Outgoing New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) dismissed Elon Musk's potential conflicts of interest and praised the tech mogul's efforts to get Washington's fiscal authorities back on track.
Sununu downplayed concerns that Musk's lucrative government contracts would influence policy advice to the incoming Trump administration, saying that Musk, the world's richest person, has more money. suggested that he was not wealthy enough to care about getting a .
“Everyone has a conflict of interest on some level,” Sununu said Sunday on CNN's “State of the Union” when asked about the financial interests of billionaires.
Host Dana Bash countered by saying, “But that seems like a pretty big deal.”
“Certainly, this guy is worth $450 billion as of today and this month,” Sununu acknowledged. “I don't think he's doing it for the money.”
“He's doing it for a bigger project and a bigger vision for America. He doesn't need dollars. He really doesn't,” Sununu added. “He's so wealthy that he's completely removed from that potential economic impact.”
Sununu described himself as a sort of kindred spirit with Musk. Both men have engineering backgrounds, with the Granite State Republican studying engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Additionally, both men espouse more traditional fiscally conservative views on government spending.
Sununu was also optimistic that Musk would be able to reduce government bloat through his newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Despite its name, DOGE is not actually a government department.
“This is a car crash that signals the arrival of a financial crisis,” Sununu warned. “[Interest on the debt] With current interest rates so high, it will amount to about $1.8 trillion over 10 years. ”
“My big point here is that states are already discovering all these efficiencies that the U.S. government is talking about. We're already doing it.”
The New Hampshire governor, who had considered running for office in 2024, supported former presidential candidate Nikki Haley and openly criticized Trump during the primary campaign.
Besides Trump's temperament, one of Sununu's biggest complaints was government spending under the real estate mogul's first term. But Sununu is optimistic that things will be different this time.
“I'm cautiously optimistic for several reasons. No. 1, I don't think so. [Trump] I understood how Congress actually fundamentally functioned in 2017 and 2018,” Sununu explained.
“Republicans lost in 2018 because they talked big things and didn't get anything done. There's a different team he's surrounding himself with, a slightly more professional team within the White House itself. I think so,” he added. “And he has an outsider.”
In Congress, the Republican Party's House majority is expected to be smaller than it was at the start of President Trump's first term in 2017. The party's fiscal hawks have signaled they will go all out in the key budget fight.
Earlier this month, for example, Mr. Musk helped incite a revolt against a bipartisan government funding bill that House Republican leaders negotiated with Democrats.
Sununu has resisted pressure to run for the Senate in 2022, opting against seeking reelection for a fourth consecutive term as governor. No term limits were imposed on him.
He now plans to move into the private sector once Gov.-elect Kelly Ayotte (R) moves into the governor's mansion.
