The estranged niece of Donald Trump, Mary Trump, shared on Thursday how billionaire Elon Musk maintains the "most influence" over the president-elect.
Newsweek has reached out to Trump's transition team and Musk via email for comment.
Why It Matters
Musk, founder of Tesla and SpaceX who has been appointed by the president-elect to co-lead the "Department of Government Efficiency" or (DOGE), alongside Vivek Ramaswamy, has been a staunch ally and financial backer of Trump's in this year's election cycle.
However, the appointment of Musk has raised concerns as the billionaire, who frequently posts his political opinions on X, formerly Twitter, which he bought in October 2022, has continued to speak on a variety of policies.
Most recently, Musk, a South African naturalized U.S. citizen, is finding himself at odds with Make America Great Again (MAGA) supporters over H-1B visas as they have long pushed for stricter immigration policies.
What To Know
In a Thursday livestream on X, Mary Trump, a vocal critic of her uncle, spoke about the influence Musk has created with the president-elect and how there is a power balance at play between the two.
"Musk understands, like some people, like [Russian President] Vladimir Putin for example, that the last person who has Donald's ear is the person with the most influence and Musk has engineered this situation in which he is never not the last person to have Donald's ear," she said.
She continued by speaking on how Republicans in Congress will react to Musk's influence and said, "I think it depends on what kind of influence Musk has because the other thing that is so dangerous about him is that he is actually ideological in a way that Donald never was."
A rift over H-1B visas erupted after conservative activist Laura Loomer criticized Trump's appointment of Indian-born entrepreneur Sriram Krishnan as his senior policy adviser on artificial intelligence (AI). On X, Loomer noted Krishnan had previously argued that the H-1B visa should be expanded, which she claimed was "in direct opposition" to the Trump agenda.
The H-1B visa allows American companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations. These typically require theoretical or technical expertise in fields such as information technology (IT), engineering, mathematics, finance, medicine, science, or other professional disciplines.
Musk, meanwhile, defended legal migration in an X post on Friday.
"The reason I'm in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1B. Take a big step back and F*** YOURSELF in the face. I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend," he wrote.
Musk, the world's wealthiest man, has benefited from the H-1B program personally and professionally. He first came to the United States on a J-1 academic visa that he says transitioned into an H-1B. Tesla is also among the companies to rely on the program, having hired 724 H-1B workers in 2023.
However, MAGA evangelists, like Loomer, believe Musk's influence within Trump's circle serves his own interests. On X, Loomer singled out Musk and his tech allies, including Box CEO Aaron Levie and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, alleging that the new DOGE initiative for government efficiency is just a cover for sending funds to Silicon Valley entrepreneurs.
What People Are Saying
Mark Shanahan, who teaches American politics at the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom, previously told Newsweek: "Alliance with Trump offers access to power to many disparate opinions—most of whom would never choose to cross paths outside the Beltway bubble. Musk and co. are motivated only by burnishing their wealth while their opponents in the H1-B spat gain power by continually playing the immigration card."
He added: "These factions will never reconcile, and this week's social media storm is merely a harbinger of the chaos that could engulf the new presidency even before Trump gets his feet under the Resolute desk."
The conservative "End Wokeness" X account, which has over 3.3 million followers, posted on Friday: "We can debate and have dialogue but it would be foolish to alienate Elon in the process. Look how that turned out for the left."
Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for less immigration, previously told Newsweek, "I think they can give both sides a fair hearing...Now we also have Elon Musk, who might offer advice that wasn't there in the first administration. So, this tension is new."
What Happens Next
While Trump has been vocal about his plans for illegal immigration, it is still unclear what he plans to do with those who aspire to work in the U.S. legally.
Trump has previously talked about the prospects for legal immigration reform, suggesting that students who got an advanced degree deserved the opportunity of a green card.
"What I will do is, you graduate from a college, I think you should get automatically, as part of your diploma, a green card to be able to stay in this country," Trump said in June.
Once in office, Trump could struggle to placate both those in business who believe skilled legal migration boosts the U.S. economy and those of his supporters who think it takes place at the expense of American workers.
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