Trump and Musk strengthen ties at SpaceX launch in Texas
Photo: Donald Trump and Elon Musk (collage by RBC-Ukraine)
On Tuesday in Texas, Elon Musk’s company SpaceX conducted its sixth Starship rocket launch. Newly elected US President Donald Trump attended the event, according to the Associated Press.
Associated Press reports that Trump had hosted Musk at his residence over the past two weeks, and now it was Musk’s turn to host the president-elect.
Trump traveled to Texas to witness the billionaire's SpaceX launch the Starship rocket near the Mexican border. The president-elect attentively listened to explanations from the world’s richest man about the test's mechanics, which Musk demonstrated on a model. Following this, Trump observed the launch.
The event itself was not flawless. The reusable booster did not return to the launch pad as it did during the previous test in October. Instead, the booster was directed into the Gulf of Mexico.
However, as noted by the AP, Trump’s presence at the launch underscored a surprising closeness between the president-elect and the billionaire, which has implications for US politics, governance, foreign policy, and even humanity’s prospects of reaching Mars.
Recently, media outlets reported that following the US election, billionaire Elon Musk had begun irritating Trump’s inner circle, allegedly behaving as if he were a co-president.
