8 ms·

Trump Names Elon Musk, Uber CEO to Advisory Team – TheHill

125 points by rajeemcariazo 10y ago

serg_chernata 10y ago
Honest question, what does this mean for all the talk of Silicon Valley doom and gloom under Trump's presidency? Was all that just fear mongering? How do we understand this move?
- mdrzn 10y ago
  Seems like he's just asking for their opinion on the actual state of economy.
  - KirinDave 10y ago
    Let's hope Musk repeats the line, "How about you stop subsidizing Tesla AND the Coal industry and see who wins the market?"
- matwood 10y ago
  The doom and gloom was of course a lot of fear mongering (the Hitler comparisons grow old very quickly). Trump talked so little of policy during the campaign we really have no idea what he is going to do. That in of itself is also scary because it is an unknown. While he was not my pick for POTUS, I'm holding a wait and see attitude. Historically Trump's public views were liberal, and he leaned democrat so we'll see how his actions break from the rhetoric. So far, he certainly does not seem to be following a playbook that anyone could have guessed.
  - joshkpeterson 10y ago
    You really have not been paying attention since the election, have you?
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - mattferderer 10y ago
    As someone else who didn't vote for Trump, I too am sick of seeing all this fear mongering. Though in all fairness I've listened to people use it on Obama, Bush & both Clintons for the past few decades. For me, it reduces the credibility of someone's view points when they overuse this tactic.
  - drewrv 10y ago
    > the Hitler comparisons grow old very quickly I agree in general. But when Auschwitz survivors make the Hitler comparison up we should listen. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/in-the-age-of-trump-grim-warnings-from-holocaust-survivors/2016/01/27/c65ea38c-c549-11e5-8965-0607e0e265ce_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/in-the-age-of-trump-...
    - damptowel 10y ago
      Hitler seemed like a more capable leader though, and less of a bigot. I believe he also had better taste in furniture. (Yeah sure downvote me all you want, gneeeh!)
    - 67726e 10y ago
      My grandparents grew up and lived under Hitler. I was practically raised by my grandmother in fact, and I asked a lot of questions. To compare the two is an absolute joke. If you took any politician, I guarantee you could make comparisons. That does not mean they're the next Hitler at all.
  - zpallin 10y ago
    I have a problem with this comment. Not only did Trump talk plenty about his policy ideas and followers notably chose him based on these policies, Trump's views have never been expressly "liberal". Furthermore, plenty of people have predicted exactly how Trump would turn out. During the race, the left media continually argued that Trump would be appointing "1%ers" to his cabinet, and that is exactly what has happened. As for his "playbook", he clearly doesn't have one, and this has been consistently stated by opponents. But he's still as predictable as any other politician. This myth that he is somehow unpredictable is absurd. It's pretty clear exactly how he intends to run this country.
    - matwood 10y ago
      Historically his views have been liberal, even though many have flipped and flopped again [1]. The policy ideas appear in hindsight to be inflaming rhetoric. Make deals, build a wall, and deport people in the US illegally. The funny part is that those things are exactly what is happening today. Maybe the deals will be different, but there is already a fence across large parts of the Mexican border (fun aside, Obama and Hilary voted yes for it as senators[2][3]), and under Obama more people have been deported than ever before[4]. So really, no change. Appointing DC elite and/or 1%ers to cabinet positions is basically par for the course. Maybe Sanders would have appointed more normal people? I hate being put in a position to defend Trump because I think he also has tons of problems. But, this is who we have for the next 4 years so I'm going to watch what happens and hope it's more good than bad. [1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/07/09/ths-many-ways-in-which-donald-trump-was-once-a-liberals-liberal/?utm_term=.29f3bbbdc18e https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/07/09/th... [2] http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2016/aug/15/donald-trump/donald-trump-right-hillary-clinton-once-wanted-wal/ http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2016/aug/15/d... [3] https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/109-2006/s262 https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/109-2006/s262 [4] http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/oct/21/donald-trump/trump-right-deportation-numbers-wrong-talks-about-/ http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/oct/...
