Donald Trump is considering appointing billionaire Elon Musk as a policy adviser if the Republican presidential candidate regains the White House in the November election, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the talks.
According to the Journal, the two discussed how Musk, who runs the social media platform X as well as SpaceX and Tesla (TSLA.O), could gain “formal input and influence” on economic policy and border security.
The WSJ also reported that Musk briefed Trump on an ongoing influence campaign aimed at persuading influential U.S. business leaders not to support Democratic President Joe Biden, who defeated Trump in the 2020 election and is seeking a second term.
Those talks, which included billionaire investor Nelson Peltz, also included discussions about financing “a data-driven project aimed at preventing election fraud,” the website reported, adding that no further details were known.
Representatives for Trump and Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Biden campaign officials also did not immediately respond.
Trump campaign spokesman Brian Hughes told the Journal that only Trump would decide “what role a person plays in his presidency.” The WSJ said Musk did not respond to its requests for comment.
In March, after meeting Trump in Florida, Musk – one of the richest people in the world – said he would not donate money to Trump or Biden.
Instead, he intends to “apply his clout… to aid defeat Biden by enlisting the support of influential allies,” WSJ said, citing a person familiar with his thinking.
In recent years, Musk has become fully involved in the Republican Party. Musk has claimed without evidence that Biden is intentionally allowing migrants to cross the US-Mexico border. He also supported anti-Semitic comments about X, although Musk denied that he was anti-Semitic.
While he has publicly criticized Biden’s policies on immigration, electric vehicles and tariffs, Musk has not given any formal endorsement of the November contest, and Trump has said he doesn’t know whether he has the billionaire’s backing.
Musk’s views have hurt his standing among some consumers, according to a CivicScience survey shown exclusively to Reuters.
Trump, a prolific user of Twitter (currently
