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Commentary
The Wall Street Journal

Trump and Musk Share the Founder鈥檚 Mindset

Most modern presidents take a managerial approach to the job, which is no way to bring radical change.

President Donald Trump and Elon Musk speak to the press as they sit in a Tesla vehicle on March 11, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
Caption
President Donald Trump and Elon Musk speak to the press as they sit in a Tesla vehicle on March 11, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

For the past two months, Americans have watched as two extraordinary and polarizing figures鈥擠onald Trump and Elon Musk鈥攈ave worked as a team to reduce the size and reach of the federal bureaucracy.

Behind all the criticism, praise and blame heaped on the Department of Government Efficiency, a question lurks: How is it possible that these two men, who barely knew each other before the presidential campaign and who are separated by a quarter-century in age, are able to get along and agree on what to do and how to do it?