      - zpallin 10y ago
        You don't have to defend Trump if you don't want to. 1. WP article reads like a "top 10" clickbait article. Only a few things in that list are accurately associated with economic or social liberalism. Liking Hillary Clinton doesn't make you a liberal, for example. The press thing at the end is also absurd. 2. Being right about Hillary Clinton's wall thing doesn't make you a liberal. I don't know why you included this. 3. ??? See #2. 4. Once again, Obama or Hillary being less "liberal" doesn't make Trump more liberal. >The policy ideas appear in hindsight to be inflaming rhetoric. Make deals, build a wall, and deport people in the US illegally. The funny part is that those things are exactly what is happening today. Maybe the deals will be different, but there is already a fence across large parts of the Mexican border (fun aside, Obama and Hilary voted yes for it as senators[2][3]), and under Obama more people have been deported than ever before[4]. So really, no change. and > Appointing DC elite and/or 1%ers to cabinet positions is basically par for the course. Maybe Sanders would have appointed more normal people? Yea, which is the point: he is actually totally predictable, and like I said, the junk about him being hard to predict is nonsense. You said he was unpredictable... but now you're disagreeing with yourself? I'm super confused on what you're trying to say.
- randomname2 10y ago
  Consider that this talk was during an election, where people are inclined to be biased and partisan. There's indeed a good chance that none of the doom and gloom will play out. Silicon Valley excels at "failing fast", and the latest signs are showing they're adjusting quickly already.
- zpallin 10y ago
  This actually doesn't mean much other than publicity.
nedsma 10y ago
Which role is Peter Thiel going to play now?
- iamthepieman 10y ago
  maybe this IS the role he is playing? It's likely he has the ear of the president elect.
- KirinDave 10y ago
  Presumably Chief-Locked-In-A-Permanent-Glare-War-With-Mike-Pence.
balabaster 10y ago
Did not see that coming... The cynic in me says this is entirely about PR, but if it's not, this is a suprisingly positive step in the right direction. I'm not sure what to make of it and wonder what will come of it.
- danvasquez29 10y ago
  It honestly fits his MO perfectly I think. He very much values enterprise leadership over political experience.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - balabaster 10y ago
    Yes, but he's a bit of a paradox in this respect because he clearly values his own opinion over everyone else. Given some of the positions he's filled, with some of the personalities he's chosen, to pick a team that's clearly liberal and forward thinking team in this aspect vs. (anecdotally, I haven't read the actual evidence supporting this) the very staunch flat earth, climate denial, intelligent design type conservatives who don't even believe in evolution in other aspects... that's a gigantic paradox to have on one team. I don't know if having this spectrum of people is a strategic move on Trumps part for some deeper purpose or if it's just because they believe the things he believes and he's trying to make for an easy political life. I guess in the long run, we shall see.
    - edblarney 10y ago
      "in this respect because he clearly values his own opinion over everyone else." Musk or Trump? :) Musk might be liberal on some kind of social issues, but he's more of a libertarian than anything, he's not remotely some kind of 'bernie' guy. Musk told his wife, as they were having their 'first dance at the wedding' - that 'he's the alpha' in the relationship. Does that sound progressive? Or how about dumping his wife who bore 5 children for a girl 1/2 his age? Prog cred? Also " very staunch flat earth, climate denial, intelligent design type conservatives " ... this is casual bigotry on your part. 'Flat Earth'? Seriously? You're just going to throw that in? And you do realize it was Father David LeMaitre - a Catholic Priest and Physicist, who conceived of the 'big bang'? Anyhow - I'm not going to defend any of that necessarily, but your remarks amount to a casual kind of bigotry which is the bane of political discussion these days. Try to avoid this crude kind of stuff. And FYI Trump was a 'NYC tough-guy Democrat' for most of his life. The Clinton's went to his and Melania's wedding for gosh sakes. Anyhow - neither Trump nor Musk could truly be considered classically liberal or conservative in either sense of the term. Funny: both of them are good businessmen, but neither of them have the faintest grasp of economics.
