\n<\/p>\n
One week after saying he would \u201ccertainly<\/a>\u201d consider giving Elon Musk<\/strong> a Cabinet role in a possible second administration\u2014and getting an immediate pledge<\/a> by Musk to serve\u2014Donald Trump<\/strong> appears to be rethinking the wisdom of such an idea.<\/p>\n Speaking to a former Navy Seal about the prospect, the ex-president said<\/a>, referring to the Tesla owner: \u201cHe wants to be involved. Now look, he\u2019s running big businesses and all that, so he can\u2019t really\u2014I don\u2019t think he\u2019d be [free for] the Cabinet.\u201d Trump added that though he would \u201cabsolutely\u201d nominate Musk for such a role\u2014which requires Senate approval\u2014he doesn\u2019t \u201cknow how he could do that with all the things he\u2019s got going.\u201d Trump went on to say he\u2019d be up for having Musk serve as a consultant.<\/p>\n As the Daily Beast notes<\/a>, the real reason Musk probably isn\u2019t going to have a Cabinet position in a potential second Trump term is that he would have a mountain of conflicts of interest, and as CNN reported<\/a> last week, it wouldn\u2019t be as simple as selling stock in his company or putting his shares in a blind trust, because \u201cMusk, the CEO and single largest shareholder of Tesla, can\u2019t just sell his stake without causing the price to collapse. And given the scope of his business interests, it\u2019s hard to see where he could serve without having to recuse himself regularly.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMuch would depend on what the job is and how it relates to his economic interest,\u201d Richard Briffault,<\/strong> a professor at Columbia Law School, told the outlet. \u201cIs there anything that\u00a0wouldn\u2019t<\/em>\u00a0relate to his economic interests? I\u2019m not sure what that would be.\u201d<\/p>\n In other Trump-Musk news, Rolling Stone<\/em> reports<\/a> that while Trump may have glowing words for the world\u2019s richest man in public, such remarks may not tell the full story:<\/p>\n According to a person close to the twice-impeached convicted felon, Trump \u201cthinks [Musk\u2019s] weird. Sorry to use a word used a lot by Democrats now.\u201d This source has spoken to the former president about Musk as recently as July. Another source, who has been in the room multiple times over the years when Trump has spoken privately about Musk, relays to\u00a0Rolling Stone<\/em>\u00a0that Trump has at times, as recently as in the past few months, said that Musk is \u201cboring,\u201d annoying, and prone to mood swings.<\/p>\n Sources note that while Trump obviously says some nicer things privately about Musk now, he still sometimes peppers in his ruder assessments. Indeed, even publicly, Trump\u2019s true feelings find ways of trickling out on occasion. The former president recently\u00a0described\u00a0Musk as \u201ca very different kind of a guy,\u201d which sources close to Trump describe as not a compliment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n In a statement, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign told Rolling Stone<\/em> that the ex-president and Musk \u201cagree on the big issues facing our country, and that Kamala Harris<\/strong> must be stopped before she completely destroys America.\u201d Musk is currently heading up a Trump-backing super PAC that, to date, has spent<\/a> $37 million on the effort to reelect him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n