“He’s not MAGA and he’s a drag on the Trump transition,” said Loomer, who said she believed that Musk was using his relationship with Trump to further enrich himself. “Elon wants everyone to think he’s a hero because he gave $250 million to the Trump campaign. But that’s not much of an investment if it allows him to become a trillionaire.”
A spokesperson for Trump did not respond to a request for comment.
Trump said on a podcast co-hosted by Sacks in June that any international student who graduates from an American university “should be able to stay in this country.” The taping followed a San Francisco fundraiser for Trump’s campaign hosted by Sacks.
Since then, the leaders of tech companies who rely on skilled foreign labor, including Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, Jeff Bezos of Amazon and Sundar Pichai of Google, have wooed Trump with calls, visits to Mar-a-Lago — Trump’s resort in Palm Beach, Florida — and donations for his inauguration. That’s a different dynamic from Trump’s first term, which began with the industry’s sweeping condemnation of the first Trump administration’s travel ban suspending the issuance of visas to applicants from seven countries, all of which had Muslim-majority populations.
Tech leaders have also been taking an important role in the presidential transition, proposing associates for high-ranking administration positions and advising the president-elect on potential policies and foreign relations. Trump also tapped Musk to serve as co-leader of a new “government efficiency” commission.
The rising importance of tech leaders in Trump’s circle is now drawing scrutiny from his base — and even some past rivals.
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