Elon Musk has become more critical of President-elect Trump's opponents and industry competitors, raising concerns that he will use his growing influence to intimidate opponents. .
Those concerns have been amplified by Trump's repeated vows of revenge against his perceived enemies, with experts predicting that Musk will repeat the same remarks on his social media platform X in the coming months. It warns that it may be executed repeatedly.
“Musk is a perfect match for Trump because he clearly enjoys revenge and is immune to retaliation,” said Matt Dallek, a political historian and professor at George Washington University.
“At least in part, this is what energizes him, perhaps even more than his business at this point.”
Neither X nor a spokesperson for Trump's transition team responded to requests for comment from The Hill.
Concerns were further heightened last week when Musk went after Alexander Vindman, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who had become an outspoken critic of President-elect Trump, after testifying in his first impeachment trial.
“Vindman was in the pay of Ukrainian oligarchs and committed treason against the United States.” Mr. Musk wrote about Xin response to comments Vindman made in an interview about a reported conversation between Musk and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Musk said Vindman, who served as the National Security Council's top Ukraine expert under the Trump administration, “will pay the appropriate fine,” to which Vindman responded, “Elon… You seem to believe you can act with impunity. You're trying to silence your critics. I'm not being intimidated.”
Some Democrats, including Musk's twin brother and incoming Congressman Eugene Vindman (D-Va.), have spoken out in defense of the veterans, calling Musk's comments “truly false and defamatory. ” was.
In another message to Musk, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said, “The Vindman family embodies patriotism and public service. You know nothing about either.”
Trump has remained largely silent about Alexander Vindman in recent years, but Musk has used his massive platform of more than 206 million followers to try to reignite a retaliatory tone. It seems there is.
“It's hard to think of anyone else who has had more visibility and influence in terms of public support for Mr. Trump, at least in the last year or six months,” Dallek said.
“Mr. Musk, the world's richest man, has put many sources and a bully pulpit behind Mr. Trump.”
“What is he doing? [Musk] Do you want to use that huge platform? Well, he's named the government officials he wants fired,” he added.
Alexander Vindman was ultimately removed from the NSC in 2020, two days after the Senate acquitted Trump in 2019, calling him a “never Trumper.”
The Pentagon's Office of Inspector General later determined that Eugene Vindman likely faced retaliation from then-presidential officials for his role in the impeachment.
Alexander Vindman is not the first politician to be called out by Musk and other Trump allies.
last month, Mr Musk wrote Special Counsel Jack Smith's “abuse of the justice system will not go unpunished'' reflects President Trump and some Republicans' threats of retaliation over what appears to be a politically motivated incident. There is.
Mr. Smith spearheaded the Justice Department's election interference case and classified documents case against Mr. Trump, both of which Mr. Smith moved to dismiss following the president-elect's victory last month.
Then, just before the election, Mr. Musk told his advisers that his political action committee, America PAC, had been named “Soros prosecutors'' by referring to progressive district attorneys supported by liberal mega-donor George Soros. He said he should file an objection. The Washington Post reported.
in Repost of X Musk wrote “Interesting'' on a user list that said “6 Soros-backed District Attorneys are facing re-election'' in 2025 or 2026, and tagged the America PAC account. Among them was Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D), who earlier this year criminally prosecuted the president-elect in a hush-money scandal.
Musk also singled out social media federal officials who are largely outside the political fray.
Last month, Musk focused on a little-known climate diversification director at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, reposting a user who had posted her name and salary.
Mr. Musk's repost, The post, which read, “There are so many fake jobs out there,” has been viewed more than 33 million times, and the woman named appears to have closed her social media accounts. CNN reported.
he was also selected Another repost listed her name and title as senior climate advisor for the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“He has a huge platform, and at any given time, we've seen how much abuse and misinformation and mean and hateful rhetoric has affected not just elections, but society as a whole. “We've seen it happen,” said Democratic strategist Kristen Horn. hill.
Horn added that the “public impact of his words given his platform and influence within the White House” is “certainly” enough to have an impact.
“Even the very act of threatening people like Vindman and government officials has already caused tremendous damage,” Dallek added. “It's already having a big impact because those people are targeted. They're targeted by Musk supporters, by Trump, by MAGA. [Make America Great Again] movement. “
The impact of retaliatory rhetoric from Trump and his allies is being felt by former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who said she received death threats after breaking with House Republicans and supporting Trump's impeachment. This has already been expressed by some of his critics, including Mr.
Like Mr. Trump, Mr. Musk has partnered with competitors in the worlds of technology and space in his efforts.
His public spat with competitors and his new role as government advisor on President Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Commission show that he has used his influence to unfairly stifle competition. Some people are concerned that this may be the case.
Mr. Musk is “not an altruistic person here,” Mr. Horn said of the vast sums of money he has poured into his campaign. “He clearly sees the benefits of being this close and spending all his time at Mar-a-Lago.”
“And being so close to the president-elect and taking on the responsibilities he gives us could have an impact not only on government spending but also on the workforce,” she continued. “That's concerning because he has his own agenda.”
Musk, who heads the DOGE committee, makes recommendations to reduce government spending and regulation in a variety of areas, including government agencies and other big technology institutions that have federal contracts with his company SpaceX and Tesla. be responsible for doing so.
Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, said: told the Wall Street Journal He is concerned about Musk's new relationship with Trump.
“I'm just nervous about the whole thing because I've seen Trump make decisions…and of course Musk as well,” he told the Journal. “Mr. Musk clearly has influence right now.”
Musk has taken particular issue with OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, and its CEO Sam Altman, convincing them that they will develop safe and transparent AI and supporting his artificial intelligence (AI) efforts. He accused her of manipulating him.
He is currently suing OpenAI for allegedly abandoning its nonprofit philosophy and becoming a for-profit company.
Mr. Altman on Wednesday called the strained relationship with Mr. Musk “very sad” and pushed back against suggestions that the billionaire would use his alliance with Mr. Trump to harm OpenAI.
“I strongly believe Elon will do the right thing, and I believe it is deeply un-American for Elon to use his political power to the detriment of his competitors and benefit his own business.” he said. New York Times Deal Book Conference.
Musk has also repeatedly clashed with Jeff Bezos, owner of aerospace company Blue Origin, a direct rival to Amazon and SpaceX.
Last month, the two got into a spat after Mr. Musk claimed that Mr. Bezos had instructed others to sell shares in Tesla and SpaceX on the assumption that Mr. Trump would lose the election. Bezos denied the allegations.
Meanwhile, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg dined with Trump at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort last week, ahead of his second term. Many people saw him as trying to court President-elect Trump.
President Trump appears to have changed his view of the Facebook founder after choosing to withhold his support during the 2024 presidential election.
Musk famously challenged Zuckerberg to a cage match last summer and shared jokes on social media mocking billionaire Mark Cuban, who supported Vice President Harris in the presidential election.
