Axelle/Bauer-Griffin
Former President Donald Trump is floating the idea of appointing Elon Musk to his cabinet and the billionaire is stoked. Musk responded to the information, first reported by the Washington Post, on his social media site X early Tuesday morning.
"I can't wait. There is a lot of waste and needless regulation in government that needs to go," he wrote.
Trump has considered creating a commission of prominent business leaders to examine the government's budget and find programs to cut, the Post reported. The group, known as the "government efficiency commission," would aim to tamp down regulations and spending.
Though holding a spot on the yet unformed commission may pose conflicts of interest for Musk, he's previously expressed enthusiasm for the idea. After Trump said that he "certainly would" consider giving Musk a job in his White House, the Tesla founder tweeted an AI-generated photo of himself at a podium emblazoned with the acronym D.O.G.E.: Department of Government Efficiency.
"I am willing to serve," he wrote above the fake picture.
Musk recently signaled that he plans to get even more involved in Republican politics. He hired Chris Young, a seasoned political operative and GOP advisor, to direct his political contributions moving forward. Young specializes in field operations, indicating that Musk might use his billions for get-out-the vote efforts. The hire also suggests that Musk will remain politically active beyond election day on November 5, as the mega-rich typically hire donor advisors to guide long term political spending.
While he's now among Trump's loudest — and wealthiest — supporters in the tech community, Musk wasn't always the former president's biggest fan. In 2016, he said that Trump was "not the right guy" to lead to the country. But a lot can change in eight years. Musk endorsed Trump after the assassination attempt July and even interviewed the former president on X last month.