pmelendez 10y ago
Literally the only good thing I have seen related to Trump's plans so far. Hopefully won't be an illusion and this would change my perception of Musk. I really hope it won't... really....
- bargl 10y ago
  Did you read his 100 day plan? There are some terrible and scary things in there but there are also things to like. So I'd suggest reading it.
  - pmelendez 10y ago
    I have read pieces of it and didn't find anything compelling really, but I guess it depends on the perspective.
    - bargl 10y ago
      I like the idea of term limits on congress. I think it makes sense. There are a few things to like in there but I tend towards the middle of the political spectrum.
      - gumby 10y ago
        We have term limits in California. What they have done is removed any institutional experience. For example, instead of having people who have specialized in an area run a committee on that topic, everybody is shuffled. It has simply given the governor more power.
3pt14159 10y ago
How fast things change. November 4th: “I think a bit strongly that Trump is probably not the right guy” for the presidency, and wouldn't be the best candidate to represent the U.S. abroad, he told CNBC. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s economic and environmental policies “are the right ones,” Musk said. From: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/elon-musk-on-donald-trump-just-no-2016-11-04 http://www.marketwatch.com/story/elon-musk-on-donald-trump-j...
- camiller 10y ago
  It is said that Trump is not afraid of having advisors the disagree with him. Trump making Musk an advisor does no invalidate Musk's earlier position on Trump.
- bargl 10y ago
  I personally would want to advise someone I disagree with more than someone I agree with. If I agreed with them I'd let them do their thing...
- Mwatson10 10y ago
  I'm curious how things changed? Advising someone doesn't mean you have to agree with them. In fact wouldn't you want to advise someone you don't agree with? Try and direct them more towards your opinions?
  - edblarney 10y ago
    "I'm curious how things changed?" It would be one thing to prefer one candidate over the other. But Musk's remarks are very strong. Basically: "This man is not qualified for the job" is a very string rebuke. And then to go on his panel? It's a little hypocritical. Trump knows that these guys value their careers more than their credibility, and he's making Elon Musk, Mitt Romney etc. 'kiss the ring' and 'eat their own words'. They will likely have to say positive things about Trump in the future, coming out of meetings etc.. I'm by not means a Trump fan but there are shades of brilliant Machiavellian bits about this.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
bryanlarsen 10y ago
Kalanick is an obvious choice for Trump, being a self-proclaimed Ayn Rand fanboy. Musk is a much more surprising choice, not just because of his obvious environmentalism. Both Kalanick and Musk are well-known for not being very worker friendly. At least Musk leads by example. He destroyed his own marriage through overwork and expects his employees to do the same.
- orf 10y ago
  To be fair to Musk he was managing two pretty revolutionary businesses at once, both of which where going through very very tough times. This puts strain on any marriage and his broke. During this tough times. He still managed to hold it together. That's superhuman. It's not like he was a mid level white collar exec staying too long at the office.
- icpmacdo 10y ago
  I think this is all Peter Thiel speaking highly of Elon to Trump
zzzeek 10y ago
Jeff Bezos is also on this "advisory team" and he's close to a mortal enemy of Trump. I predict this is no more than a sunshine squad for PR reasons. Trump met with Al Gore for many hours as well, then nominated the most ardent climate change denier as head of the EPA the next day. As long as that kind of thing doesn't change (e.g. Trump literally comes out and says, "OK, I was wrong, I finally believe in climate change"), there's nothing here. Particularly when it says, “meet with the President frequently to share their specific experience and knowledge as the President implements his economic agenda.” - this is a man too lazy and detached to even be interested in his own intelligence briefings (http://www.npr.org/2016/12/13/505348507/what-exactly-is-the-presidents-daily-brief-and-why-is-it-important http://www.npr.org/2016/12/13/505348507/what-exactly-is-the-...). All evidence so far points to him not caring at all what new ideas this panel brings, if even paying attention at all.
