How Elon Musk’s politics are complicating his tech legacy

Elon Musk's work at Tesla and SpaceX continues to draw attention, while his alliance with U.S. President Donald Trump and the far-right have complicated that legacy. Photo by Kent NISHIMURA /AFP/File

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With a sports car that somersaults through the air, Elon Musk is back in the headlines for technological daring — but his plunge into politics and his return to U.S. President Donald Trump’s side mean the world’s richest man no longer enjoys the unqualified praise of years past.

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“All the things that we were promised since the 1950s, of space travel and flying cars… he’s doing all of those things,” said Andrew Selepak, a social media professor at the University of Florida.

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“And yet we’re not giving it the attention, we’re not giving it the awe that it probably truly deserves,” he added.

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In recent weeks, Musk has seemed to be everywhere at once.

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On September 28, SpaceX’s Starship megarocket reached orbit for the first time and deployed 26 Starlink satellites before splashing down in the Pacific — a milestone for the rocket central to Musk’s Mars ambitions.

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Musk’s central role in geopolitics has also been on display, with Ukraine complaining of disruptions to the Starshield satellite communications system its military relies on.

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Even the platform formerly known as Twitter is enjoying something of a renaissance, with Musk’s X now the go-to social media app for Silicon Valley insiders and the main marketplace for talk about artificial intelligence.

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But despite his continued success, Musk’s unrelenting commitment to right-wing politics has taken a toll.

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No image captured that shift more than Musk brandishing a chainsaw on stage in February 2025 — a gift from Argentine President Javier Milei — as a symbol of his drive to slash the U.S. government as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the early months of Trump’s second term.

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Some federal agencies are pushing back against an directive from Elon Musk’s team to report their week’s worth within 48 hours or face reprisal. Photo by SAUL LOEB /AFP via Getty Images

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Through DOGE, Musk’s allies fanned out across federal agencies, driving cuts that effectively dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and contributed to a net loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs.

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‘National treasure’

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That combative imagery has been matched by Musk’s posts on X, where hardline anti-immigration views and right-wing conspiracy theories sit alongside posts about rocket launches and Tesla robotaxis.

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Now Musk is back in Trump’s good graces, after a spectacular falling-out that followed his exit from DOGE in May 2025.

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Last week, Trump presented Musk with the nation’s top science medal, calling him a “national treasure” and “our modern-day Thomas Edison.”

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The renewed relationship comes as Musk has spent at least $276 million on Republican political campaigns ahead of next month’s midterm elections, in which the president’s party is expected to struggle.

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Of that, $158 million is funding a massive advertising campaign in Texas, Musk’s home state, where the Republican candidate is trailing in the polls.

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For left-leaning pundits, Musk is now increasingly seen as an agent of Trump and the tech billionaires rather than a technology savant working for the good of humanity.