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Tesla CEO Elon Musk Joins President Trump's New Manufacturing Council (electrek.co) 137

Posted by BeauHD from the share-a-common-interest dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Electrek: Tesla CEO Elon Musk was already on President Trump's Strategic and Policy Forum, but the White House announced today that he will also be joining the administration's new manufacturing council, a private sector group that advises the U.S. secretary of commerce. He headed a meeting on Monday at the White House. Musk was present along with several other industry leaders who are now also formally joining the manufacturing council. CNBC reports: "The group of business leaders includes Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk and chief executives of large American companies like Ford, Dow Chemical, General Electric, Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Richard Trumka, president of the labor federation AFL-CIO, will also give advice." As we recently reported, while Musk's mission to accelerate the advent of renewable energy might seem at odd with Trump's plan to unlock fossil fuel reserve, but Musk is betting that job creation is more important to the new President than simply satisfying the oil industry. If Trump wants to be the champion of job creation and Tesla shows that renewables create a lot of jobs, then their interests are aligned. Tesla currently employs over 30,000 people, more than 25,000 of which are in the U.S. The company wants to add over 3,000 manufacturing jobs at its factory in Fremont, California, 1,000 at its solar panel factory in Buffalo, New York, and over to 6,500 at the Gigafactory in Nevada.
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk Joins President Trump's New Manufacturing Council More

Tesla CEO Elon Musk Joins President Trump's New Manufacturing Council

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  • I feel conflicted about this (Score:3, Interesting)

    by JoshuaZ ( 1134087 ) on Friday January 27, 2017 @08:30PM (#53752619) Homepage
    On the one hand, Trump is so terribly awful that any sort of support of him is problematic and dangerous. It risks becoming swept up in his complete disregard for facts or decency. On the other hand, having a few people involved like Musk are very sane and wealthy enough that Trump will listen to them (wealth being apparently one of the very few things he cares about), and might be positive moderating influences.

    • Re: (Score:1, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Suck it up Buttercup

    • Re:I feel conflicted about this (Score:4, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 27, 2017 @08:53PM (#53752715)

      CNN reports that multiple intelligence sources confirm that Donald Trump breathes air and drinks water. If we do the same we risk normalizing Trump and implicitly endorsing his march toward complete planetary annihilation.

      I suggest we all immediately stop breathing and drinking, and spend the next four years chanting anti-Trump mantras at a wall in Queens.

      • Re:I feel conflicted about this (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 27, 2017 @09:59PM (#53752957)

        I already miss jackie4chan, /pol/blart, jihadi jesus and CIA.

        How ironic this whole mess is: They chant "HE WILL NOT DIVIDE US" while dividing people with opposing opinions to the sidewalk and shrieking their cult chant any time someone attempts to debate them.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by quax ( 19371 )

        I suggest we all immediately stop breathing and drinking, and spend the next four years chanting anti-Trump mantras at a wall in Queens.

        I'll settle for less: If he finally makes the comb over go out of style I'll count that as a win.

    • Re:I feel conflicted about this (Score:5, Insightful)

      by hey! ( 33014 ) on Friday January 27, 2017 @09:13PM (#53752795) Homepage Journal

      Look, even Bernie Sanders says he'll work with Trump, and it's not because Sanders has changed his feelings about the "billionaire class". It's because Bernie has cynically sized up Trump as a selfish putz who wouldn't hesitate to stab is Republican "friends" in the back if it flattered his ego. That's a good thing from Sanders' point of view.

      You don't have to like or even respect someone to use them; you just have to be wary of getting used yourself.

      • Hey Vlad, is that you?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by DrXym ( 126579 )
        Trump is what Russians would call a "useful idiot". Providing you can stroke his massive ego and indulge his narcissism, you can make him parrot anything you want.

        The best thing Musk could do to stroke his ego is through a transparently obsequious act, e.g. offer to clad out Mar Del Lago or one of his other buildings with solar panels. Trump will suddenly start spouting how wonderful solar and renewables are for creating jobs.

      • Probably Trump's biggest weakness is that he lacks knowledge about policy issues. He's a real estate developer, not a policy wonk or career politician. He's also impulsive, saying things without thinking carefully about the consequences, but his lack of information is probably his biggest weakness.

        On the other hand, he's an effective manager who gets big projects done.