- gdulli 10y ago
  Yeah this feels like an evolution of the "John Barron" strategy. Except this time he's leeching credibility from real people. It's a waste of time. The people who saw through him before will continue to do so, the people who ate it up before will continue to do so.
- brightball 10y ago
  While I'm not a Trump fan and don't disagree with a ton of what you say here, people need to stop with this intelligence briefings stuff. He said he doesn't need to dedicate time to have people tell him the exact same thing everyday, but to let him know when things change. If anything, that's an efficiency gain that a site full of programmers and avid "meetings are the devil" folks should appreciate. Every time that gets cited right now it roughly translates to "person who only reads headlines."
  - tuwtuwtuw 10y ago
    I agree, Twitter is more important right now.
    - 10y ago
beat 10y ago
I remember seeing a bunch of "Elon Musk for president!" among certain social groups. And I was thinking that's like "He's my favorite musician! I want him removing my appendix!" But that said, this is just noise anyway. It's not like these guys, however much we like them, will have any say in policy.
- lj3 10y ago
  That reminds me of a Dylan Moran joke: "Arnold Schwarzenegger is the governor of California. There's a perfectly ordinary English sentence. How did that happen!? ... He went over to the heavy thing, and lifted it, and put it back down and didn't move it anywhere. And then he did it again, hundreds of times, and he said to people who stopped to observe this aberrant behaviour, "Look how good I am at lifting the heavy thing in my underpants." Now, that may seem a little dim. But it was they who said "You're the man. You're the one we want to deal with immigration, and water rates, and taxes, and all that."
  - sboselli 10y ago
    This is nonsense. Are you or anyone you know a completely one-dimensional person? Do you have the capacity to learn just one (and no more) topic? Stop acting like people can't learn or have multiple passions/knowledge domains. Please, there's absolutely nothing special or unattainable about politicians. If anything, they are the people who are most trained, set in their ways and corrupted in the most corrupted system humanity has known. I welcome any and all outsiders.
    - lj3 10y ago
      It's a joke. Lighten up.
    - sharemywin 10y ago
      I don't know capitalism seems pretty corrupting. I doubt people grow-up thinking gee I wish I could work for a company that hides research for years that my company produces a product that kills people and spends billions researching how to make it more addictive. or commit the largest ponzi scheme or pollute the environment or push drugs that have marginal benefit to people, etc. Also, for every bribee in politics there's a briber as well.
XJOKOLAT 10y ago
Keep your friends close, your enemies closer.
pdog 10y ago
This isn't surprising. Elon Musk and Travis Kalanick are both admirers of Ayn Rand and likely supporters of Donald Trump (although they probably couldn't express their support prior to November 8th).
- Guillaume86 10y ago
  I have no idea if the source is credible but a simple Google search got me this: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/elon-musk-on-donald-trump-just-no-2016-11-04 http://www.marketwatch.com/story/elon-musk-on-donald-trump-j...
  - agildehaus 10y ago
    It's credible. Here's the interview the quote came from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ecfn9ULApXo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ecfn9ULApXo
justinzollars 10y ago
Please no more politics! I thought we were on a one week long hiatus from this crap. Please, down vote this article if you have the ability.
- mattnewton 10y ago
  The experiment was called off by dang a while back https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13131251 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13131251 IMHO This is pretty relevant stuff for anyone interested in the future of the companies these men run.
  - justinzollars 10y ago
    it was such a refreshing experiment while it lasted.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
KirinDave 10y ago
Unless these people have any real and appointed power in the administration, I'm skeptical. This reeks to me of showmanship and a "carrot" to counterbalance the "stick" of political reprisal for Rs joining the Hamilton electors.

