Musk-a-Lago: Inside Musk's role on Trump's transition team

In the lounge outside Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago office, cabinet hopefuls mingle with advisers and friends of the future president.

- Brian Schwartz, Dana Mattioli, Rebecca Ballhaus & Emily Glazer

The occasional resort member strolls through. It is, as one Republican puts it, the world's most important job fair.

Inside, Trump sits with just a handful of his closest associates—and his newfound buddy-in-chief, Elon Musk.

Some of those waiting outside have been summoned by the president-elect. Others have asked Mar-a-Lago members they know to invite them to the resort, hoping to get a few minutes with him. Nearly as important is getting on Musk's radar.

The two men have been inseparable over the past week at Mar-a-Lago, where the Tesla chief executive has become such a fixture that Trump has given him his own "walk-on song" to play when he enters the dining room: David Bowie's "Space Oddity."

Musk has become the "most influential" member of the president-elect's orbit, according to two people close to the transition. The world's richest man has been sitting in on meetings and interviews with candidates for cabinet positions, joining Trump's calls with foreign leaders such as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and recruiting friends and allies for crucial positions in the government.

Musk didn't respond to requests for comment. Karoline Leavitt, a Trump transition spokeswoman, said in a statement: "Elon Musk and President Trump are great friends and brilliant leaders working together to Make America Great Again. Elon Musk is a once-in-a-generation business leader and our federal bureaucracy will certainly benefit from his ideas and efficiency."

Musk personally spent $200 million to elect Trump, according to people familiar with the matter, an extraordinary amount for an individual and more than the billionaire had publicly indicated. After The Wall Street Journal reported in July that Musk privately told people he would donate about $45 million a month to his pro-Trump super PAC, Musk said he was donating at a "much lower level."