“White House Subtly Reminds Elon Musk That His Power Has Limits”
Trump’s aides have privately indicated that Musk remains accountable to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.
A federal judge has ruled that the ongoing legal dispute between billionaires Elon Musk and Sam Altman over OpenAI is unlikely to stop the company’s current restructuring plan. Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, and a close ally of President Donald Trump, wants to prevent OpenAI from turning into a for-profit business. OpenAI has announced a change in structure this year to form a public benefit corporation to raise more money to compete with major companies investing in AI development. However, other technologists have voiced their disapproval of OpenAI’s transition to a for-profit company.
When the matter goes to trial, Musk can make his case to a jury, and the jury will decide who is correct. The US began collecting a 10% tariff on all Chinese imports, reigniting a trade war between the two countries that is at risk of accelerating. The added cost is expected to have a ripple effect across certain industries that rely heavily on Chinese manufacturing.
Footwear manufacturers are likely to see an increase in shoe prices, though some of the cost will be absorbed by retailers and other businesses throughout the supply chain. China’s retaliatory tariffs on around $24 billion worth of U.S. products could also impact U.S. workers if companies see significant declines in sales from Chinese customers.
Economists and businesses have warned that tariffs would have little effect on driving manufacturing back to the United States because of the costs, logistics, regulatory barriers, and lack of labor many industries would face in moving production stateside. Apple is among the technology companies most at risk from the tariffs, with the vast majority of iPhones made in China. Analysts expect Apple to have to raise prices to compensate for the higher costs.
Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX, has been accused of disrupting the federal government and causing significant disruptions. His efforts, which are expected to last 18 months, have gained access that most normal White House staffers do not. Musk and his team, including some as young as 19 years old, have spread out across the federal government, treating it like a private company they need to downsize and modernize. They have received access to sensitive government databases and the Treasury Department’s payment system, despite objection from a longtime top agency official.
Musk and his DOGE effort were behind a broad effort to persuade a sizable percentage of federal employees to take “deferred resignations” in an attempt to shrink the workforce. A spokesperson for the Office of Personnel Management reported that more than 20,000 have accepted the offer and that the number of resignations is rapidly growing ahead of the deadline of Thursday.
Musk is also pushing to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development, which has been thrown into crisis with funding stopped and employees locked out of the building. The Trump administration has moved to exert more control over the government’s technology infrastructure, which will further Musk’s goals.
Musk’s frenetic pace and early success at disrupting huge swaths of the federal government have given the appearance to many that he is functionally a shadow president, even as those inside the White House try to reinforce the idea that he must follow, at least on paper, a chain of command.