Musk And Trump — The Road Ahead Is Strewn With Ethical Challenges – CleanTechnica

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A few days ago, Scott Cooney, the paterfamilias of CleanTechnica, sent me a note via interoffice mail asking me if I had considered writing a story about Elon Musk and how his financial support of Donald Trump in the last election had boosted his own fortunes. At that moment, I didn’t have any active plans to do so, but in the past few days, a number of pertinent items have found their way into my inbox. They say there are three types of people in the world — those who make things happen, those who know what’s happening, and those who wonder what happened. Our goal is to keep our readers out of that third group.

The spur that convinced me to delve into this topic was a recent article in Bloomberg that dealt with this very issue. It cited a report by CNBC that Musk’s net worth increased by $70 billion within five days of the most recent election. He reportedly spent $250 million of his own money to get Trump elected. That’s a huge profit. The question becomes, did Musk spend that money to help Trump or to help himself? The correct answer may be “both.”

As Bloomberg points out, Musk is the owner of several large companies that have major contracts with the US government. Several of those companies also have regulatory issues with various government agencies — issues that could get swept under the rug by the next administration. Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota warned recently that it is important for the public to know the motivations of wealthy people who work in any administration. “You have a number of very wealthy people going into the Trump administration,” she said on Bloomberg Television. “We need conflict rules enforced. We need to know the decisions they’re making are not for their own interests but for the interest of the American people.”

Musk And Ethics In Government

As an unelected advisor to the next administration, Musk isn’t covered by the ethics rules that apply to federal employees. The Trump transition team has released an ethics plan prohibiting its members from working on “particular matters involving specific parties” that affect their financial interests. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts is skeptical. She fired off a letter to Trump that specified her concerns recently. She alluded to the numerous contracts the US government has with SpaceX and Tesla, and said his companies have been subject to “at least 20 recent investigations or reviews” by federal regulatory agencies. She cited reports just in the last week of developments in investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) into Neuralink and Musk’s purchase of Twitter.

In her letter, Senator Warren made reference to several connections between Musk-owned companies and the federal government. “In addition to their substantial dependence on government contracts and other forms of direct and indirect government support, SpaceX, Tesla, and Mr. Musk’s other companies have an ongoing interest in how the government does or does not enforce labor laws, workplace safety rules, environmental regulations, and other federal laws. Others explain that Mr. Musk’ “entanglements with federal regulators are … numerous and adversarial.” His companies have been the subject of at least “20 recent investigations or reviews,” including those carried out by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which has opened five investigations into Tesla; the Justice Department, which has sued SpaceX over its hiring practices; the Transportation Department, which has fined Neuralink, Mr. Musk’s brain implant company, for violating rules regarding the movement of hazardous materials; and the National Labor Relations Board, which SpaceX is attempting to “defang” through a series of lawsuits.

Dear Donald

Here are relevant parts or that letter. Her footnotes have been deleted here but can be found in the original text at the link above.

“Mr. Musk’s substantial private interests present a massive conflict of interest with the role he has taken on as your ‘unofficial co-president.’ Currently, the American public has no way of knowing whether the advice that he is whispering to you in secret is good for the country — or merely good for his own bottom line. The evidence shows the benefits that have already accrued for Mr. Musk: in the five days after the election, Tesla’s stock surge alone increased Mr. Musk’s fortune by $70 billion as he ‘cashe[d] in on his investments’ he made in your campaign.

“Two reports from this past week indicate the extent to which Mr. Musk may have clear conflicts of interest related to the advice he is giving as part of the transition team and as co-chair of DOGE. First, Mr. Musk, on December 13, released a Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) ‘settlement demand’ related to his purchase of Twitter, indicating that he was facing imminent charges related to potential securities fraud. Information released by Mr. Musk’s attorney also indicated that the SEC had reopened an investigation into another one of his companies, Neuralink. And that same day, press reports indicated that the Trump Transition team had recommended repealing a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reporting requirement that companies report crash data from automated vehicles – a change that ‘would particularly benefit Tesla.’

“As a key adviser to you and a high profile policymaker in his role as co-chair of the DOGE Committee, Mr. Musk appears to be playing an extraordinarily influential role in the transition, and it appears that he is poised to continue doing so after you assume office on January 20, 2025. He should be held to the ethics standards that you have established for your transition team and should provide clarity about his role and his activities in order to reassure the American public that he is working solely on their behalf and not using his role in the transition as an opportunity to fatten his own wallet.”

Warren asked for a response to her letter by December 23. What she got was a statement from Trump transition team spokesperson Karoline Leavitt who dismissed the letter and mocked Warren as “Pocahontas,” a racist reference to Warren’s previous assertion of distant Native American heritage, Bloomberg reports. “Pocahontas can play political games and send toothless letters, but the Trump-Vance transition will continue to be held to the highest ethical and legal standards possible,” Leavitt said. The emphasis should be on the word “possible.” Every organization reflects the ethics of its leaders, so in this case that means old “Grab ’em by the pussy” Trump is setting the bar as low as possible. E. Jean Carroll could offer some insight into the man’s ethical standards or lack thereof.

So, is Musk pushing his views because he thinks they are good for the country or because he thinks they are good for himself? In 1958, Sherman Adams, chief of staff to President Eisenhower, was dismissed from his position when it was learned he had accepted an expensive vicuna coat from a South American diplomat. That is what setting a high ethical bar looks like, not the transactional standards of Donald Trump who shamelessly seeks disparaging information from a foreign government to smear a political opponent. The man has no ethics and never has.

We have this advice for Elon: “When you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas.” Musk may think he has this whole thing wired, but pride rides before a fall, my old Irish grandmother liked to say. He should be aware that there is only one sun in Donald Trump’s universe — himself — and anyone who attempts to compete with him is likely to suffer greatly. The same person who could help Musk substantially could just as easily decide to make life miserable for him. Be careful what you wish for, Elon. You just might get it.

Featured image: Mashup by Carolyn Fortuna/CleanTechnica from “Donald Trump Signs The Pledge” by Michael Vadon, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. + “Elon Musk” by Daniel Oberhaus (2018), licensed under CC BY 2.0.