Former President Donald Trump said Tesla CEO Elon Musk is unlikely to serve in his cabinet if elected for a second term because of his wide-ranging responsibilities, including running multiple companies.
“He wants to be involved, but I don’t really see him being a Cabinet member because he runs a big company and stuff like that,” Trump said of Musk in an interview with former Navy SEAL Shawn Ryan, excerpts of which were published Sunday.
“Of course I would put him in the cabinet, but I don’t see how I can do that with everything he’s doing right now.”
President Trump said Musk would be available to “consult” with the administration on issues such as artificial intelligence.
Musk, who also owns the social media platform X, is supporting Trump in this election, despite voting for Biden in 2020, Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Barack Obama in 2012.
Musk announced his support for President Trump shortly after he survived an assassination attempt on July 13.
Musk praised Trump for raising his fist and telling his supporters to “fight, fight” as he was escorted away by Secret Service officers, his face bleeding.
The tech mogul supported Trump because of shared concerns about the rise in illegal immigration.
Musk also helped start a pro-Trump super PAC earlier this year, and has talked about the idea of helping Trump set up a “Government Efficiency Commission.”
In his comments to Ryan, Trump said he and Musk have a “great relationship” and that “he’s fantastic.”
“He’s a totally unusual guy… but a great guy.”
Musk and other tech figures in Silicon Valley have also grown disillusioned with the Biden administration’s tougher policies on regulating companies.
At X, Musk has become more vocal in his right-leaning views on issues such as transgender policy.
Last month, Musk announced he was moving his rocket company SpaceX’s headquarters from California to Texas in protest of a new state law that bars school districts from requiring parents to notify them if a child changes gender.
Musk’s social media company (formerly Twitter) also said goodbye to San Francisco, and like SpaceX, it is also moving its headquarters to Texas.
During the pandemic, Musk has harshly criticized California regulators and Democratic politicians who forced businesses to close to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Musk was so infuriated by the lockdown that he moved Tesla’s headquarters from the San Francisco Bay Area to its current location in Austin, Texas.
Since taking over at X, Musk has unbanned Trump and numerous other right-leaning accounts that were removed by Twitter’s previous management.
Trump supporters went wild last weekend when the former president began posting on X, something he hadn’t done regularly since founding his own social media platform, Truth Social.
Trump slammed “Comrade Kamala” Harris and his running mate “Tampon Tim” Waltz, saying “bombs are falling everywhere” and risking “World War III.”
In another X post, Trump wrote: “Kamala and her ‘creeps’ are trying to shift the blame for the failures of the last 4 years onto me while making it seem like I’m a sitting President. No, the failures are theirs! This has been one of the worst presidencies in history and she is by far the worst Vice President.”
Earlier this month, President Trump held a lengthy interview with Musk at X-Space, during which they discussed several key issues heading into the election, including borders and inflation.