125 points by rajeemcariazo 10y ago

Honest question, what does this mean for all the talk of Silicon Valley doom and gloom under Trump's presidency? Was all that just fear mongering? How do we understand this move?

mdrzn 10y ago
Seems like he's just asking for their opinion on the actual state of economy.
- KirinDave 10y ago
  Let's hope Musk repeats the line, "How about you stop subsidizing Tesla AND the Coal industry and see who wins the market?"
matwood 10y ago
The doom and gloom was of course a lot of fear mongering (the Hitler comparisons grow old very quickly). Trump talked so little of policy during the campaign we really have no idea what he is going to do. That in of itself is also scary because it is an unknown. While he was not my pick for POTUS, I'm holding a wait and see attitude. Historically Trump's public views were liberal, and he leaned democrat so we'll see how his actions break from the rhetoric. So far, he certainly does not seem to be following a playbook that anyone could have guessed.
- joshkpeterson 10y ago
  You really have not been paying attention since the election, have you?
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- mattferderer 10y ago
  As someone else who didn't vote for Trump, I too am sick of seeing all this fear mongering. Though in all fairness I've listened to people use it on Obama, Bush & both Clintons for the past few decades. For me, it reduces the credibility of someone's view points when they overuse this tactic.
- drewrv 10y ago
  > the Hitler comparisons grow old very quickly I agree in general. But when Auschwitz survivors make the Hitler comparison up we should listen. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/in-the-age-of-trump-grim-warnings-from-holocaust-survivors/2016/01/27/c65ea38c-c549-11e5-8965-0607e0e265ce_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/in-the-age-of-trump-...
  - damptowel 10y ago
    Hitler seemed like a more capable leader though, and less of a bigot. I believe he also had better taste in furniture. (Yeah sure downvote me all you want, gneeeh!)
  - 67726e 10y ago
    My grandparents grew up and lived under Hitler. I was practically raised by my grandmother in fact, and I asked a lot of questions. To compare the two is an absolute joke. If you took any politician, I guarantee you could make comparisons. That does not mean they're the next Hitler at all.
- zpallin 10y ago
  I have a problem with this comment. Not only did Trump talk plenty about his policy ideas and followers notably chose him based on these policies, Trump's views have never been expressly "liberal". Furthermore, plenty of people have predicted exactly how Trump would turn out. During the race, the left media continually argued that Trump would be appointing "1%ers" to his cabinet, and that is exactly what has happened. As for his "playbook", he clearly doesn't have one, and this has been consistently stated by opponents. But he's still as predictable as any other politician. This myth that he is somehow unpredictable is absurd. It's pretty clear exactly how he intends to run this country.
  - matwood 10y ago
    Historically his views have been liberal, even though many have flipped and flopped again [1]. The policy ideas appear in hindsight to be inflaming rhetoric. Make deals, build a wall, and deport people in the US illegally. The funny part is that those things are exactly what is happening today. Maybe the deals will be different, but there is already a fence across large parts of the Mexican border (fun aside, Obama and Hilary voted yes for it as senators[2][3]), and under Obama more people have been deported than ever before[4]. So really, no change. Appointing DC elite and/or 1%ers to cabinet positions is basically par for the course. Maybe Sanders would have appointed more normal people? I hate being put in a position to defend Trump because I think he also has tons of problems. But, this is who we have for the next 4 years so I'm going to watch what happens and hope it's more good than bad. [1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/07/09/ths-many-ways-in-which-donald-trump-was-once-a-liberals-liberal/?utm_term=.29f3bbbdc18e https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/07/09/th... [2] http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2016/aug/15/donald-trump/donald-trump-right-hillary-clinton-once-wanted-wal/ http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2016/aug/15/d... [3] https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/109-2006/s262 https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/109-2006/s262 [4] http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/oct/21/donald-trump/trump-right-deportation-numbers-wrong-talks-about-/ http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/oct/...
    - zpallin 10y ago
      You don't have to defend Trump if you don't want to. 1. WP article reads like a "top 10" clickbait article. Only a few things in that list are accurately associated with economic or social liberalism. Liking Hillary Clinton doesn't make you a liberal, for example. The press thing at the end is also absurd. 2. Being right about Hillary Clinton's wall thing doesn't make you a liberal. I don't know why you included this. 3. ??? See #2. 4. Once again, Obama or Hillary being less "liberal" doesn't make Trump more liberal. >The policy ideas appear in hindsight to be inflaming rhetoric. Make deals, build a wall, and deport people in the US illegally. The funny part is that those things are exactly what is happening today. Maybe the deals will be different, but there is already a fence across large parts of the Mexican border (fun aside, Obama and Hilary voted yes for it as senators[2][3]), and under Obama more people have been deported than ever before[4]. So really, no change. and > Appointing DC elite and/or 1%ers to cabinet positions is basically par for the course. Maybe Sanders would have appointed more normal people? Yea, which is the point: he is actually totally predictable, and like I said, the junk about him being hard to predict is nonsense. You said he was unpredictable... but now you're disagreeing with yourself? I'm super confused on what you're trying to say.
randomname2 10y ago
Consider that this talk was during an election, where people are inclined to be biased and partisan. There's indeed a good chance that none of the doom and gloom will play out. Silicon Valley excels at "failing fast", and the latest signs are showing they're adjusting quickly already.
zpallin 10y ago
This actually doesn't mean much other than publicity.

nedsma 10y ago

Which role is Peter Thiel going to play now?

iamthepieman 10y ago
maybe this IS the role he is playing? It's likely he has the ear of the president elect.
KirinDave 10y ago
Presumably Chief-Locked-In-A-Permanent-Glare-War-With-Mike-Pence.

balabaster 10y ago

Did not see that coming... The cynic in me says this is entirely about PR, but if it's not, this is a suprisingly positive step in the right direction. I'm not sure what to make of it and wonder what will come of it.

