US senator warns citizens of Musk's personal interests amid role in future Trump administration

Democratic US Senator Elizabeth Warren has raised questions regarding the potential for conflicts of interest should entrepreneur Elon Musk be part of the next US administration in a letter sent to President-elect Donald Trump. 

Warren, who has previously been in the race for her party’s presidential candidacy, has criticised Trump for considering bringing the billionaire CEO into the White House as his companies, including Tesla and SpaceX, “have significant interests before the federal government.”, Caliber.Az reported citing US media.

While she does note, that Musk’s role as the co-chair of a newly created Trump advisory body will not be part of the U.S. government, she believes that “the conflicts he faces are enormous and the need for him to be subject to similar ethics standards is obvious." In the letter, which was sent to the Trump transition team on December 17, she pointed at Musk’s participation in a phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a meeting with Iran's Permanent Representative to the UN.

“Mr. Musk’s substantial private interests present a massive conflict of interest with the role he has taken on as your ‘unofficial co-president,’” the letter reads, warning, that “the American public has no way of knowing whether the advice that he is whispering to you in secret is good for the country—or merely good for his own bottom line.”

Responding to the criticism, a spokesperson for the new administration recalled, that Trump removed himself from his multi-billion-dollar real estate empire to run for the presidential office and forewent his government salary. The future US president previously commented on Musk's potential conflicts of interest, telling Time magazine that he believed Musk “puts the country long before his company."

By Nazrin Sadigova