In early June, the close personal relationship between Donald Trump and Elon Musk unraveled in spectacular fashion. But while Musk may have spun out of Trump’s immediate orbit, it would be optimistic to celebrate his ouster from government. He spent the first four months of Trump’s second presidency embedding his own enterprises into the functioning of the bureaucracy. His government influence is now deeply entrenched, built to withstand the president’s emotional storms.
Musk got exactly what he wanted from his time in Washington and his $200 million investment in President Trump’s reelection: expanded federal contracts, widespread deregulation of his industries, renewed backing from Wall Street and venture capital, and the mass firing of government officials who work to protect people harmed by his business practices.
In my hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, where Musk runs a massive AI data center he calls Colossus, we’re seeing how intractable Musk’s corporate capture of democratic institutions can be. Colossus is a power plant running thirty-five methane gas turbines to power a warehouse of supercomputers. It’s pumping out pollution and making residents sick, adding to the health burden of a community that has a cancer rate four times the national average. But Musk has his hands on so many levers of government that closing it has been an uphill battle.
In a healthy democracy, Musk wouldn’t be able to do what he’s doing in South Memphis. We know that if he succeeds here, he’ll be moving on to other American cities and towns next, so we’re studying his playbook and fighting him at every step.
When Musk’s team built out the Colossus site last year, they did so with no approval from the city council and zero input from residents. We now know that he pushed Colossus through by pressuring fourteen of our city officials into signing nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) before the project was even announced. These officials are…
Auteur: Keshaun Pearson
