If you watched President Donald Trump’s first Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, you immediately noticed two things:
Trump, as expected, talked the most
Elon Musk, who isn’t a Cabinet member at all, wasn’t far behind.
The performance did little to quell questions (and concerns) that Musk, the richest man in the world and an unelected adviser to the president, has outsized influence in the White House.
As regular readers/watchers know, I have been fascinated by the Trump-Musk dynamic — and how long this relationship can possibly last.
Because here’s what we now know about Musk (and his Department of Government Efficiency): He — and it — are not very popular.
Consider:
A Washington Post-Ipsos poll showed 34% approve of what Musk is doing inside the federal government while 49% disapprove
A Quinnipiac poll showed that 55% of people think Musk has too much power within the government while just 36% think he has the right amount
A Pew survey found just 42% have a positive view of Musk while 54% view him negatively.
I am divided as to what that means vis a vis Trump.
On the one hand, Trump doesn’t like to be around unpopular people. He doesn’t want someone’s unpopularity to tarnish his, er, brand.
On the other, Trump may be using Musk as a sort of a heat shield — allowing the billionaire to take the slings and arrows for a thinning of the federal bureaucracy that Trump clearly supports.
Which do you think it is?
This is very much a developing story. Stay tuned.
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