        Therefore, we can expect him to do big things - sometimes the wrong things. However, he's shown the ability to (sometimes) listen to expert

    • Re: (Score:1, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Elon is pragmatic. He's got nothing to lose being in a position to influence policy that affects what he wants to do.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward

      It seems you are experiencing cognitive dissonance. You have been programed to equate Trump with Hitler, but now something happened to conflict with that belief. Now you are struggling to resolve these conflicting feelings. Perhaps Occam's Razor is what you should be considering. Trump may have lots of faults, but maybe, just maybe, he's not Hitler. Maybe he actually has some good ideas and is actively trying to make America great. I don't expect everyone to agree with his methods. I don't, but I do admire

      • Hitler also put effort into making good on his campaign promises and succeeded. Hitler started out at the beginning pretty much as Trump has, create division and get the gullible to hate others who are not like themselves, the real awful shit came later.
        • wait trump created division? Im pretty sure he didnt call everybody not voting for him "deplorable"

          • Trump has referred to his "enemies", which apparently include everyone who politically disagrees with him. That's about as divisive as it comes.

      • It seems you are experiencing cognitive dissonance.

        Nope. I'm fine, thank you.

        You have been programed to equate Trump with Hitler,

        Nope. I know enough history to draw my own parallels without somebody having to instill them in me. The big differences are that Hitler was a lot more competent than Trump, and the US is far more resilient than the Weimar Republic.

        now something happened to conflict with that belief

        C'mon, so he got a good adviser. Trump's not competent enough to make sure all his advisers

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I see the mere mention of Trump has inflamed another hemorrhoid.

    • Richard Trumka of the AFLCIO has already embraced Trump, and the unions got their first welcome in the White House in Years: neither Clinton nor Obama ever let them in, let alone the Bushes. If it's okay for the unions to support Trump, why hold it against CEOs?

    • "On the other hand, having a few people involved like Musk are very sane and wealthy enough that Trump will listen to them"

      It might be the case.

      However, the article states "Musk is betting that job creation is more important to the new President than simply satisfying the oil industry". There has been quite a lot of fanfare about the "Trump's tycoons council" but, nothing abut representatives of the other side, you know, the labour mass. Why is it so? I mean, while job creation is surely important, the qu

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by ebvwfbw ( 864834 )

      On the one hand, Trump is so terribly awful that any sort of support of him is problematic and dangerous.

      Might want to take your head out of your ass and look some. Quit saying the sky is falling - chicken little.

      Doing dangerous things, like enforcing the law, protecting the Constitution, things like that. I know, he'll probably want other terrible things, like for you to pay for your own education, your own mortgage, your own food, your own health care (and not the freeloaders) and your own cell phone. Horrors. You know, be an adult. Big switch from the last despot we had in the WH.

  • We're going to build a YUGE hyperloop from the White House to the Kremlin, and CNN is going to pay for it! It's going to be the best, believe me.
    • You jest, but the parallels between the wall and the hyperloop are not skin-deep. Both are naive measures that are touted as magic bullets that won't cost us a dime / will pay for themselves, but in reality they will have mediocre effects. And they'll both end up costing at least four times more than the initial quote.

      Are we allowed to say this out loud yet? Or has Musk finished upgrading the RDF he has on loan from Jobs' estate?
  • Better the devil you know, keep your enemies closer etc.

    • Re:Phrases (Score:5, Interesting)

      by nadaou ( 535365 ) on Friday January 27, 2017 @09:48PM (#53752921) Homepage

      I think it's more a case of Musk running a number of companies which are extremely vulnerable to the whims of the federal government, especially SpaceX, and he is acting to protect those. As to his personal beliefs and how hard he may have bite his tounge along the way, I've no idea.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by jafac ( 1449 )

        Guess what?

        ALL companies are extremely vulnerable to the whims of the government. Where do you think corporate charters come from? No corporation could exist without the government. Never mind all the nice expensive public infrastructure that almost every corporation uses.

        • That's not the same as depending on government procurement and/or subsidies though.

          Also, I don't thing roads & bridges disappear with a stroke of the president's pen.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by idji ( 984038 )
        Musk is now in a good position to potentially influence Trump. Don't forget that Trump in his inauguration said "We stand at the birth of a new millennium, ready to unlock the mysteries of space, to free the Earth from the miseries of disease, and to harness the energies, industries and technologies of tomorrow." Sounds like he is throwing a few carrots Musk's (and Zuck's with the diseases) way. They should take and chomp them.

