Silicon Valley may learn to love Trump

CNN:
Just days before Donald Trump won the election, Elon Musk expressed a common sentiment in

Silicon Valley: "He is not the right guy."

But it turns out Trump may be the right guy for Musk and his businesses.

In recent weeks, the Tesla (TSLA) and SpaceX CEO has been named to Trump's team of business advisers and visited Trump Tower twice. The first time he was part of a big meeting with tech CEOs; the second came earlier this month for a private meeting with Trump's top aides.

The blossoming relationship between Musk and Trump's camp has caught the attention of Tesla investors.

"Elon Musk has an important line of communication to Donald Trump through his role as a strategic advisor to the President-elect," Adam Jonas, an analyst with Morgan Stanley, wrote in an investor note Thursday.

"We believe this level of coordination with the new administration could actually evolve into greater strategic value than with the prior administration," Jonas added.
...

"Elon and Trump share two very important things in common: strengthening U.S. manufacturing and job growth," Jason Calacanis, a tech investor and friend of Musk's, told CNNTech.

Trump has pressured companies like Apple (AAPL, Tech30) to "build their damn computers and things in this country." Musk already does. SpaceX builds rockets in Hawthorne, California. Tesla makes its cars in a factory in Fremont, California, and opened a battery factory in Nevada.

"The Gigafactory, Tesla and Solar City have created a massive number of high-quality jobs while building the most advanced manufacturing on the planet, which is exactly what Trump was elected to do," Calacanis says.
...
I think others in Silicon Valley were surprised by their meeting with Trump and how supportive he was of their business and urging them to do more manufacturing in this country.  His proposed tax cuts and encouraging them to repatiriate their overseas profits could increase theri willingness to build plants in this country.

Musk's business model has always been one with close ties to the government.  Hopefully this time it won't be just providing tax incentives to the one percent.

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