“I’d imagine the other billionaires are quite cross with Elon. Usually you try and do your influencing behind the scenes.”

James Ball, journalist and author of The Other Pandemic: How QAnon Contaminated the World, speaks to Michael Safi about the political influence of Elon Musk. They discuss how Musk’s political views have developed, his support for Donald Trump, and his new role in the White House.

“He is about to oversee, essentially, the US regulatory state. He could decide which regulators get appointed, which regulations stay, which go. If you’re the world’s richest man, the financial return on his new job is impossible to measure.”

In recent months, Musk has turned his megaphone towards the politics of the UK and Germany. How should politicians deal with the insults directed at them from Musk via his social platform X?

The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, suggested: “Don’t feed the troll.”

Support the Guardian today