Elon Musk cannot be ignored by Labour, warns ALEX BRUMMER

Something to look forward to in 2025 is the potential clash between two of the world’s biggest egos.

These are owned by a reborn President-elect Donald Trump and his best new friend and government official czar Elon Musk.

If Musk were to achieve his goal of cutting US$2 trillion ($1.6 trillion) from US government spending by using ruthless tactics deployed on Twitter, now US states as for those who follow his technological exploits.

Governments around the world must recognize that keeping Musk in line is just as important as trying to weaken Trump’s tariff agenda. Labor is not off to a brilliant start when it comes to courting Musk as an entrepreneur or political influencer.

The lack of an invitation for Musk to the September investment summit, which was attended by the good and the great on the other side of the Atlantic, was not a smart move by a growth-oriented government of Keir Starmer.

Earlier this week, Musk, the world’s richest and possibly most tech-savvy person, claimed that “very few” companies would want to invest in Britain under the current Starmer government.

He has previously accused the government of “being completely Stalin” with its attacks on the legacy.

Certainly, the chances of Britain becoming a home base for a Tesla giant factory in Scotland don’t look good.

It is Labor’s misfortune that it has aligned itself so closely with incumbent President Joe Biden’s economics.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves trumpeted that “securonomy” was based on the idea that if Britain threw money at the climate change manufacturing revolution, the country would be less dependent on fossil fuel markets.

Musk will become a force in a White House skeptical about climate change, even though he has done more through Tesla to normalize the idea of ​​electric vehicles than anyone else on the planet.

As a regular visitor to Austin – where one of my sons lives and works – it’s impossible not to recognize the impact Musk could have on the economic outlook.

A walk in the hills above the Colorado River, which runs through the Texas state capital, reveals Musk’s 14,000-square-foot Tuscan-style mansion below.

The billionaire’s family campus, which is home to three homes and 11 children, according to The New York Times, is just the tip of his investment iceberg. Tesla’s headquarters and tens of thousands of colleagues have been moved to Austin.

Musk’s arrival in the region has accelerated the development of America’s fastest growing city.

Once a cattle ranching town known for its country music, TexMex food, art, low-rise buildings and many neon signs, it is transforming.

A high-rise core is surrounded by highways and apartment complexes, offices and chic inns.

In the Texas Hill country next to Austin, where late President Lyndon Johnson lived, there are also indications of a Musk takeover.

The small town of Bastrop, known for its rural festivals and craft breweries, is at the heart of another venture. Musk buys up farmland on the edge of town, ready to build a new home for The Boring Company.

Musk developed the idea in 2016 of a company that tunnels under cities while stuck in traffic in Los Angeles.

The $7.5 billion (£6 billion) company is rethinking public transport in the US. One of the ongoing projects is the 29-mile Vegas Loop Tunnel that connects 51 stations between Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

Also planned is the Hyperloop, which will allow people to travel between destinations at high speeds in autonomous electric pods. Perhaps the Boring Company could be brought in to solve HS2’s problems?

Musk’s other big success story, besides the $1.3 trillion Tesla, is SpaceX. The Starlink constellation, with about 7,000 small satellites, provides much of the intelligence for the Pentagon on the war between Ukraine and Russia.

It is also developing a new satellite-based commercial and consumer mobile telephony network for Ukraine. Musk is a crook who has the ability to capture new technologies and turn them into thriving businesses.

He is a global investor who can transform national and regional economies. His political and social views may be objectionable.

But to alienate this raw capitalist as an inner investor would be an act of self-harm.