President Donald Trump says he would protect Elon Musk if Democrats tried to arrest him, seize his factories or nationalize SpaceX. His promise comes as the billionaire urges voters to keep Republicans in control of the Senate ahead of Tuesday's midterm elections.
Trump was responding to a question about Musk during an interview with Miranda Devine on the New York Post's Pod Force One podcast. The discussion also covered possible prosecutions of people who have worked for the administration and whether the president would pardon them.
In its November 2 report, the newspaper quoted Trump dismissing the threats before promising to intervene:
It’s talk. But if it is talk, we’ll have to protect them.
He did not set out a plan for shielding Tesla's factories or SpaceX's ownership. His answer was a broad pledge to protect allies, alongside a separate willingness to use his pardon powers if he thought they were needed.
Asked about preemptive pardons, Trump said he would issue them if necessary. When the question was extended to everyone who had worked for him, he reaffirmed that position and pointed to his pardons of January 6 defendants.
Devine also raised threats against former DOGE staffer Edward Coristine during the exchange.
Where the nationalization idea comes from
The proposal to bring SpaceX into public ownership has been promoted by former Labor Secretary Robert Reich. The Post cited his call for Democrats to lay the groundwork for nationalization, putting that argument alongside lawmakers' promises to investigate the administration.
Those are different forms of pressure. A political argument for government ownership is separate from a congressional inquiry into how a contractor uses public money.
Democratic scrutiny of Musk's companies is already taking a concrete form. As Apex previously reported, California Reps. Sam Liccardo, Jimmy Panetta and Ro Khanna demanded a government-wide investigation into restrictions on Ukraine's military satellite communications.
Their October 23 letter asked who authorized the restrictions, which contracts governed the affected services and whether similar problems could arise elsewhere in the federal government. They also pledged scrutiny of federal funding awarded to Musk-affiliated businesses in the next Congress.
Musk is urging voters to back Republican senators
Musk has made his own argument for keeping Republicans in power. In an October 30 post, he warned about the possibility of Democrats winning the House, Senate and presidency in 2028.
He predicted that they would seek statehood for Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, change immigration policy and expand the Supreme Court. Those were his claims about what a future Democratic government might do, rather than measures enacted by Tuesday's election.
He presented Republican control of the Senate as the way to prevent that outcome:
All that is needed to ensure this doesn’t happen is 51 Republican senators in 2029. That is why you should vote for Republican senators this election.
The dates matter. His warning concerns a possible sweep in 2028, while Tuesday's vote determines congressional control during the remaining two years of Trump's current term.
Pardons would offer limited protection
Trump's promise to protect Musk's businesses goes beyond what a presidential pardon can do. The Constitution gives the president authority to pardon federal offenses, with an exception for impeachment. It does not give him the same power over state prosecutions.
A pardon also does not decide who owns a factory or a company. Government acquisition of private property raises a separate constitutional question: the Fifth Amendment requires just compensation when private property is taken for public use.
The National Archives' transcription sets out that protection. Trump did not explain which powers he would use against any proposed takeover, or say that he had issued a pardon for Musk.