Elon Musk has shown no qualms about weighing in on this weekend’s German election. Since endorsing the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party — declaring on Dec. 20 that “only the AfD can save Germany” — the billionaire White House appointee has posted about the party and its leader more than 70 times on his social media site X,

STORY: While Elon Musk is playing a central role in the U.S. government as head of President Donald Trump's task force to slash government spending, the world’s richest person has also weighed in prominently on politics in Germany.

As the world seeks ways to retaliate against U.S. tariffs, so-called "first buddy" Elon Musk appears to be high on the list of targets. Why it matters: Targeted retaliation is designed to give supporters of Donald Trump an incentive to try to persuade him to deescalate any trade war.

President Trump has tasked Elon Musk with an enormous job of searching the federal government and rooting out inefficiencies and waste. But Musk’s initial, often chaotic, infiltration of various departments has set off alarm bells.