WASHINGTON − Tech billionaire Elon Musk joined the primary cellphone name between President-elect Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy since Trump’s election on Tuesday, media shops reported, elevating questions on his probably outsized position within the upcoming administration.
A spokesperson for Zelenskyy described the decision as a constructive one primarily based on feedback from each Trump and Musk, with out going into specifics, according to Axios, which on Friday first reported Musk’s participation.
Zelenskyy, in a publish on X, stated Wednesday he had an “wonderful name” with Trump and “congratulated him on his historic landslide victory.” Musk’s participation went unmentioned.
Musk’s look on the decision wasn’t coordinated, however he occurred to stroll into the room proper as Trump and Zelensky had been talking and the president-elect put him on the cellphone, the Wall Street Journal reported.
A lot of Ukraine’s communications happen over Musk’s Starlink satellite tv for pc web service since Russia’s 2022 invasion introduced down a good portion of the nation’s cell phone community. Zelenskyy famous that he was utilizing Starlink for the Trump name, and Musk replied he would ship Ukraine extra Starlink base stations, the Journal reported.
Signal-up for Your Vote: Textual content with the USA TODAY elections group.
Musk didn’t instantly reply a request for remark. Trump spokesman Steven Cheung and a spokesman for Zelenskyy additionally didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
In Musk, ‘a star is born,’ Trump says
This can be very uncommon for a personal citizen like Musk – or any third occasion in any respect – to affix in calls between world leaders, particularly preliminary ones after an election.
However as Trump has made clear, the South Africa-born Musk may have a outstanding position in his administration. “A star is born,” Trump stated in his victory speech early Wednesday, referring to Musk, who poured greater than $100 million into serving to Trump win.
That would trigger potential conflicts of curiosity given the entire federal businesses that oversee Musk’s varied corporations, which have acquired not less than $15.4 billion in federal government contracts over the previous decade, based on Open Secrets and techniques.
SpaceX, as an illustration, is a linchpin within the U.S. house effort, in addition to Musk’s plan to make use of his Starship spacecraft to move people to Mars as a part of his oft-stated objective of creating “life multiplanetary.”
Some specialists advised Musk’s becoming a member of the Trump-Zelenskyy name would possibly point out the affect he may have within the new Trump administration, particularly given his rising closeness to Trump – and his monetary and private help of Trump’s marketing campaign.
Susan Glasser, a former Moscow correspondent and co-author of the e-book “Kremlin Rising: Vladimir Putin’s Russia and the Finish of Revolution,” described the information as an indication of the affect Musk will wield within the new Trump administration.
“Wow,” Glasser said in a post on X. “A preview of what occurs when the world’s richest man can be chief shareholder within the US presidency.”
Extra:Musk’s ‘golden ticket’: Trump win may hand Tesla billionaire unprecedented energy
Zelenskyy ‘considerably reassured’ by the decision
Axios characterised the Trump name as lasting about 25 minutes and stated Zelenskyy was “considerably reassured” by it. For the previous yr whereas campaigning, Trump has been saying he would finish Russia’s battle in Ukraine if elected – and advised he would push for a lower – if not a cutoff – of U.S. support to the embattled Kyiv authorities.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated Trump on his election victory, and reportedly has said he’ll decide up if Trump calls.
The disclosure of Musk becoming a member of the Zelenksyy name is politically awkward for a variety of causes.
One is that Musk has billions of {dollars} in delicate U.S. army and intelligence contracts − some involving Ukraine and its battle with Russia. He nearly actually has a top-secret safety clearance wanted to be concerned in them, as he has claimed.
However beneath Musk, SpaceX “has taken unpredictable actions that might influence geopolitical occasions, elevating nationwide safety issues {that a} key protection contractor might be manipulated by the impulses of its management,” Douglas Yeung, a senior behavioral scientist at RAND, wrote in a current opinion piece for USA TODAY.
For instance, Yeung stated, SpaceX initially made its Starlink communications out there to Ukrainian forces combating Russia however later sought to disclaim them entry ‒ with Musk first demanding the Pentagon foot the bill and later claiming that restoring functionality might escalate the battle right into a world battle.
Musk’s reported ties to Vladimir Putin elevate issues
Additional complicating the matter: The Wall Street Journal reported on Oct. 25 that Musk “has been in common contact” with Putin since late 2022.
These discussions, which the Journal stated had been confirmed by a number of present and former U.S., European and Russian officers, touched on private matters, enterprise and geopolitical tensions. Musk has not responded to requests for remark and affirmation about these calls and their nature, together with from USA TODAY.
However these reported discussions got here as U.S. intelligence businesses have stated Putin was aggressively utilizing his cyberwarriors to unfold disinformation to assist elect Trump. These have included creating and disseminating faux movies smearing his Vice President Kamala Harris and her operating mate Tim Walz, the Minnesota governor.
A lot of that content material was circulated on X − which Musk, the richest man on the earth, bought in 2022 for $44 billion − on the similar time that Musk himself was personally boosting pro-Trump content material and spreading election disinformation and assaults on Harris whereas attending marketing campaign rallies with Trump.
The disclosure of Musk’s relationship with Putin raised questions amongst some U.S. lawmakers and nationwide safety leaders, together with Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, the rating Democrat on the Home Intelligence Committee.
“My job is to do oversight of the intelligence group and the counter-intelligence arm of the FBI, so sure, I will completely ask what they know and is that this of concern,” Himes advised USA TODAY in an interview earlier than Trump’s victory.
Himes stated he deliberate to get workers inquiries going and ask for briefings by high U.S. intelligence officers on what they find out about Musk’s relationship with Putin and the way it impacts his many U.S. nationwide safety contracts.
“Fairly other than the way you would possibly take into consideration his safety clearance, coverage makers would possibly give some thought as as to whether he must be much more deeply embedded in our nationwide safety equipment,” Himes stated of Musk, whose authorities contracts have been rising by the yr.
‘I feel it must be investigated,’ NASA chief says of Musk-Putin relationship
NASA Administrator Invoice Nelson, a former U.S. senator, additionally has issues together with about Musk’s reported discussions with Putin.
These discussions, the Wall Road Journal reported, included Putin’s request that Musk keep away from activating his Starlink satellite tv for pc web service over Taiwan as a favor to Chinese language chief Xi Jinping.
“I don’t know that that story is true. I feel it must be investigated,” Nelson stated just lately at a Semafor conference in Washington, D.C. “If the story is true that there have been a number of conversations between Elon Musk and the president of Russia then I feel that will be regarding, notably for NASA, for the Division of Protection, for a number of the intelligence businesses.”
On Friday, a spokesperson for Nelson stated he had no additional remark.
( headline and story edited by our workers and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)
