CNN is reporting that Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, has a new BFF and his name is President Donald Trump. This strange new alliance being the case, the development shows that Musk has an adroit sense of where to cultivate power. Eight years ago, Musk’s best friend was the newly elected President Barack Obama. Musk was even photographed showing Obama his Falcon 9 rocket shortly before it launched. The alliance was a factor in SpaceX being a participant in NASA’s commercial crew program in which the company is developing a crewed version of the Dragon spacecraft to take astronauts to and from the International Space Station.
But that was then, and this is now. Obama has passed into history and Trump is the man in the position of power to give Musk what he wants, contracts and other support to keep his businesses flourishing. For his part, Trump is always interested in cultivating a CEO willing to build factories and create jobs in the United States.
The big prize that Musk is after is support for his Mars endeavors, SpaceX plans to land a spacecraft called the Red Dragon on the Martian surface in 2018. Musk has even suggested that he will launch a crewed expedition to the Red Planet by 2024, ten or more years before NASA is planning to. Longer range, the immigrant from South Africa would like to build a colony on Mars using a mega rocket called the Interplanetary Transport System.
The friendship of the most powerful man on the planet, who has expressed eagerness to make America great again, would certainly help to fulfill that vision.
Trump is even said to be open to supporting some of Musk’s more earthly ambitions. While the president is a climate change skeptic and a supporter of fossil fuel, he is also not opposed to renewable energy.
Musk’s electric car company, Tesla, and his solar panel company, Solar City, would prosper from the support of the real estate tycoon and reality show star turned president. It will be an alliance not only of convenience but of mutual interest of which great things might result.
