How Elon Musk Bought The President

Musk Celebrating The Results of The 2024 Election

And, you know, [Musk has] been going through a process that - I think we can say, a process of radicalization on the internet — Zoe Schiffer

It would be hard to find anyone in this building who doesn’t know the outcome of the 2024 presidential election. Whether you celebrate or lament the results, one fact remains clear: the cost of living will not be going down anytime soon. Despite this, voters still elected President Elon Musk and Vice President Donald Trump in what has been called the most controversial election in modern history.

A Presidency Bought, Not Won

Elon Musk’s rise to the White House was not the result of a traditional campaign. With an estimated net worth exceeding $200 billion, Musk outspent every benefactor in U.S. history, flooding social media with targeted ads, leveraging his influence over platforms like Twitter, and bankrolling independent political action committees (PACs) that dominated airwaves and online discourse. Critics argue that this was not an election—it was a purchase.

He didn’t win hearts and minds; he bought them. We’ve seen big money in politics before but never has a single individual leveraged their wealth so directly to secure the presidency. With year-end FEC reports now out, it has been revealed that Elon Musk spent $300 million on Trump, with more than $11 million going to his PAC. Musk’s PAC, donated millions to increase voter turnout and voter registration, which drew many legal concerns.

One of many of Musk's tweets that were flagged as verifiably untruthful.

The Misinformation Machine

Musk’s direct control over Twitter has turned the platform into an extension of administration, where government policy is announced via tweet, and dissenting voices are banned outright. Words against the narrative are flagged. More concerning is Musk’s repeated posting of false or misleading information to control narratives, ranging from economic data, national security threats, or claiming that someone who did nothing did something bad.

It has been estimated that his pre-election lies got over 1.2 Billion views. One example from July was when US Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson suggested Democrats "want to turn illegal aliens into voters." Musk retweeted this claim, adding that "the goal all along has been to import as many illegal voters as possible," implying that immigrants are being brought into the country to support Democrats. The post has received more than 45 million views. The truth is, that only US citizens can vote in US federal elections. "Noncitizens, including permanent legal residents, cannot vote in federal, state and most local elections," a statement on USA.gov, an official US government website, explains. Federal law strictly prohibits noncitizens from voting in US presidential elections. 

His misinformation has also extended to electoral politics. Following Trump’s victory, Musk still amplified claims of voter fraud, providing no evidence yet to fuel his supporters’ demands for a purge of voter rolls that disproportionately affected low-income and minority voters.

The Great Lobbying Boom

One of the first legislative moves under the Trump/Musk administration was dismantling Biden-era ethical restrictions on lobbying. For those who are unaware, lobbying is the act of giving gifts or paying lawmakers to tailor laws more favorable to yourself. The Biden-era ethics order banned gifts from lobbyists and created a “cooling off” period between leaving office and joining lobbying firms. The order also implemented a one-year ban on “shadow lobbying,” a common practice in Washington in which former officials advise those lobbying government officials rather than directly lobbying themselves. This change allowed corporations and billionaires to funnel unlimited money into influencing policy, effectively turning Washington into an open marketplace where laws are written by the highest bidder.

Within weeks, major industries are trying to take advantage. We are already seeing rollbacks of safety and operational standards. Donald Sherman, executive director and chief counsel at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), said,“I struggle to comprehend how President Trump weakening the ethical obligations of his staff will benefit everyday Americans concerned about the price of groceries and public safety, but it’s no surprise that a president who spent his first term in the White House accepting payments from corporate lobbyists and foreign agents at his hotel would roll back measures to prevent his administration from accepting gifts from special interests seeking to win influence." CREW sued Trump in 2017 for violating the emoluments clause of the Constitution.

Global-Scale Conflicts Of Interest

While most government staff would place their assets in blind trusts or divest to avoid conflicts of interest while in office, Musk has not done this, and has shown signs of leveraging his influence for gain. Not to mention the existing conflicts-of-interest, for example, SpaceX regularly competes for elusive government contracts that can cut out long-term competitors. Tesla would benefit from relaxed environmental regulations, not to mention its existing history of legal battles over workplace safety. Starlink has been accepted for use in the military without the normal congressional oversights, even with its demonstrated ease of geo-blocking access in conflicts he doesn’t personally agree with, even if the U.S. Government does.

Even more alarming, Musk continues to negotiate with foreign leaders over business deals while holding the highest office in the U.S captive. His cozy relationship with China—where Tesla’s largest production facilities operate—has raised concerns about national security, especially as reports emerge that his administration has avoided enforcing tariffs or sanctions that would hurt his bottom line.

The Gesture That Germany Censored On Their TV

Musk’s Inner Circle Seizes the Government

Perhaps the most chilling signs of Musk’s grip on power came when his aides physically locked federal employees out of their computers. The systems include a vast database called Enterprise Human Resources Integration, which contains dates of birth, Social Security numbers, appraisals, home addresses, pay grades, and length of service of government workers. "We have no visibility into what they are doing with the computer and data systems," an official said. "That is creating great concern. There is no oversight. It creates real cybersecurity and hacking implications." The aides also tried to access other data sets, including the social security records of every American citizen. It is worth noting that Musk is not an elected official and for years could not obtain a security clearance due to his ketamine addiction.

Musk took to Twitter that Treasury employees “are breaking the law every hour of every day”. The Treasury division accessed by DOGE handles payments of nearly $6 trillion for programs such as social security, government salaries, and the distribution of funds allotted by Congress. The access to the payment system was granted by incoming Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday, the same day when a longtime Treasury official named David Lebryk was placed on administrative leave and suddenly retired, the New York Times reported.

The Dismantling of USAID

One of Musk’s most recent and most shocking moves is attempting to dismantle the international USAID program, tweeting that the program and its employees are “evil”. USAID is responsible for humanitarian aid across the globe. Citing ‘wasteful spending’ and the need to ‘prioritize America,’ Musk is aiming to dismantle the agency as a whole. The pattern is easily recognizable as Musk’s. His aides and staffers attempt to gain access to key databases and systems, placing anyone who resists on leave. The shutdown of USAID could have major impacts on developing or war-torn nations, including Palestine, Ukraine, Ethiopia, and Jordan.

The White House said, as of time of writing, 606 USAID employees had been put on administrative leave and 791 personal service contracts were terminated for a projected savings of $128 million. Foreign aid will be recalibrated to focus only on "lower-income countries." A White House official said Trump discussed the moves with reporters in the Oval Office. "I love the concept," he said of USAID, "but they turned out to be radical left lunatics. The concept of it is good but it's all about the people." He disagreed that an act of Congress is required to do away with USAID. "I don't think so. Not when it comes to fraud," Trump said. Trump is also the man who blamed diversity on the first American mid-air plane collision in over a decade days after rolling back safety regulations. This comes out like the ramblings of a madman, especially after the magical spigot rant.

Looking to the future

With the media landscape controlled, lobbyists now unchecked, and government agencies in the process of being repurposed to serve corporate interest, the question remains: what is next? His critics fear that the democratic institutions of America will continue to erode, while his supporters continue to argue that he is simply ‘modernizing the government’ in a way that traditional politicians never could.

One thing is certain: the United States is starting to fall out of being a democracy in the traditional sense. It is quickly becoming the world’s first corporate-run superpower, where elections are decided not by people, but by the wealthiest person on the planet, who does not have your best interests at heart.

The ideas presented in this article do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Lance. We welcome opinion pieces from all students.