Political scientist Ian Bremmer describes tech billionaire Elon Musk’s US$75 million bet Donald Trump, who made a spectacular return to the White House For a second term, he was seen as “the single best political bet” in several decades.
Musk endorsed Trump earlier this year and aggressively campaigned for him in his successful White House bid.
In an exclusive interview with India Today News Director Rahul Kanwal, Bremmer said Musk would prioritize a technology policy under the Trump administration and emphasized that AI is a “huge advantage” for the US on the global stage.
“Trump doesn’t really have a technology policy. Four years ago, it wasn’t a priority at all, not domestically, not globally. Elon Musk clearly has. AI, in particular, globally “There’s a huge advantage for the US at this stage. And Elon will, in fact, be able to have a significant hand, perhaps a primary hand, in capturing regulatory, incentive and subsidy policies on those issues,” he said.
“Their US$75 million bet on Trump is, frankly, the best political bet I’ve seen in decades,” Bremer said. However, he expressed doubt about whether Musk would be able to broker a deal between the US and China to stop the tariff threats.
“A big part of Elon’s business is in China, especially Tesla. And he’s made trips to China… When he went to China, he put himself forward saying, ‘I’m the guy who can help you with Trump. ‘The Chinese are hoping that Elon is going to be their negotiator,’ he said.
“In terms of tariffs, I have a very hard time imagining that Musk would be able to make an agreement between the Americans and the Chinese, and he’s holding himself out that way,” Bremmer said, adding that if Trump Beijing warned of consequences if it proceeded further. With his decision to impose tariffs on Chinese goods.
Trump, who defeated Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential election, has vowed to impose 60 percent tariffs on Chinese goods and at least a 10 percent levy on all other imports in his second term.
Trump’s presidency and India-US relations
Speaking about India’s relations with the US under the Trump administration, Bremer said New Delhi has no need to worry whether Trump or Harris wins the US elections. Bremmer pointed out that the Narendra Modi-led government has strong ties with Washington.
He underlined that the important thing for India is that Trump has serious problems with China due to the rising trade deficit.
“The only sector of the economy that’s performing better is manufacturing. They’re overmanufacturing, and they don’t have domestic demand, which means there’s a lot of dumping going on around the world, directly in the U.S. and also That’s how we are acting as a conduit through third world countries like Mexico and India,” he said.
Bremmer emphasized that Trump would actively seek to divert US investment away from China, which would be an opportunity for India.
“I think Trump and Robert Lighthizer, who are likely to drive trade as they did in the previous administration, will focus on the extent to which India is serving as a conduit for Chinese exports. “We will ensure that this is prevented or adequately coordinated. Imposing tariffs with the US will be a priority, and will be brought up to the Indian government soon,” he added.