Elon Musk’s Figuring out Position in Washington

Joe Biden has pale from nationwide management as Donald Trump and his allies, together with Elon Musk, act as if they’re already in cost. Panelists on Washington Week With The Atlantic joined final night time to debate this and the way a authorities shutdown got here to be on the desk.

Musk has change into one of the crucial highly effective males in Washington, taking part in a figuring out position within the Trump administration. The tech billionaire is a brand new character for Trump to have interaction with, Mark Leibovich stated final night time, however how lengthy he’ll stay helpful to the president-elect stays to be seen. “Donald Trump loves new toys, he loves new companions, and he particularly likes to be seen in partnership with somebody who’s richer than him, who’s richer than anybody on the planet,” Leibovich defined.

However no matter how lengthy Musk stays by Trump’s aspect, his presence—particularly on issues comparable to calls with international leaders—is way from conventional for somebody who doesn’t have the experience of governance, Asma Khalid stated. “What does this imply for the well being of the American democracy because it’s identified?” she requested. “To see any person who’s so rich in an unelected place have the ear of the president in such a manner” is “extraordinarily unprecedented.”

Becoming a member of the editor in chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, to debate this and extra: Asma Khalid, a White Home correspondent for NPR; Mark Leibovich, a employees author at The Atlantic; Ashley Parker, a senior nationwide political correspondent at The Washington Put up; and Vivian Salama, a nationwide politics reporter at The Wall Avenue Journal.

Watch the complete episode right here.