Musk emerges as Trump’s enforcer with ‘naughty list’ targeting key Republicans and Democrats
Musk, a key ally of Donald Trump, has pledged to use his political action committee to target lawmakers who don’t support the president-elect’s agenda
A week after president-elect Donald Trump’s victory, Elon Musk said his political action committee would “play a significant role in primaries.”
The following week, the billionaire responded to a report that he might fund challengers to Republican Party House members who don’t support Trump’s nominees. “How else? There is no other way,” Musk wrote on X, which he rebranded after purchasing Twitter and moving to boost conservative voices, including his own.
And during his recent visit to Capitol Hill, Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy delivered a warning to Republicans who don’t go along with their plans to slash spending as part of Trump’s proposed Department of Government Efficiency.
“Elon and Vivek talked about having a naughty list and a nice list for members of Congress and senators and how we vote and how we’re spending the American people’s money,” said Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Trump’s second term comes with the spectre of the world’s richest man serving as his political enforcer. Within Trump’s team, there is a feeling that Musk not only supports Trump’s agenda and Cabinet appointments, but is intent on seeing them through to the point of pressuring Republicans who may be less devout.
One Trump adviser, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal political dynamics, noted Musk had come to enjoy his role on the campaign and that he clearly had the resources to stay involved.
