Elon Musk earns family status in Trump world as he expands his political footprint.
Trump announced that Musk will be part of his administration and will lead the Department of Government Efficiency.
Elon Musk has been designated as "uncle" in the Trump family due to his frequent visits to Mar-a-Lago and his travel with President-elect Donald Trump after his recent victory.
Kai Trump, the president-elect's granddaughter, shared a photo of her and Elon Musk, along with Musk's young son, on the golf course over the weekend.
Trump won the election after securing electoral votes from Pennsylvania and Georgia, and officially endorsed by Musk during the summer when he survived an assassination attempt.
When votes were tallied, Trump won all seven battleground states, earning him 312 electoral votes.
Since last week, Musk has been at Mar-a-Lago, Trump's resort and residence in Palm Beach, where he has been dining with the former and upcoming president and has taken on the title "first buddy" due to their tight relationship.
On Wednesday morning, Musk accompanied Trump to Washington, D.C., where he met with House Republicans before meeting President Biden at the White House.
During his meeting with Trump, Biden stated that he anticipates a seamless transition and assured that they would take all necessary steps to ensure your comfort and requirements are met.
Trump stated, "Politics is challenging and often unpleasant, but it's a good world today."
He continued, "I appreciate the smooth transition very much as it will be as smooth as possible."
The meeting between Trump and Biden, attended by White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients and incoming Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, lasted approximately two hours.
Musk was present in a private meeting with House Republicans, where Trump praised him during his 40-minute address. Sources reported that Musk has been thriving since joining the Trump circle at Mar-a-Lago and even joked about being unable to escape Trump's influence.
Trump announced the formation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on Tuesday evening, which will be led by Musk and Ramaswamy. The task force aims to dismantle government bureaucracy, reduce regulations, cut wasteful spending, and restructure federal agencies, as Trump stated in a statement.
The SpaceX CEO highlighted his campaign promise to reduce government bureaucracy during his speech to Trump supporters in Pennsylvania, citing his personal experience with excessive regulation, such as SpaceX's need to analyze the likelihood of its Starship rocket colliding with marine life.
SpaceX conducted a study to determine if Starship would collide with a shark. Musk stated during a Pennsylvania rally last month that the National Marine Fisheries Service mandated the study.
"They responded with, 'No, we cannot provide you with shark data.' However, this left us in a bit of a dilemma. How can we address this shark probability issue? They stated, 'We could give it to our western division, but we are not confident in their abilities.' I couldn't help but think, 'Am I in a comedy sketch here?'" Musk added.
"We were able to run the analysis and confirm that the sharks were in good condition. However, the launch was delayed until we completed a wild shark analysis," he said.
Musk stated that DOGE will publicly disclose any actions taken and will take into account public input on how to reduce government expenditures after Trump appointed him and Ramaswamy to lead the Department of Government Efficiency.
"The Department of Government Efficiency will make all its actions public online for maximum transparency. If the public suspects that we are cutting something important or not cutting something wasteful, they can let us know. We will also have a leaderboard for the most insane spending of taxpayer money. This will be both tragic and entertaining," Musk posted to X on Tuesday.
Planet Chronicle' Kelly Phares contributed to this report.
politics
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