  • Posts here are gonna be hilarious! (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Seeing the heads explode for all the deranged Trump haters who also are Elon fanbois - both very common /. denizens.

    Oh, the hilarity!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by quax ( 19371 )

      You must consider fans of Musk to be pretty stupid.

      Anyhow, I am one and I think Trump is a sick joke, but I am quite happy about this piece of news. Pretty sure every Tesla shareholder will feel the same way.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Ecuador ( 740021 )

      Oh, the hilarity!

      What does Mrs. Clinton have to do with this? I thought we were done with her?

  • Tesla employees in the U.S. around 25,000. Target employees about 347,000. Walmart at least 1.4 million. Tesla hiring a few thousand more people sounds super but it's time to get real.

  • I felt a disturbance... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Captain Ramage ( 4567091 ) on Friday January 27, 2017 @09:57PM (#53752953)
    ...it's as if a million progressives' heads exploded.

  • What do you expect Musk to do? (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward

    This is a guy who has no problem wielding the power of the presidency against companies that rub him the wrong way. It's a hostage situation, not a negotiation.

    • Exactly right. You might as well as be on the podium with Mr. Trump looking down at everybody else rather than in the pit looking up...

  • 30,000 jobs at tesla alone?! (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Holy shit! Tesla alone employs almost as much people as 20% of the entire oil and gas extraction workforce!!!

    https://www.bls.gov/iag/tgs/iag211.htm

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by quax ( 19371 )

      And the automation of drilling rigs is accelerating. The job count in all of the extraction industry will go down a lot.

  • I'm sure Elon's advice will be to keep those subsidies coming!

    5$ Bn. so far....as they say, not bad for Govt. work.

    http://www.latimes.com/busines... [latimes.com]

  • Maybe Elon can offer Trump the opportunity to make America great by being the first passenger on a manned SpaceX mission.

  • Top Ten Amazing Outcomes of Trump/Musk pairing (Score:5, Funny)

    by SuperKendall ( 25149 ) on Saturday January 28, 2017 @12:01AM (#53753299)

    10) Illegal Immigrants now deported by rocket, greatly increases number of tests for rocket landings and speed of deportation.

    9) Trump rides in custom presidential self-driving Model X with steering wheel replaced by custom Twitter console.

    8) Trump hair dryer now completely battery powered and can operate to 1000 degrees.... C.

    7) Any time Republicans disagree with Trump, forced to come over and watch hours of taped footage of Musk unveiling products.

    6) Any time drug dealers are cornered and will not emerge from imposing drug fortress, hours of taped footage of Musk unveiling products is projected through windows and audio tuned to frequency of fortress walls.

    5) Nuclear weapon implosion stage upgraded from high explosives to 100% solar fusion initiation.

    4) Taking after Obamacare mandate, all citizens forced to enter into contract with Solar City.

    3) On a very special season of The Apprentice, final candidates for first U.S. Mars mission are selected. All Democrats and most of Hollywood immediately applies.

    2) All Model 3's now ship with gold interior, including the leather.

    1) Hyperloop runs along the entire top of Mexico wall. Better be able to scale it un under 30 seconds before the next Loop pod comes screaming by!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by stdarg ( 456557 )

      1) Hyperloop runs along the entire top of Mexico wall

      I know you're kidding but that's kind of a cool idea.

    • 4) Taking after Obamacare mandate, all citizens forced to enter into contract with Solar City.

      Crazy, however if you think of all the advantages of a truly distributed electrical generation being a considerable chunk of your total energy matrix, it isn't all that bad of an idea. The redundancy, the backup, the efficiency of close to market generation, about the only two negatives are the amount of capital in the form of loans and incentives, but even energy aside for the amount of local jobs created you coul

      • I actually think most households will have solar within say 20 years, and as you said that much distributed power generation is a huge boon for the robustness of the electrical grid...

        Solar Wall is I think a pretty awesome idea. It could even power a bunch of sensor packages to monitor inevitable breaches.

  • Yes, cheer for DT to succeed. Disrupt the echo chamber of sycophants with competent people of power and influence that DT can respect and that are visionaries grounded in science such as Musk.

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