As US President-elect Donald Trump makes several choices to fill out his incoming administration’s Cabinet, the lobbying for key positions has been fierce behind closed doors — and sometimes publicly.
Now billionaire and key Trump ally Elon Musk is calling for more direct public input into the decision-making process for at least one top post — the head of the Treasury Department.
Would be interesting to hear more people weigh in on this for @realDonaldTrump to consider feedback.
My view fwiw is that Bessent is a business-as-usual choice, whereas @howardlutnick will actually enact change.
Business-as-usual is driving America bankrupt, so we need change… https://t.co/igGLZOJ8wz— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 16, 2024
“Would be interesting to hear more people weigh in on this for @realDonaldTrump to consider feedback,” Mr Musk, who Mr Trump has already tapped to co-lead a commission tasked with increasing government spending efficiency, posted on Saturday on the X social media platform he owns.
Mr Musk then used the rest of his post to become the first participant in the public poll he was proposing. He endorsed Howard Lutnick, the chief executive of financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald and co-chair of Mr Trump’s transition team ahead of Inauguration Day on January 20, over hedge fund manager Scott Bessent.
Mr Musk said in his post that “Bessent is a business-as-usual choice, whereas @howardlutnick will actually enact change”.
“Business-as-usual is driving America bankrupt, so we need change,” he said.
Both Mr Lutnick and Mr Bessent have been mentioned as possible picks to lead the Treasury during Mr Trump’s second administration.
The president-elect has already announced many picks in recent days, including his choice for Secretary of State, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, and attorney general, former Florida Representative Matt Gaetz.
But he still has other important slots to fill, including the heads of the Education and Labour Departments — as well as Treasury — and many leading possibilities have been jockeying to improve their standing with Mr Trump.
Mr Bessent is considered the more conventional, business-friendly choice. He is sceptical about cryptocurrency, while Mr Lutnick has suggested it could be used for people to pay their taxes.
A short time later, Mr Trump’s selection to lead his Health and Human Services Department, Robert F Kennedy Jr, also endorsed Mr Lutnick, posting on his own X account: “Bitcoin is the currency of freedom, a hedge against inflation for middle class Americans.
“Bitcoin will have no stronger advocate than Howard Lutnik,” he wrote, misspelling Mr Lutnick’s last name.
Later on Saturday, Mr Trump picked Chris Wright, chief executive of Denver-based Liberty Energy, as energy secretary.
Mr Wright is a vocal advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking, a key pillar of Mr Trump’s quest to achieve US “energy dominance” in the global market.
Mr Wright has won support from influential conservatives, including oil and gas tycoon Harold Hamm. Mr Hamm, executive chairman of Oklahoma-based Continental Resources, a major shale oil company, is a longtime Trump supporter and adviser who played a key role on energy issues in Mr Trump’s first term.
Mr Hamm helped organise an event at Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in April where industry leaders and lobbyists were asked to donate one billion dollars to Mr Trump’s campaign, with the expectation that Mr Trump would curtail environmental regulations if re-elected.
Mr Wright has been one of the industry’s loudest voices against efforts to fight climate change and could give fossil fuels a boost, including quick action to end a year-long pause on natural gas export approvals by the Biden administration.
Mr Wright has criticised what he calls a “top-down” approach to climate by liberal and left-wing groups and said the climate movement around the world is “collapsing under its own weight”.
Mr Musk’s post came as Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson was at Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, this weekend, and expected to meet the president-elect later on Saturday. After that, Mr Trump is set to head to Saturday night’s UFC heavyweight championship fight between Stipe Miocic and Jon Jones at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
Except for a day trip to Washington this week to meet for nearly two hours with President Joe Biden, and separately address House Republicans, Mr Trump has been spending his time since his election day victory at Mar-a-Lago, which has hosted galas and events throughout the week.
A return to Madison Square Garden means revisiting the place where a comedian caused an uproar at a Trump rally last month by likening Puerto Rico to a “floating island of garbage”. Yet Mr Trump continues to relish visits to New York, where he lived for decades.
Mr Trump has also been close to Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White for more than two decades.
Mr White hosted a 2001 UFC battle at Trump Taj Mahal, a former casino-hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and Mr Trump has frequently attended UFC matches since – including during his 2024 campaign. Mr Trump has turned up at fights recently with famous entourages, including Mr White, musician Kid Rock and former Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson.
In 2018, during Mr Trump’s first term, he and Mr White starred in a UFC video where the then-president was dubbed the “combatant in chief”.
As Mr Trump has strengthened his grip on the national Republican Party over the last near-decade, Mr White’s personal political profile has grown exponentially. Mr White spoke at the 2016 and 2020 Republican conventions, and when the party gathered in Milwaukee this past July. He also addressed the crowd at Mr Trump’s Florida victory party in the wee hours of the morning after Election Day.
“This is what happens when the machine comes after you,” Mr White said then.
“What you’ve seen over the last several years, this is what it looks like: couldn’t stop him. He keeps going forward. He doesn’t quit.”