danvasquez29 10y ago
It honestly fits his MO perfectly I think. He very much values enterprise leadership over political experience.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- balabaster 10y ago
  Yes, but he's a bit of a paradox in this respect because he clearly values his own opinion over everyone else. Given some of the positions he's filled, with some of the personalities he's chosen, to pick a team that's clearly liberal and forward thinking team in this aspect vs. (anecdotally, I haven't read the actual evidence supporting this) the very staunch flat earth, climate denial, intelligent design type conservatives who don't even believe in evolution in other aspects... that's a gigantic paradox to have on one team. I don't know if having this spectrum of people is a strategic move on Trumps part for some deeper purpose or if it's just because they believe the things he believes and he's trying to make for an easy political life. I guess in the long run, we shall see.
  - edblarney 10y ago
    "in this respect because he clearly values his own opinion over everyone else." Musk or Trump? :) Musk might be liberal on some kind of social issues, but he's more of a libertarian than anything, he's not remotely some kind of 'bernie' guy. Musk told his wife, as they were having their 'first dance at the wedding' - that 'he's the alpha' in the relationship. Does that sound progressive? Or how about dumping his wife who bore 5 children for a girl 1/2 his age? Prog cred? Also " very staunch flat earth, climate denial, intelligent design type conservatives " ... this is casual bigotry on your part. 'Flat Earth'? Seriously? You're just going to throw that in? And you do realize it was Father David LeMaitre - a Catholic Priest and Physicist, who conceived of the 'big bang'? Anyhow - I'm not going to defend any of that necessarily, but your remarks amount to a casual kind of bigotry which is the bane of political discussion these days. Try to avoid this crude kind of stuff. And FYI Trump was a 'NYC tough-guy Democrat' for most of his life. The Clinton's went to his and Melania's wedding for gosh sakes. Anyhow - neither Trump nor Musk could truly be considered classically liberal or conservative in either sense of the term. Funny: both of them are good businessmen, but neither of them have the faintest grasp of economics.

pmelendez 10y ago

Literally the only good thing I have seen related to Trump's plans so far. Hopefully won't be an illusion and this would change my perception of Musk. I really hope it won't... really....

bargl 10y ago
Did you read his 100 day plan? There are some terrible and scary things in there but there are also things to like. So I'd suggest reading it.
- pmelendez 10y ago
  I have read pieces of it and didn't find anything compelling really, but I guess it depends on the perspective.
  - bargl 10y ago
    I like the idea of term limits on congress. I think it makes sense. There are a few things to like in there but I tend towards the middle of the political spectrum.
    - gumby 10y ago
      We have term limits in California. What they have done is removed any institutional experience. For example, instead of having people who have specialized in an area run a committee on that topic, everybody is shuffled. It has simply given the governor more power.

3pt14159 10y ago

How fast things change. November 4th: “I think a bit strongly that Trump is probably not the right guy” for the presidency, and wouldn't be the best candidate to represent the U.S. abroad, he told CNBC. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s economic and environmental policies “are the right ones,” Musk said. From: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/elon-musk-on-donald-trump-just-no-2016-11-04 http://www.marketwatch.com/story/elon-musk-on-donald-trump-j...

camiller 10y ago
It is said that Trump is not afraid of having advisors the disagree with him. Trump making Musk an advisor does no invalidate Musk's earlier position on Trump.
bargl 10y ago
I personally would want to advise someone I disagree with more than someone I agree with. If I agreed with them I'd let them do their thing...
Mwatson10 10y ago
I'm curious how things changed? Advising someone doesn't mean you have to agree with them. In fact wouldn't you want to advise someone you don't agree with? Try and direct them more towards your opinions?
- edblarney 10y ago
  "I'm curious how things changed?" It would be one thing to prefer one candidate over the other. But Musk's remarks are very strong. Basically: "This man is not qualified for the job" is a very string rebuke. And then to go on his panel? It's a little hypocritical. Trump knows that these guys value their careers more than their credibility, and he's making Elon Musk, Mitt Romney etc. 'kiss the ring' and 'eat their own words'. They will likely have to say positive things about Trump in the future, coming out of meetings etc.. I'm by not means a Trump fan but there are shades of brilliant Machiavellian bits about this.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

bryanlarsen 10y ago

Kalanick is an obvious choice for Trump, being a self-proclaimed Ayn Rand fanboy. Musk is a much more surprising choice, not just because of his obvious environmentalism. Both Kalanick and Musk are well-known for not being very worker friendly. At least Musk leads by example. He destroyed his own marriage through overwork and expects his employees to do the same.

