Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is stepping away from his roles on two of Donald Trump’s advisory councils following the president’s decision to pull the United States out of the Paris climate agreement. Musk announced the news in a Twitter post shortly after the president’s statement at the White House.
“[I] Am departing presidential councils. Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world,” Musk wrote. He had previously been a member of Trump’s Manufacturing Jobs Initiative and the Strategic and Policy Forum.
As early as last week Musk had stated that he was “cautiously optimistic of a positive decision.” But yesterday, as rumors swirled that Trump would begin the process of withdrawing the US from the agreement, Musk threatened to sever his connection to the president. “[I] don't know which way Paris will go, but I've done all I can to advise directly to POTUS, through others in WH & via councils, that we remain,” he tweeted.
This prompted another Twitter user to ask him what he’d do if Trump pulled the US out of the accord. Musk responded that he’d “have no choice but to depart councils in that case.”
Musk had spent months swatting criticism for keeping his connection with Trump, especially because his companies — Tesla and SpaceX — benefit from government tax credits and contracts. He first explained the decision in February at the height of the controversy surrounding Trump’s proposed travel ban.
“My goals are to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy and to help make humanity a multi-planet civilization, a consequence of which will be the creation of hundreds of thousands of jobs and a more inspiring future for all,” he wrote at the time. Musk then claimed that maintaining a relationship with the president would allow him to engage Trump on issues like climate change, which would “on balance serve the greater good.”
Later that week, he wrote that he had used one of the council meetings to raise climate change as an important issue. “I believe this is doing good, so will remain on council & keep at it. Doing otherwise would be wrong,” he added.
Comments
I guess everyone was right to be skeptical about Musk’s ability to influence Trump on Paris.
By girma on 06.01.17 4:41pm
ftfy
By shabanga on 06.01.17 4:46pm
Just one quick tweak
By geoken on 06.01.17 4:54pm
Except even Russia signed onto the Paris treaty.
By mrkite on 06.01.17 4:58pm
That’s the genius of what Putin is trying to do with his sock-puppet.
By mkumar12345 on 06.01.17 5:04pm
(edited)
By Black Dude on 06.02.17 7:21am
As much as I do not like the regime in Russia, I highly doubt Trump is Putin’s puppet. Trump is nobody’s puppet because it’s Trump (note the use of ’’it’’ – it is a happening, hurricane, covfefe), but when it comes to politics he is a fool, so anyone can manipulate him. And, of course, Russia’s foreign affairs people know that. A simple minded populist can be guided in one or another direction and even if he’s anti-Russia, he can do much more harm as concerns foreign and domestic policy as 10 corporate donor Hillaries… Unfortunately for the US, only real issue with Hillary was that she lacked charisma. If she were Bill, Trump would’ve been swept away easily, Podesta or no Podesta. But you can’t win direct presidential election without charisma. Or there is another possibility I do not want to be true – she lost, because Americans have hard time with trusting women with such a position.
By navaicojmaniskaidsasu on 06.01.17 5:18pm
No, the problem(s) with Hillary were that she was arrogant and had and continues to have zero accountability for her actions. I’m not saying Trump is not those things, but as the saying goes, you can’t fight fire with fire.
PS, I voted for her but I don’t live in one of the rust belt states she ignored so it didn’t really make a difference.
By shabanga on 06.01.17 6:57pm
Better late than never, I guess. But Trump said he was going to do this in 2016. If this is what caused Musk to quit, he should have known about Trump’s intentions long before he even joined this council. People of conscience just should not be shacking up with this man. It should be clear by now that the things Trump says are not just rhetoric – they are the true beliefs and intentions of a stupid, misguided human being.
By badasscat1 on 06.01.17 4:44pm
If you know someone’s going to do something negative, it’s best to try and use what influence you have to change it even if you are likely to fail.
At least he tried. Could have just done nothing.
By timgriff84 on 06.01.17 5:18pm
Is there any evidence that he really talked to Trump about this specific topic?
By dino13 on 06.02.17 2:36am
It’s hardly a claim he’d make if it was false. It’d be so easy to disprove and make a fool of him and unlike trump he’s not that stupid.
By DJCR33P on 06.02.17 6:46am
He knew it was going to happen. He tried to change things before that happened. Giving up entirely before the fight is rarely a solution.
By Xaelias on 06.01.17 5:58pm
Agree with you on the stupid and misguided part of your comment…
By TheVergeUrge on 06.01.17 6:38pm
So, despite constantly displaying a propensity to ignore advice from knowledgeable people, Musk thought his input would be valued? He really is quite naive.
By shabanga on 06.01.17 4:45pm
Can’t blame the guy for trying.
By NewWorldOrder on 06.01.17 4:52pm
I admire the guy for trying.
By TheVergeUrge on 06.01.17 6:38pm
I don’t blame him for trying. I agree that in general it’s better to have a seat at the table than bury your head in the sand, but it doesn’t mean he wasn’t naive. The thing is, if nothing else Trump has proven that he will follow through on his word regardless of how misguided it is. He is a "man of action!". At this point, Musk is going home crying and giving up his seat at the table to potentially influence him on matters that he hasn’t publicly commented on. Maybe it would have done no good, but running away because he didn’t agree with you on one thing does nobody any good.
By shabanga on 06.01.17 7:04pm
For trying what? What did he really do?
By dino13 on 06.02.17 2:37am
Stop being intentionally obtuse.
By NewWorldOrder on 06.02.17 6:12am
Why obtuse? I asked you what did Elon Musk do? And you are not able to give am answer. That is quite telling.
By dino13 on 06.02.17 7:58am
You’re just looking to start an argument based on nothing. Just stop already, it’s pathetic.
By NewWorldOrder on 06.02.17 9:06am
He’s been in meetings with Trump – we haven’t. Obviously, he a much better understanding of the man than we arm-chair politicians could ever hope to know. Just because we could cynically guess Trump’s final decision doesn’t mean Musk was naive or doomed to fail. It also doesn’t mean his input wasn’t valued, he just wasn’t the only one Trump was listening to and in the end, he’s a politician and did what politicians do.
By websnap on 06.01.17 5:57pm
He actually did the opposite of what politicians do. He said he was going to leave the treaty on the campaign and almost immediately followed through, regardless of common sense or insightful input by others.
By shabanga on 06.01.17 6:58pm
That is very much a matter of perspective.
The act of following through on a campaign trail promise has been done by many politicians – as has acting in the best interests of industry lobbyists and not in the best interests of the country going forward.
Let’s get over this whole "He’s not a politician" – he very much is, just not a life-long one. He campaigned for 3+ years, hired industry insiders with personal agendas, and went back on just as many promises he made as he has kept.
By websnap on 06.02.17 11:37am