The alliance between Donald Trump and Elon Musk framed the 2024 election and their bond has only deepened since.
Musk has been a regular fixture at the president-elect’s Florida mansion and the pair have introduced their families.
He has been privy to phone conversations with world leaders, consulted with Trump on his cabinet picks and even hosted him at Space X for the launch of the Starship rocket.
Musk will co-chair the new Department of Government Efficiency, charged with cutting government spending.
But how might the entrepreneur’s other views affect Trump policy?
The cause closest to Musk’s heart is pronatalism, a pro-birth political and personal ideology in which reproduction is the key goal of humanity.
Musk regularly posts on social media with fears about population decline, sometimes bordering on obsession.
“Population collapse is coming… Earth is almost empty of humans,” he wrote recently.
“Instead of teaching fear of pregnancy we should teach fear of childlessness,” he added.
The frequency of these posts has increased in recent months.
Musk has at least 11 children, by three different women. Some of them have spent time with him in recent weeks at Donald Trump’s home.
Few understand the origin of Musk’s pro-birth views better than his own father, Errol Musk – an engineer and businessman from South Africa, who has a strained relationship with his son.
I speak to Errol on a video call from his home near Cape Town.
Errol Musk
“Elon doesn’t try to push his opinion across, but he will have an opinion,” he says.
Errol has seven children himself, ranging in age from Elon at 53 to his youngest daughter, who is five. He’s also a pro-natalist.
“We’re not here to enjoy boating or flying or skiing or kite…
