a vision for
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  this role as a streamline agency to cut down bureaucratic waste,
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  and he jokingly dubbed it DOGE, referencing a popular meme and
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  cryptocurrency he's promoted. Now, SpaceX stands as one of the
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  biggest potential beneficiaries of Musk's strength and ties.
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  With Trump. Already a dominant player in
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  U.S. government contracts for space projects, SpaceX could
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  further expand its hold on contracts for defense and
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  intelligence satellites. With Trump in office, SpaceX
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  could deepen its connections to government agencies like NASA
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  and the Pentagon, which already rely heavily on SpaceX for
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  critical missions. Now, Musk has openly criticized
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  competitors, particularly Boeing, for the reliance on
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  traditional government contract structures that he claims led to
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  budget overruns and delayed project completions.
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  And if Trump implements a more streamlined government contract
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  system, Musk SpaceX, known for faster, more cost effective
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  projects, could see even more opportunities to increase its
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  market share. Now Tesla is another Musk LED
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  enterprise positioned to benefit under Trump's potential
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  administration. In campaign promises, Trump has
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  outlined the goal of reducing regulatory constraints on
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  corporations, which could have direct implications for Tesla's
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  operations. With Trump's support, Musk may
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  have to leverage to secure a lowest regulatory burden
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  environment that he argues could accelerate Tesla's innovation
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  now. Shortly before the election, the
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  National Hwy. Traffic Safety Administration
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  began investigating Tesla's self driving software, which Musk has
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  touted as the future of autonomous vehicles.
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  And if Trump takes office, Musk may push for a reduction in
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  regulatory scrutiny over Tesla's driving assistance systems,
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  including Autopilot and Full Self Driving.
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  Now, a single federal standard for autonomous vehicles could
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  offer Tesla an advantage in rapidly deploying this
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  technology. Currently, regulations vary
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  widely from state to state, which Musk has criticized as an
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  obstacle to the widespread adoption of autonomous
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  technology. And a Trump LED government that
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  sets a unified framework would reduce compliance hurdles and
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  simplify Tesla's rollout process across multiple states.
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  Now, Elon Musk's latest project, the Cyber Cab has no steering
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  wheel or pedals, may require federal waivers to proceed with
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  production. By aligning himself with Trump,
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  Musk could gain the influence needed to secure favorable
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  policies for autonomous vehicle production, potentially allowing
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  Tesla to introduce innovations ahead of his competition.
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  Now, Musk's Neuralink, focused on developing brain implants,
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  could also stand to gain under Trump.
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  Musk has frequently criticized the FDA for what he describes as
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  its overly slow approval process.
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  In a Trump administration, Musk may seek to influence the FDA to
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  expedite approvals, which he argues would accelerate the pace
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  of innovation for technologies like Neuralink's brain
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  interfaces. Now, inside Musk's companies,
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  employees are already discussing how a Trump administration could
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  impact regulatory processes. Sources familiar with neural
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  links operations say some employees believe that Musk
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  could push for a looser regulatory framework within the
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  FDA, even to the extent of seeking to remove FDA officials
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  he deems inefficient, a move that would likely be
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  controversial. Now, the Trump administration
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  can also have wider implications from Musk's overall regulatory
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  landscape. Sources from within Musk
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  companies describe a de enforcement strategy aiming to
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  reduce federal oversights on all of Elon Musk's operations.
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  For example, Musk's emphasis on efficiency aligns with Trump's
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  intent to reduce regulatory friction, which could ultimately
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  reduce oversight on companies like Tesla and SpaceX.
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  Now SpaceX, despite its prominence in federal contracts,
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  has at times faced scrutiny over workplace safety practices, now
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  an investigation that happened last year by Reuters with 600
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  worker injuries at SpaceX facilities.
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  The federal agencies have refrained from significant
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  enforcements of these actions, though, so ministry and signers
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  attribute this to the government's dependence on
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  SpaceX for critical operations, which is a reliance that could
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  deepen if Musk's influence grows under Trump.
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  Spacex's contracts with NASA represent a substantial
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  investment from the US government, estimated to about
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  $15 billion or over. And this interdependence has led
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  to a dynamic where, as one federal official put it, NASA
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  needs SpaceX more than SpaceX needs NASA.
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  With Musk's expanded influence, government agencies may become
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  more inclined to favor SpaceX over its competitors,
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  particularly in high stakes projects like intelligence and
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  defense satellite networks. And Musk's ventures collectively
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  hold a prominent position in areas where government
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  contracts, subsidies, and regulation intersect.
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  His vocal opposition to what he considers stifling regulations
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  has made him a natural ally to Trump's regulatory agenda.
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  And if Trump wins, Musk's power in sectors ranging from autos to
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  space to biotech could set a precedent reminiscent of
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  America's Gilded Age, where industry leaders exerted
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  considerable control over public policy.
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  Now, a supporter of Musk's strategy believe his
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  relationship with Trump could transform the US government to
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  operate with the agility of a start up.
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  Now there's this venture capitalist from Silicon Valley.
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  Shervin Pishvar, also a SpaceX investor, sees Musk's potential
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  influence as a pathway the scale Spacex's mission of reaching
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  Mars and beyond. They describe Musk as someone
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  who could make America function like a start up, viewing Musk's
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  potential government role as pivotal for a streamlined
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  regulatory environment. And with Musk's alliance with
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  Trump, it's seen as advantageous for his businesses.
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  There's concerns about the potential risks of easing
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  oversight and industries with high stakes safety risks.
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  A former SpaceX official cautioned that regulatory laxity
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  in the high risk sector of rocket building could lead to
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  severe consequences, potentially sending back industry progress.
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  And such risks under score the potential trade-offs in Musk's
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  push for deregulation. Now Elon Musk's aligned with
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  Trump suggests a clear departure from his prior image as an
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  environmental innovator focused on clean energy.
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  Once seen as a key advocate for fighting climate change, Musk
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  now leads a new class of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs pushing for
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  a libertarian approach to governance critical of what he
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  calls the Woke Mind virus. And he associates with the
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  traditional liberal ideas of the region.
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  The broader trend of Musk's political involvement points to
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  a rising class of tech billionaires with increasing
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  influence over policy. Musk advocacy for deregulation,
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  combined with his substantial campaign funding, signals an era
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  where the interests of tech giants are more aligned with
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  government power than ever before.
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  Now, if Trump's promises materialize, Musk's empire may
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  grow to hold an unprecedented level of sway over U.S.
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  government policy and economic regulations.
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  Hey, thank you so much for listening today.
• 9:27
  I really do appreciate your support.
• 9:29
  If you could take a second and hit the subscribe or the follow
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  button on whatever podcast platform that you're listening
• 9:34
  on right now, I greatly appreciate it.
• 9:36
  It helps out the show tremendously and you'll never
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  miss an episode. And each episode is about 10
• 9:42
  minutes or less to get you caught up quickly.
• 9:45
  And please, if you want to support the show even more, go
• 9:48
  to patreon.com/stagezero and please take care of yourselves
• 9:53
  and each other and I'll see you tomorrow.