Dr. Shaher Zakaria
It’s not a secret that to have a seat at the American political table and exert major influence in American politics, one must donate huge amounts of money to a presidential candidate and his/her political party in an American electioneering pay-to-play scheme. In 2010 a controversial Supreme Court ruling decision of Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission reversed century old campaign finance restrictions and enabled corporations and other outside groups to spend unlimited funds on elections. Wealthy donors, corporations, and special interest groups have always had an oversized influence in elections; however, this decision severely expanded this influence with negative repercussions on American democracy and the fight against political corruption.
The case heard by the Supreme Court was concerning a conservative nonprofit group called Citizens United that challenged campaign finance rules after the FEC stopped it from promoting and airing a film criticizing presidential candidate Hillary Clinton too close to the presidential primaries.
A 5-4 majority of the Supreme Court sided with Citizens United ruling that corporations and other special interest groups can spend unlimited money on elections as it is part of their First Amendment of free speech. This decision also opened the gates of dark money spending where the source of donation is not required to be disclosed and further tilted an already unbalanced political influence toward wealthy donors and corporations. Today, a very small group of Americans carry more power than at any time before.
Elon Musk, the South African billionaire and the world’s richest person, has taken full advantage of this ruling as he continues to flex his growing political power. Musk, the CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, Starlink, and owner of X spent the final months of the 2024 presidential campaign providing extraordinary public and financial support to President-Elect Donald Trump. According to the latest Federal Election Commission filings, Musk gave $74,950,000 to America PAC, the pro-Trump organization he cofounded with like-minded tech billionaires. He also gave $289,100 to the National Republican Congressional Committee. The world has never seen American plutocracy operate like this before. Some in the American political inner circles and media are starting to call Musk the shadow president.
Trump has embraced Musk’s image as a tech visionary and genius businessman with dreams reaching far beyond the stars. The motive behind Musk embracing MAGA was self-interest as he realized the stakes of who wins the elections were too high. Musk adopted an all-hands approach to the election. He relocated much of his business empire to Pennsylvania and brought together advisers and political consultants to strategize how to win that crucial state. His America PAC organization collected voter data in swing states and unleashed canvassers on the ground in those swing states.
Trump has called Musk the future “secretary of cost-cutting” – an informal executive job that would give the tech billionaire carte blanche to cut federal programs, close departments, and remake the American administrative state. Musk will have the ability to disrupt Americans’ lives. Such a government job would provide Musk with unprecedented authority and influence into dismantling agencies he does not like, which in theory means taking away large amounts of middle-class government workers out of their jobs and decreasing regulations that are designed to check corporate power.
This visible oligarchic reasoning behind the Musk-Trump alliance won’t be going away anytime soon. Musk has been seen alongside Trump almost all the time since Trump had been elected to the presidency of the United States and has maintained a constant presence at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence since the elections. To add to Musk’s growing influence on American polity and society, a growing number of reports have suggested that Chinese officials are considering an option that could see its TikTok U.S. operations being sold to Musk if the U.S. Supreme Court upholds a ban on the social media app on January 19th.
The idea that Musk is a shadow president was clearly notable last month as he spent a considerable amount of time on social media condemning a spending package that was being discussed in Congress to avoid a government shutdown. Trump, meanwhile, did not comment on the bill at all, ultimately commenting against it only after reports that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La) was constructing a backup plan. Having such political influence can be dangerous as it will benefit Musk’s businesses and his ultra-rich tech billionaires in addition to advancing their interests at the expense of everybody else’s.
Musk’s role in Trump’s administration is at the very least somewhat controversial among the American public. A YouGov poll found 48% of Americans had a favorable opinion of Musk, while 42% had an unfavorable opinion. The Associated Press found the public generally split in their opinions of Musk, while a Quinnipiac University poll found a 53% majority of the public disapproves of Musk playing a prominent role in the Trump administration.
Shaher Zakaria is Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Lusail University – Qatar
Dr. Shaher Zakaria is an Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at Lusail University – Doha, Qatar.
