- Meta's Nick Clegg said Elon Musk risks becoming a "political puppet master" in the Trump administration.
- Musk will jointly lead the new Department of Government Efficiency and has become a close Trump advisor.
- Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wants an "active role" in conversations about technology and AI, Clegg said.
Elon Musk risks becoming a "political puppet master" during the second Trump presidency, Meta's global affairs chief said.
Nick Clegg, a former UK deputy prime minister who is now one of Mark Zuckerberg's key lieutenants at Meta and has played a key role in the company's censorship policies, made the comments on the BBC News podcast "Political Thinking."
Asked if Musk was "a threat to democracy," Clegg said that the X owner is "obviously now playing an outsize role in both the election and now the formation of the new US administration."
Musk could either choose to be an "avid and well-heeled supporter" of the president-elect, or a "political puppet master, going well beyond Trump, deciding who the next Republican candidate should be and the one after that," Clegg said.
The latter path would be "quite different to the general tradition of American democracy," he said.
After donating tens of millions to the Trump campaign and making several star appearances at rallies, Musk has cemented his role as a close advisor to the president-elect. The SpaceX founder was announced as the co-leader of a newly created Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE.
The close relationship has raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest, the level of influence Musk could have on politics, and how his multiple businesses might benefit.
Earlier this week, Clegg said that Zuckerberg — Meta's CEO and longtime Musk rival — is seeking a more prominent role in political conversations.
"Mark is very keen to play an active role in the debates that any administration needs to have about maintaining America's leadership in the technological sphere" and "particularly the pivotal role that AI will play," Clegg said.
Having greater involvement in government debates would also bring Zuckerberg closer together with Musk and Trump.
Musk's libertarian stance on censorship and social media has put him at odds with Zuckerberg. The two billionaires have also disagreed over open-source AI models and SpaceX, and even challenged each other to a cage fight.
Trump has also been a critic of Zuckerberg, particularly following the Meta CEO's decision to indefinitely suspend the then president from Facebook following the January 6 Capitol insurrection. Trump previously threatened to imprison Zuckerberg if he won the 2024 election.
Zuckerberg was quick to congratulate Trump following his election victory, and in November, the two had a Thanksgiving eve dinner at the president-elect's Mar-a-Lago resort.