Elon Musk’s proximity to Trump could work against him in Tesla’s number-two market
CNN
As the world’s richest person, Elon Musk isn’t short of opportunity. From TikTok to Nissan, his name comes up time and again during potential deals across Asia, no matter how outlandish.
As the world’s richest person, Elon Musk isn’t short of opportunity. From TikTok to Nissan, his name comes up time and again during potential deals across Asia, no matter how outlandish. It’s not his Midas touch that investors are after, experts say. Rather, Musk is being pursued for his closeness to US President Donald Trump and role leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). During a period of heightened tension between United States and China, Musk stands out as an anomaly: He is perceived as being close to the governments of both Washington and Beijing. Some, particularly in China, want him to be a bridge between cultures. But if his new Washington bona fides are catnip for dealmakers wanting to curry favor with Trump, Musk’s proximity to the president may work against him on a major project that he’s been lobbying hard to get off the ground: the launch of Tesla’s “full self-driving” (FSD) technology in China, its second-biggest market. “Beijing grants favors and withholds favors,” according to Isaac Stone Fish, CEO Strategy Risks, a business intelligence firm. “They have many levers over Elon Musk and Tesla.” The Financial Times reported last week, citing two unnamed sources, that Chinese officials were mulling whether to withhold approval of Tesla’s FSD license as a bargaining chip in trade negotiations with Trump. They were quoted as saying this was the main reason why the permit had been delayed. CNN has reached out to Tesla for comment.
“This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy!” Elon Musk, center, told the audience at the 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference on February
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