U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Nov. 12 selected Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the “Department of Government Efficiency,” a new body designed to “drive large-scale structural reform.”
Ramaswamy, a wealthy entrepreneur, and Musk, one of the world’s richest people and owner of SpaceX, Tesla, and X (formerly known as Twitter), have no background in politics apart from Ramaswamy’s brief running for the Republican presidential nomination.
While Musk has repeatedly echoed pro-Russian talking points on Ukraine, including proposals to cede territory to Moscow, Ramaswamy was among the most vocal opponents of military aid for Kyiv.
Ramaswamy was a Republican contender for Trump to receive the party’s presidential nomination, then quit the race and endorsed him in January 2024.
Trump first outlined his idea of a “Department of Government Efficiency” in September, naming Musk as the possible leader of the new bureaucratic institution. The body is envisioned to provide “advice and guidance from outside of Government” and is not a government agency as its name would suggest.
Musk gained praise across Ukraine at the beginning of the full-scale invasion for helping the country access the internet through his Starlink network. He then made numerous comments that angered Ukrainians, including the suggestion that Ukrainian territory be exchanged for a peace deal with Russia.
He also called on Ukraine to negotiate with Russia and prognosticated the fall of Odesa earlier this year, and was reportedly in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin since late 2022.
He happened to be on the line during a recent phone call between President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, Axios reported on Nov. 8, citing unnamed sources.
Ramaswamy was an outspoken opponent of U.S. military aid to Ukraine, appearing in a live conversation on X on Feb. 12 along with Republican senators arguing against the passage of $60 billion in U.S. aid for Ukraine. The package was later passed in both chambers of the U.S. legislature but with significant delay, contributing to Ukraine’s battlefield setbacks.
During his campaign, Ramaswamy also called Zelensky a “Nazi,” a “comedian in cargo pants,” and advocated for the recognition of occupied territories as Russian since they are “Russian speaking.”
Trump also named South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem as the leader of Homeland Security, who earlier called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “Europe’s fight, not ours.”
Earlier, Trump named Michael Waltz his national security advisor. Waltz’s views on Ukraine evolved from an ardent supporter of U.S. military aid to questioning it and advocating for relocating these resources against China.
Trump’s defense secretary is confirmed to be Pete Hegseth, an army veteran and current Fox News host. His secretary of state, overseeing U.S. diplomacy, is reported to be Marco Rubio.
Dmytro Basmat
