MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Elon Musk, the billionaire who is President Trump's biggest donor, will remain an adviser to the administration even after he leaves his DOGE cost-cutting effort. That's according to Vice President JD Vance this morning. Musk's mandate as a special government employee expires around late May. Here's Vance on Fox News.
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VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE: DOGE has got a lot of work to do. And yeah, that work's going to continue after Elon leaves. But fundamentally, Elon is going to remain a friend and an adviser of both me and the president, and he's done a lot of good things.
M MARTIN: But recent polls show the public's view of Musk is getting more negative. Musk made big donations and campaigned heavily in support of the conservative candidate in this week's Wisconsin Supreme Court race. Those efforts did not pan out. For more on how Musk's participation in GOP politics is playing, we have Jonathan Martin. He is the senior political columnist at Politico, and in case you're wondering, no relation, so far as we know. Good morning, Jonathan.
JONATHAN MARTIN: (Laughter) Good morning. Good morning.
M MARTIN: So there were a number of issues at play in the Wisconsin Supreme...
J MARTIN: Yeah.
M MARTIN: ...Court race - abortion redistricting. How big of a factor do you think was Elon Musk's participation in that race? He made big donations, some really...
J MARTIN: Yeah.
M MARTIN: ...Attention-getting moves, like giving really large checks to people who signed petitions supporting an initiative that he cared about. So how big of a factor was he?
J MARTIN: I think he was a central player in this campaign in ways that helped the Republicans in some ways, but I think really were more harm than good, Michel, and this is why. He made himself the face of the campaign. It's one thing to contribute - to contribute a lot of money to help your candidate. But he was the principal surrogate in a rally on Sunday in Green Bay. He put the famous Packers Cheesehead, an indelible image, on, and I think perhaps most significant, he brought those oversized checks to hand out money to Wisconsin voters.
And I just think that really backfired on the Republican-aligned nominee because that's just not a good state. This is upper Midwest, you know, highly engaged, you know, very civically minded voters. You don't go there and show up with cash (laughter) to pay Wisconsin folks for their votes. I think it just backfired on Musk. He made it about himself, and I think that explains if not the loss, certainly the margin of the loss. Nobody thought it'd be a 10-point race.
M MARTIN: So let's - Musk is also the face of the, you know, government spending cuts...
J MARTIN: Sure.
M MARTIN: ...With this group, the Department of Government Efficiency. It's not a department. I have to say that again, you know...
J MARTIN: Yeah.
M MARTIN: ...Called DOGE. He's a special government employee, meaning he always had a 130-day time limit on his employment with the federal government. A month ago, Politico reported that advisers were saying the White House might find a way to extend that limit. But yesterday...
J MARTIN: Yeah, yeah.
M MARTIN: ...Politico reported that Trump is now quietly telling aides that Musk may be leaving soon. Why is that, and what do you think's changed?
J MARTIN: Well, I think that the politics have changed. He is more unpopular than Trump himself, especially with independents and Republicans. They're both kind of despised among Democrats these days. And so he's become more of an anchor. And he has really irritated, I think, White House staffers and congressional Republicans for the same reasons because he is somebody who just offers Democrats one more reason to get fired up. You know, we all lived through 2017, 2018, that first kind of backlash to Trump in the first term. Well, this is so similar, but you have the added figure of Elon Musk, who I think just turbocharges the backlash to Trump. And I - they just don't need anymore. It's enough to give Democrats the kind of backlash they have with Trump. Why add to that with Elon Musk?
M MARTIN: Well, could it work...
J MARTIN: Yeah.
M MARTIN: ...The other way, though, that in a way, he kind of detracts, he sort of takes the - he's like a lightning rod, right?
J MARTIN: The heat shield theory.
M MARTIN: He's the lightning rod, and it goes to him. The negativity goes toward him.
J MARTIN: Yeah. I've heard the heat shield theory that he takes the heat from Trump. I just don't think Trump buys that because A, he takes attention from Trump and B, he's deeply unpopular. And I think that for Trump, that's a lose-lose.
M MARTIN: So tell...
J MARTIN: He doesn't like people who - yeah, go ahead.
M MARTIN: So 30 seconds left. If Musk does leave the White House per se, could he be an asset to Republicans outside the White House?
J MARTIN: By doing what he should have done in Wisconsin in the first place - cut the check, but don't show up to campaign. Exactly. He's not going to go away. There's not going to be a you're fired moment, a la "The Apprentice" here, because Trump needs the money, and he needs the federal government. But I do think this is going to be a slow fade.
M MARTIN: That is Jonathan Martin. He's a senior political columnist at Politico. Jonathan Martin, thanks so much for joining us.
J MARTIN: Thanks, Michel. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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