
Trump Names Elon Musk, Uber CEO to Advisory Team – TheHill - rajeemcariazo
http://thehill.com/policy/technology/310321-trump-names-elon-musk-uber-ceo-to-advisory-team
======
zzzeek
Jeff Bezos is also on this "advisory team" and he's close to a mortal enemy of
Trump.

I predict this is no more than a sunshine squad for PR reasons. Trump met with
Al Gore for many hours as well, then nominated the most ardent climate change
denier as head of the EPA the next day. As long as that kind of thing doesn't
change (e.g. Trump literally comes out and says, "OK, I was wrong, I finally
believe in climate change"), there's nothing here.

Particularly when it says, “meet with the President frequently to share their
specific experience and knowledge as the President implements his economic
agenda.” - this is a man too lazy and detached to even be interested in his
own intelligence briefings ([http://www.npr.org/2016/12/13/505348507/what-
exactly-is-the-...](http://www.npr.org/2016/12/13/505348507/what-exactly-is-
the-presidents-daily-brief-and-why-is-it-important)). All evidence so far
points to him not caring at all what new ideas this panel brings, if even
paying attention at all.

~~~
brightball
While I'm not a Trump fan and don't disagree with a ton of what you say here,
people need to stop with this intelligence briefings stuff.

He said he doesn't need to dedicate time to have people tell him the exact
same thing everyday, but to let him know when things change. If anything,
that's an efficiency gain that a site full of programmers and avid "meetings
are the devil" folks should appreciate. Every time that gets cited right now
it roughly translates to "person who only reads headlines."

~~~
sigmar
If Trump was too busy for briefings, it wouldn't be a big deal. But the "I
don't want to hear the same thing every day" is likely very telling of how
little he cares about _details_. Details are important and U.S. national
security is at risk if the President doesn't want to know the nuances of
current events.

~~~
ddw
Especially since he has time to meet with Kanye West

------
beat
I remember seeing a bunch of "Elon Musk for president!" among certain social
groups. And I was thinking that's like "He's my favorite musician! I want
_him_ removing my appendix!"

But that said, this is just noise anyway. It's not like these guys, however
much we like them, will have any say in policy.

~~~
lj3
That reminds me of a Dylan Moran joke: "Arnold Schwarzenegger is the governor
of California. There's a perfectly ordinary English sentence. How did that
happen!? ... He went over to the heavy thing, and lifted it, and put it back
down and didn't move it anywhere. And then he did it again, hundreds of times,
and he said to people who stopped to observe this aberrant behaviour, "Look
how good I am at lifting the heavy thing in my underpants." Now, that may seem
a little dim. But it was they who said "You're the man. You're the one we want
to deal with immigration, and water rates, and taxes, and all that."

~~~
sboselli
This is nonsense.

Are you or anyone you know a completely one-dimensional person? Do you have
the capacity to learn just one (and no more) topic?

Stop acting like people can't learn or have multiple passions/knowledge
domains.

Please, there's absolutely nothing special or unattainable about politicians.
If anything, they are the people who are most trained, set in their ways and
corrupted in the most corrupted system humanity has known.

I welcome any and all outsiders.

~~~
sharemywin
I don't know capitalism seems pretty corrupting. I doubt people grow-up
thinking gee I wish I could work for a company that hides research for years
that my company produces a product that kills people and spends billions
researching how to make it more addictive. or commit the largest ponzi scheme
or pollute the environment or push drugs that have marginal benefit to people,
etc.

Also, for every bribee in politics there's a briber as well.

~~~
sharemywin
not sure why I'm being down voted.

corruption - dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power.

CEOs and other decision makers of companies certainly have power. Several of
them have hid the side effects of their products to continue making money.

I would call that being corrupt.

~~~
lj3
You're being downvoted because capitalism has nothing to do with the topic at
hand. But, because I feel like tilting at windmills, I'll say this: there's
nothing inherently corrupting about capitalism. Corruption is inherent to
human nature and exists in socialism, communism and every other form of
government ever invented.

The reason for this is humans naturally sort themselves into hierarchies and
people will always strive to better their position in those hierarchies. With
better position comes better chance at survival for you and future generations
of you.

Money helps in the climb up the hierarchy, but it's not sufficient in most
cases. Most climbs require power. Money can sometimes buy power, but it's not
nearly as effective as trading favors, forging political alliances and
manipulating people through blackmail.

Money influences power outside of capitalist systems as well. CGP Grey's video
'Rules for Rulers'[0] does a great job of illustrating why.

[0]:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rStL7niR7gs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rStL7niR7gs)

~~~
sharemywin
fair enough I should have just down-voted the guy above me for saying
government is innately corrupt and moved on.

The more people dismiss corruption as normal in the government the more
corrupt it will be.

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balabaster
Did _not_ see that coming...

The cynic in me says this is entirely about PR, but if it's not, this is a
suprisingly positive step in the right direction.

I'm not sure what to make of it and wonder what will come of it.

~~~
nashashmi
I take this as a sign that politics are out, and simple business
administration is in.

Of course real cynics will yell too much power is being given to business
people.

~~~
KirinDave
I am in awe of how quickly our distaste for lobbyists and money in politics
has faded now that a woman is not running for president.

People keep saying Trump's cabinet and team is "business leaders and political
outsiders" when it's hard to imagine people more "inside" than lobbyists.

------
serg_chernata
Honest question, what does this mean for all the talk of Silicon Valley doom
and gloom under Trump's presidency? Was all that just fear mongering? How do
we understand this move?

