Former President Donald Trump wants billionaire Elon Musk to serve on his administration if he wins in November.
“He’s a very smart guy. I certainly would, if he would do it, I certainly would. He’s a brilliant guy,” Trump said when asked if he would offer Musk a cabinet or advisory position, Reuters reported on Monday.
Musk did not respond directly to Trump’s remarks, though he did post an AI-generated photo of himself speaking at a rostrum labelled “D.O.G.E. Department of Government Efficiency” on X on Monday.
The acronym appears to be a reference to Dogecoin, a meme cryptocurrency Musk has previously promoted.
“I am willing to serve,” Musk captioned his post.
Representatives for Musk and the Trump campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.
Talks of Musk joining a second Trump administration have been rife in recent months.
In May, The Wall Street Journal said Musk had spoken to Trump about joining his government.
Musk refuted The Journal’s report in an X post, saying that “there have not been any discussions of a role for me in a potential Trump Presidency.”
But Musk seems to have softened his stance on working for a potential Trump administration.
During his livestream with Trump last week, Musk said he’d be keen to serve on a possible government efficiency commission if Trump is elected president again.
“I think it would be great to just have a government efficiency commission that takes a look at these things and just ensures that the taxpayers’ hard-earned money is spent in a good way, and I’d be happy to help out on such a commission,” Musk said during the interview with Trump.
“I’d love it,” Trump replied.
Musk isn’t the first name Trump has publicly mulled over for his Cabinet.
In July, Trump told Bloomberg Businessweek that JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon “is somebody that I would consider” as treasury secretary.
A week later, he walked back the statement. The former president said in a Truth Social post on July 23 that he “never discussed, or thought of” having Dimon as his treasury secretary.
