Tesla, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk Voices Support For Donald Trump’s Secretary Of State Pick Rex Tillerson

Even though Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and U.S. President Donald Trump do not see eye to eye when it comes to climate change, the former doesn’t have any problem working with the latter. Musk is also one of the big names to immediately approve of Trump’s pick for his secretary of state.

Just this Tuesday, the 45-year-old business magnate and inventor expressed his support for Trump’s pick, retired ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson. Given that Musk is an outspoken promoter of electric vehicles and clean energy, he himself admitted that his support for the former CEO of the multinational oil and gas corporation does come as a surprise.

“This may sound surprising coming from me, but I agree with The Economist. Rex Tillerson has the potential to be an excellent Sec of State,” Musk tweeted upon stumbling upon The Economist’s post about Tillerson’s possible major role in Trump’s cabinet, as first reported by The Hill.

Explaining further why he is vouching for Tillerson, Musk pointed out that the 64-year-old businessman is “exceptionally competent” and someone who truly “understands geopolitics and knows how to win for his team.” He furthered that everyone should give Tillerson the benefit the doubt before judging him based on his actions when he assumes the role.

Tillerson was formerly a non-believer of climate change. However, he has since retracted his stance and is now a firm believer of the dangerous effects of carbon emissions to the planet. This is a big change of heart for Tillerson, who worked for ExxonMobil for four decades and served as the oil giant’s CEO since 2006. Quartz says Tillerson has a chance to establish a clean reputation if he confronts geopolitical issues when he officially becomes a part of Trump’s cabinet.

As for Musk, he is seen by many as the polar opposite of Trump. However, the former has since expressed statements that confirm his support for the latter, at least on the business side of things. Last December, Musk was even among the 15 tech executives who met with Trump. At the time, Musk confirmed that SpaceX and Tesla are expanding their manufacturing footprint in the county. This, of course, involves opening more jobs for Americans to grab. Electrek has learned that at least 3,000 jobs will be opened at the Fremont, California factory, 1,000 at the Buffalo, New York solar panel factory and 9,000 at the Nevada Gigafactory.

Early this week, Musk was back at the White House. This time, the visionary attended the meeting with the U.S. president alongside Ford, Lockheed Martin and Johnson & Johnson executives. Though Musk’s alliance with Trump is seen as unlikely, CNBC admits it will give benefits for both sides in the long run. For one thing, having a visionary technologist on Trump’s side could help him win the support of the Silicon Valley tech community.