After Donald Trump was declared the new President of the United States of America, shares of Elon Musk’s companies started to rise based on the tech billionaire’s close ties to the Republican candidate’s presidential campaign, an AFP report said.

Trump generously praised Musk as a “genius” in his victory speech, saying: “We have a new star, a star has been born: Elon. He’s a great guy. He is a character, a special man, a super genius,” Trump said.

Investor expectations are high

To the delight of investors, Tesla shares rose more than 15 percent to $289.44 in after-hours deals before the opening bell on Wall Street.

“Tesla shares are rising … because of his special ties with Donald Trump,” Andrea Tueni, an analyst at Saxobank, told AFP, adding that “Trump owes him a lot and investors are betting that their proximity will be something positive for Tesla become. ”.

Musk’s role in the Trump office

In previous hints about this, Musk has claimed he can chop around $2 trillion from the US government’s federal budget, according to a report from Bloomberg.

Notably, Trump has said that if re-elected, he would assign the so-called Department of Government Efficiency to Musk, which would look at ways to cut government spending, Bloomberg reported. Interestingly, it is abbreviated to ‘DOGE’, referring to the cryptocurrency that Musk has often touted on social media.

The Bloomberg said Musk spent at least $132 million to elect Trump and other Republicans in 2024, according to federal findings, launching himself into the “upper echelon” of the party.

What about Musk’s visit to India?

It remains to be seen whether Musk’s failed attempts to enter the Indian electric vehicle (EV) market could also gain momentum with Trump’s victory.

In May 2024, Tesla’s CEO canceled his visit to India citing “heavy commitments” and said he plans to visit the country later this year. This has not happened yet.

“Unfortunately, very heavy Tesla commitments require the India visit to be postponed, but I am very much looking forward to visiting later this year,” Musk wrote on his social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter).

It’s worth mentioning that Musk was about to make some big announcements about the $2-3 billion EV factory in India and some developments regarding Starlink. He was also expected to meet executives of several space startups in Delhi.

However, amid falling profit margins, Tesla is trying to use its existing factories to build new and more affordable vehicles, and this could lead to further delays in investing in new factories in Mexico and India.

It remains to be seen whether Trump will continue his anti-China stance – during his previous term as president he imposed sanctions on the country – and whether this will lead to Musk looking for greener pastures elsewhere, such as India.

(With input from agencies)