orf 10y ago
To be fair to Musk he was managing two pretty revolutionary businesses at once, both of which where going through very very tough times. This puts strain on any marriage and his broke. During this tough times. He still managed to hold it together. That's superhuman. It's not like he was a mid level white collar exec staying too long at the office.
icpmacdo 10y ago
I think this is all Peter Thiel speaking highly of Elon to Trump

zzzeek 10y ago

Jeff Bezos is also on this "advisory team" and he's close to a mortal enemy of Trump. I predict this is no more than a sunshine squad for PR reasons. Trump met with Al Gore for many hours as well, then nominated the most ardent climate change denier as head of the EPA the next day. As long as that kind of thing doesn't change (e.g. Trump literally comes out and says, "OK, I was wrong, I finally believe in climate change"), there's nothing here. Particularly when it says, “meet with the President frequently to share their specific experience and knowledge as the President implements his economic agenda.” - this is a man too lazy and detached to even be interested in his own intelligence briefings (http://www.npr.org/2016/12/13/505348507/what-exactly-is-the-presidents-daily-brief-and-why-is-it-important http://www.npr.org/2016/12/13/505348507/what-exactly-is-the-...). All evidence so far points to him not caring at all what new ideas this panel brings, if even paying attention at all.

gdulli 10y ago
Yeah this feels like an evolution of the "John Barron" strategy. Except this time he's leeching credibility from real people. It's a waste of time. The people who saw through him before will continue to do so, the people who ate it up before will continue to do so.
brightball 10y ago
While I'm not a Trump fan and don't disagree with a ton of what you say here, people need to stop with this intelligence briefings stuff. He said he doesn't need to dedicate time to have people tell him the exact same thing everyday, but to let him know when things change. If anything, that's an efficiency gain that a site full of programmers and avid "meetings are the devil" folks should appreciate. Every time that gets cited right now it roughly translates to "person who only reads headlines."
- tuwtuwtuw 10y ago
  I agree, Twitter is more important right now.
  - 10y ago

beat 10y ago

I remember seeing a bunch of "Elon Musk for president!" among certain social groups. And I was thinking that's like "He's my favorite musician! I want him removing my appendix!" But that said, this is just noise anyway. It's not like these guys, however much we like them, will have any say in policy.

lj3 10y ago
That reminds me of a Dylan Moran joke: "Arnold Schwarzenegger is the governor of California. There's a perfectly ordinary English sentence. How did that happen!? ... He went over to the heavy thing, and lifted it, and put it back down and didn't move it anywhere. And then he did it again, hundreds of times, and he said to people who stopped to observe this aberrant behaviour, "Look how good I am at lifting the heavy thing in my underpants." Now, that may seem a little dim. But it was they who said "You're the man. You're the one we want to deal with immigration, and water rates, and taxes, and all that."
- sboselli 10y ago
  This is nonsense. Are you or anyone you know a completely one-dimensional person? Do you have the capacity to learn just one (and no more) topic? Stop acting like people can't learn or have multiple passions/knowledge domains. Please, there's absolutely nothing special or unattainable about politicians. If anything, they are the people who are most trained, set in their ways and corrupted in the most corrupted system humanity has known. I welcome any and all outsiders.
  - lj3 10y ago
    It's a joke. Lighten up.
  - sharemywin 10y ago
    I don't know capitalism seems pretty corrupting. I doubt people grow-up thinking gee I wish I could work for a company that hides research for years that my company produces a product that kills people and spends billions researching how to make it more addictive. or commit the largest ponzi scheme or pollute the environment or push drugs that have marginal benefit to people, etc. Also, for every bribee in politics there's a briber as well.

XJOKOLAT 10y ago

Keep your friends close, your enemies closer.

pdog 10y ago

This isn't surprising. Elon Musk and Travis Kalanick are both admirers of Ayn Rand and likely supporters of Donald Trump (although they probably couldn't express their support prior to November 8th).

Guillaume86 10y ago
I have no idea if the source is credible but a simple Google search got me this: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/elon-musk-on-donald-trump-just-no-2016-11-04 http://www.marketwatch.com/story/elon-musk-on-donald-trump-j...
- agildehaus 10y ago
  It's credible. Here's the interview the quote came from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ecfn9ULApXo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ecfn9ULApXo

justinzollars 10y ago

Please no more politics! I thought we were on a one week long hiatus from this crap. Please, down vote this article if you have the ability.

mattnewton 10y ago
The experiment was called off by dang a while back https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13131251 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13131251 IMHO This is pretty relevant stuff for anyone interested in the future of the companies these men run.
- justinzollars 10y ago
  it was such a refreshing experiment while it lasted.
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KirinDave 10y ago

Unless these people have any real and appointed power in the administration, I'm skeptical. This reeks to me of showmanship and a "carrot" to counterbalance the "stick" of political reprisal for Rs joining the Hamilton electors.