~~~
matwood
The doom and gloom was of course a lot of fear mongering (the Hitler
comparisons grow old very quickly). Trump talked so little of policy during
the campaign we really have no idea what he is going to do. That in of itself
is also scary because it is an unknown. While he was not my pick for POTUS,
I'm holding a wait and see attitude. Historically Trump's public views were
liberal, and he leaned democrat so we'll see how his actions break from the
rhetoric. So far, he certainly does not seem to be following a playbook that
anyone could have guessed.

~~~
drewrv
> the Hitler comparisons grow old very quickly

I agree in general. But when Auschwitz survivors make the Hitler comparison up
we should listen. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/in-the-age-of-
trump-...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/in-the-age-of-trump-grim-
warnings-from-holocaust-
survivors/2016/01/27/c65ea38c-c549-11e5-8965-0607e0e265ce_story.html)

~~~
damptowel
Hitler seemed like a more capable leader though, and less of a bigot. I
believe he also had better taste in furniture.

(Yeah sure downvote me all you want, gneeeh!)

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3pt14159
How fast things change. November 4th:

“I think a bit strongly that Trump is probably not the right guy” for the
presidency, and wouldn't be the best candidate to represent the U.S. abroad,
he told CNBC.

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s economic and environmental
policies “are the right ones,” Musk said.

From: [http://www.marketwatch.com/story/elon-musk-on-donald-
trump-j...](http://www.marketwatch.com/story/elon-musk-on-donald-trump-just-
no-2016-11-04)

~~~
Mwatson10
I'm curious how things changed? Advising someone doesn't mean you have to
agree with them. In fact wouldn't you want to advise someone you don't agree
with? Try and direct them more towards your opinions?

~~~
edblarney
"I'm curious how things changed?"

It would be one thing to prefer one candidate over the other.

But Musk's remarks are very strong.

Basically: "This man is not qualified for the job" is a very string rebuke.

And then to go on his panel? It's a little hypocritical.

Trump knows that these guys value their careers more than their credibility,
and he's making Elon Musk, Mitt Romney etc. 'kiss the ring' and 'eat their own
words'.

They will likely have to say positive things about Trump in the future, coming
out of meetings etc..

I'm by not means a Trump fan but there are shades of brilliant Machiavellian
bits about this.

~~~
thwarted
_Trump knows that these guys value their careers more than their credibility,
and he 's making Elon Musk, Mitt Romney etc. 'kiss the ring' and 'eat their
own words'._

You really think the likes of Musk and Bezos can't sleep at night because of
risk to their _careers_? These guys don't worry about credibility because they
make their own credibility. This is more of a position of "I'm a captain of
industry, if the President wants to call me to ask a question, I'll take the
call". Doing so is both good business (good for _their_ businesses at least),
and is compatible with a position of "this man is not qualified for the job",
because "that's why he's got _me_ on his advisory board". If anything, it's a
subtle, shrewd move on the part of Musk.

------
pdog
This isn't surprising.

Elon Musk and Travis Kalanick are both admirers of Ayn Rand and likely
supporters of Donald Trump (although they probably couldn't express their
support prior to November 8th).

~~~
Guillaume86
I have no idea if the source is credible but a simple Google search got me
this: [http://www.marketwatch.com/story/elon-musk-on-donald-
trump-j...](http://www.marketwatch.com/story/elon-musk-on-donald-trump-just-
no-2016-11-04)

~~~
agildehaus
It's credible. Here's the interview the quote came from:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ecfn9ULApXo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ecfn9ULApXo)

------
bryanlarsen
Kalanick is an obvious choice for Trump, being a self-proclaimed Ayn Rand
fanboy.

Musk is a much more surprising choice, not just because of his obvious
environmentalism. Both Kalanick and Musk are well-known for not being very
worker friendly. At least Musk leads by example. He destroyed his own marriage
through overwork and expects his employees to do the same.

~~~
orf
To be fair to Musk he was managing two pretty revolutionary businesses at
once, both of which where going through very very tough times. This puts
strain on any marriage and his broke. During this tough times. He still
managed to hold it together. That's superhuman.

It's not like he was a mid level white collar exec staying too long at the
office.

------
KirinDave
Unless these people have any real and appointed power in the administration,
I'm skeptical. This reeks to me of showmanship and a "carrot" to
counterbalance the "stick" of political reprisal for Rs joining the Hamilton
electors.

------
XJOKOLAT
Keep your friends close, your enemies closer.

------
nedsma
Which role is Peter Thiel going to play now?

~~~
iamthepieman
maybe this IS the role he is playing? It's likely he has the ear of the
president elect.

------
pmelendez
Literally the only good thing I have seen related to Trump's plans so far.

Hopefully won't be an illusion and this would change my perception of Musk. I
really hope it won't... really....

~~~
bargl
Did you read his 100 day plan? There are some terrible and scary things in
there but there are also things to like. So I'd suggest reading it.

~~~
pmelendez
I have read pieces of it and didn't find anything compelling really, but I
guess it depends on the perspective.

~~~
bargl
I like the idea of term limits on congress. I think it makes sense. There are
a few things to like in there but I tend towards the middle of the political
spectrum.

~~~
gumby
We have term limits in California. What they have done is removed any
institutional experience. For example, instead of having people who have
specialized in an area run a committee on that topic, everybody is shuffled.

It has simply given the governor more power.

------
justinzollars
Please no more politics!

I thought we were on a one week long hiatus from this crap.

Please, down vote this article if you have the ability.

~~~
mattnewton
The experiment was called off by dang a while back
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13131251](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13131251)

IMHO This is pretty relevant stuff for anyone interested in the future of the
companies these men run.

~~~
justinzollars
it was such a refreshing experiment while it lasted.

