In picking billionaire Elon Musk to be "our cost cutter" for the U.S. government, President-elect Donald Trump won't be the first American president to empower a business tycoon to look for ways to dramatically cut federal regulations.
President Ronald Reagan tapped J. Peter Grace to lead a bureaucratic cost-cutting commission in 1982. Still, the chemical business magnate had fewer conflicts of interest than the world's richest man does today.
Musk's SpaceX holds billions of dollars in NASA contracts. He's CEO of Tesla, an electric car business that benefits from government tax incentives and is subject to auto safety rules. His social media platform X, artificial intelligence startup xAI, brain implant maker Neuralink and tunnel-building Boring company all intersect with the federal government in various ways.
"There's direct conflicts between his businesses and government's interest," said Ann Skeet, director of leadership ethics at Santa Clara University's Markkula Center. "He's now in a position to try and curry favor for those enterprises."
Musk is also more influential, having pumped an estimated 200 million through his political action committee to help elect Trump, made himself a fixture at Mar-a-Lago since the presidential election and is on regular speaking terms with like-minded political world leaders, from Argentina's President Javier Milei to Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
