What happened
Tesla stock has fallen back to where it was trading before President Donald Trump won in November and named CEO Elon Musk to lead his "Department of Government Efficiency." The Tesla slump has cost Musk a fortune on paper, but the world's richest person is now "positioned to profit off billions in new government contracts" with SpaceX, The New York Times said Sunday, even as Musk has "taken a chain saw to the apparatus of governing."
Trump and his aides have also "stepped in to help Musk and Tesla weather the storm and boost the company's sagging stock," USA Today said, "raising questions about the ethics — and the legality — of an administration actively working to benefit a business owned by the president's biggest financial backer."
Who said what
Musk allies in the Trump administration and current employees on loan to DOGE have already started laying the groundwork for a big "boost in federal spending for SpaceX" and its Starlink subsidiary, the Times said, detailing efforts at the Pentagon, NASA, Commerce Department, FCC, FAA and other agencies. SpaceX was already "one of the nation's largest federal contractors," securing $3.8 billion in commitments in fiscal 2024, but the "overall value of the work expected to be delivered to SpaceX" due to actions by Trump and Musk allies in his administration is expected to grow significantly.
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"We will never know if SpaceX would authentically win competitions for these awards because all of the offices in government intended to prevent corruption and conflicts of interest have been beheaded or defunded," Danielle Brian, the executive director of Project on Government Oversight, told the Times.
What next?
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Times that Musk had received briefings on ethics limits and conflicts of interest, and would abide by all applicable federal laws.
