In some cases, Reuters' Helen Coster and Alexandra Ulmer note, "Musk backed people who either lost out on the roles or withdrew from consideration, suggesting some early limits to the Republican mega donor's influence even as he has emerged as one of Trump's most powerful allies."

Wondering why Elon Musk is joking about buying MSNBC? The tech billionaire has stirred up online chatter with his latest antics on X (formerly Twitter), where he shared a provocative meme about acquiring the channel.

Elon Musk’s ownership of Twitter has had two dominant ideological hallmarks. One is a slash-and-burn view of fixing a business, which Musk is now posturing that he’ll import to the federal government.