Tesla CEO Elon Musk joined in a call between Google CEO Sundar Pichai and US President elect Donald Trump, reports The Information. The call took place shortly after Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris in the November 5 presidential election. It is not yet known what else was discussed on the phone call, apart from the congratulatory message. Musk reportedly listened in as Pichai congratulated and spoke with Trump.
Two times when Donald Trump talked with Sundar Pichai
This isn’t the first time that reports of a conversation between Trump and Google’s CEO have surfaced online. During his election campaigns, Trump mentioned twice about calling Pichai.
In an interview with Bloomberg editor-in-chief John Micklethwait last month, Trump said that he called Google CEO Sundar Pichai to highlight alleged biases in Google search, claiming it only shows negative stories about him. He then said “I called the head of Google the other day and I said, ‘I’m getting a lot of good stories lately, but you don’t find them in Google’,” he said. Pichai, Trump said in the interview, told him that “you’re the No. 1 person on all of Google for stories”.
Also read: Donald Trump: I called Google CEO Sundar Pichai the other day and said …
Also read: Donald Trump: Sundar Pichai called me to say, ‘this was the biggest thing on Google’
In October again, Trump claimed that Pichai called him to convey accolades on his visit to McDonald’s. During an appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, he said “I actually got a call from Sundar…the head of Google and he said, sir, I just want to tell you what you did with McDonald’s was one of the single biggest events we’ve ever had at Google”.
Tesla CEO’s growing global influence
Elon Musk, who has been a vocal supporter of Trump in the US elections, has reportedly spent close to $130m to help get the former president re-elected. He was recently appointed as co-chair of the newly formed “Department of Government Efficiency” alongside Indian-American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. “Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies – Essential to the ‘Save America’ Movement,” Trump said.
The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX has previously participated in calls with global leaders and has offered advice on personnel decisions, both privately and publicly, through X—the social media platform he acquired in 2022. He has briefly joined a call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as listened during a conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Additionally, Musk has been seen frequently at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, taking part in sensitive discussions.