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Candidates for top jobs backed by Musk fell short

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Musk criticized eventual Treasury pick Bessent

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Musk's presence in Trump world prompted complaints,

sources say

By Helen Coster and Alexandra Ulmer

Nov 26 (Reuters) - Billionaire Elon Musk has been using

his social media platform X to go to bat for President-elect

Donald Trump's cabinet picks and promote his own preferred

candidates, advocating for choices he views as change agents who

will help remake the U.S. government.

In several high-profile cases, however, Musk backed people

who either lost out on the roles or withdrew from consideration,

suggesting some early limits to the Republican mega donor's

influence even as he has emerged as one of Trump's most powerful

allies.

Musk, who has 206 million followers on X, posted or reposted

about Trump's cabinet picks more than 70 times between Nov. 7

and Nov. 20, a Reuters review found.

Though the posts represented just a fraction of his more

than 2,000 posts during that period, Musk in many cases used

them to give attention to Trump's most controversial choices,

including former Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard for U.S.

intelligence chief and environmental activist Robert F. Kennedy

Jr to lead the top U.S. health agency.

Musk most enthusiastically rallied support for Matt Gaetz,

the former congressman Trump initially tapped to be his attorney

general.

In the days following Gaetz's Nov. 13 nomination, Musk

posted 37 times about Gaetz or his wife Ginger, mostly in

positive terms. That was far more than his posts about Trump's

other appointments.

Gaetz backed out of consideration on Nov. 21, saying his

candidacy had become a distraction for Trump amid allegations of

sexual misconduct and illicit drug abuse. He has denied

wrongdoing.

For Trump's Treasury secretary, Musk pushed for Wall Street

financier Howard Lutnick over hedge fund manager Scott Bessent,

whom Musk dismissed as "a business-as-usual choice." Bessent got

the job anyway.

And in a separate fight over Senate leadership, Musk's

endorsed candidate also came up short.

One Trump ally said those misses showed the limitations of

Musk's sway.

Musk's reach on X "doesn't mean he's an effective advocate

for his positions or chosen cabinet members," the Trump ally

said. "He's still learning how to operate in politics."

Spokespeople for X and Musk did not respond to Reuters

requests for comment for this story.

Musk, who owns X and rocket company SpaceX and is chief

executive of the electric car company Tesla Inc. ( TSLA ),

poured at least $119 million into getting Trump elected and has

been a near-constant fixture at Trump's Florida residence,

Mar-a-Lago, since his election victory earlier this month.

The two men attended an Ultimate Fighting Championship event

in New York and a SpaceX launch in Texas, and Musk traveled with

Trump to Washington for his meeting with President Joe Biden.

On Saturday, Musk reposted a photo that showed him sitting

with Trump, Lutnick and Republican Senator Joni Ernst at

Mar-a-Lago, where they were discussing cabinet nominees,

according to the caption.

"Elon Musk and President Trump are great friends and

brilliant leaders working together to Make America Great Again.

Elon Musk is a once in a generation business leader and our

federal bureaucracy will certainly benefit from his ideas and

efficiency," said Brian Hughes, a spokesperson for the Trump

transition team.

Musk's close proximity to Trump has prompted some

hand-wringing and complaints from the transition team, who were

not accustomed to him being around so much, according to two

sources close to Trump staff.

Amid increased scrutiny of his unusual role, Musk wrote in a

post on X on Nov. 20 that while he had offered his opinion on

some candidates, he was not in charge.

"Many selections occur without my knowledge and decisions

are 100% that of the President," Musk said.

EFFICIENCY AND EMOJIS

Musk's political posts on X far outnumbered those he used to

promote his three businesses, the Reuters review found.

He frequently mocks liberals and posts about government

waste and Trump's newly created government efficiency panel,

which the president-elect tapped Musk and entrepreneur Vivek

Ramaswamy to lead.

Musk's typical posts consist either of an emoji or a short

response to other posts.

"Exactly," he wrote on Nov. 14, in response to a post noting

that Trump's cabinet picks were "young outsiders" who "skipped

the line."

He responded with "Awesome" and a smile emoji on Nov. 13 to

a post that said: "They put Tulsi Gabbard on a terror watchlist.

Now she's Director of National Intelligence. The biggest 'F you'

to the Deep State Swamp."

On Nov. 16, as questions swirled about who Trump would pick

for his Treasury secretary, Musk wrote on X that Bessent was "a

business-as-usual choice," while Lutnick would "actually enact

change."

Musk also lobbied against Bessent internally, two

sources close to Trump said.

His efforts fell flat. On Nov. 22, Trump tapped Bessent for

the job.

Earlier in the month, Musk threw his support behind

Republican Senator Rick Scott for Senate majority leader. Trump

chose not to weigh in, and Scott ultimately lost to Senator John

Thune for the position.

One source close to Musk was struck by Musk's willingness to

stick with Trump even after he's been "shut down a couple of

times" by the president-elect.

"That's very rare for a billionaire," the source said. "In

general when they don't get what they want, they walk away."

The source said Musk was committed to Trump's government

efficiency efforts.

"He's really focused on the goal," the source said.

Another test of Musk's influence lies ahead. Since the

election, he has posted six times in support of Trump loyalist

Kash Patel running the FBI.

Patel, who served on Trump's National Security Council

during his first term, has promised to go after politicians and

journalists perceived to be enemies of Trump. Musk's X posts

make clear that he sees Patel as the best option for change and

reform.

On Nov. 14, Musk posted a "100%" emoji in response to a clip

of Patel saying that he would shut down the FBI's headquarters

on day one of Trump's new administration and reopen it as a

"Deep State Museum," with the caption "Make him FBI director."