PALM BEACH, Fla. — As President-elect Donald Trump makes a flurry of choices to fill out his incoming administration’s Cabinet, the lobbying for key positions has been fierce behind closed doors — and sometimes publicly.
Now billionaire and key Trump ally Elon Musk is calling for more direct public input into the decision-making process for at least one top post — the head of the Treasury Department.
“Would be interesting to hear more people weigh in on this for @realDonaldTrump to consider feedback,” Musk, who Trump has already tapped to co-lead a commission tasked with increasing government spending efficiency, posted Saturday on the X social media platform he owns.
Musk then used the rest of his post to become the first participant in the public poll he was proposing. He endorsed Howard Lutnick, the CEO of financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald and co-chair of Trump’s transition team, over hedge fund manager Scott Bessent.
Musk said in his post that “Bessent is a business-as-usual choice, whereas @howardlutnick will actually enact change.”
“Business-as-usual is driving America bankrupt, so we need change,” he said.
Both Lutnick and Bessent have been mentioned as possible picks to lead the Treasury during Trump’s second administration.
A short time later, Trump’s pick to lead his Health and Human Services Department, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., also endorsed Lutnick, posting on his own X account, “Bitcoin is the currency of freedom, a hedge against inflation for middle class Americans. “Bitcoin will have no stronger advocate than Howard Lutnik,” he wrote, misspelling Lutnick’s last name.
The president-elect has already announced many picks in recent days, including his choice for secretary of State, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, and attorney general, former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, also of Florida.
On Friday, he named Karoline Leavitt, his campaign press secretary, to serve as his White House press secretary. Leavitt, 27, currently a spokesperson for Trump’s transition, would be the youngest White House press secretary in history. Previously that distinction went to Ronald Ziegler, who was 29 when he took the position in 1969 in President Nixon’s administration.
The White House press secretary typically serves as the public face of the administration and historically has held daily briefings for the press corps. Trump disrupted those norms in his first term, preferring to serve as his own chief spokesperson. While he was president from 2017 to 2021, Trump had four press secretaries but frequently preferred to engage directly with the public, from his rallies, social media posts and his own briefings.
During Trump’s first term in office, Leavitt worked in the White House press office. She then became communications director for New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, whom Trump has tapped to serve as his U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Trump still has other key slots to fill, including the heads of the Education and Labor Departments — as well as Treasury — and many leading possibilities have been jockeying to improve their standing with Trump.
Bessent is considered the more conventional, business-friendly choice. He is skeptical about cryptocurrency, while Lutnick has suggested it could be used for people to pay their taxes.
Musk’s post came as Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) was at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla., this weekend, and expected to meet with the president-elect later Saturday. After that, Trump was set to head to Saturday night’s UFC heavyweight championship fight between Stipe Miocic and Jon Jones at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
Except for a day trip to Washington this week to meet for nearly two hours with President Biden, and separately address House Republicans, Trump has been spending his time since his victory at Mar-a-Lago, which has hosted galas and conservative events throughout the week.
A return to Madison Square Garden means revisiting the place where a comedian caused an uproar at a Trump rally last month by likening Puerto Rico to a “floating island of garbage.” Yet Trump continues to relish visits to New York, where he lived for decades.
Trump also has been close to Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White for more than two decades.
White hosted a 2001 UFC battle at Trump Taj Mahal, a former casino-hotel in Atlantic City, N.J., and Trump has frequently attended UFC matches since — including during his 2024 campaign. Trump has turned up at fights recently with entourages including White, musician Kid Rock and former Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson.
In 2018, during Trump’s first term, he and White starred in a UFC video where the then-president was dubbed the “Combatant In Chief.”
As Trump has strengthened his grip on the Republican Party, White’s personal political profile has grown exponentially. White spoke at the 2016 and 2020 Republican conventions, and when the party gathered in Milwaukee this past July. He also addressed the crowd at Trump’s Florida victory party in the wee hours of the morning after election day.
Weissert writes for the Associated Press.