‘Let that sink in’: Elon Musk in meme-posting overdrive as Donald Trump wins US election

In a ‘terrifying’ post on X, Elon Musk appeared to hint that he would be working in the White House.

In what’s been called a “terrifying” post on X, the world’s richest man Elon Musk, has hinted at securing a job in the White House.

Musk donated $184 million to his pro-Donald Trump spending group in the span of three months, becoming one of the most important Republican Party donors.

It’s now been reported that it was an investment that’s paid off handsomely with Mr Musk now a cool $20 billion better off overnight.

He was jubilant on his platform X overnight, triumphantly declaring Mr Trump the winner of the US election.

As it became clear Mr Trump would be returning to the White House, Mr Musk posted a meme of himself carrying a kitchen sink into the White House with the caption: “Let that sink in”.

Some on social media called the post “terrifying”.

'Let that sink in,' Musk wrote on X.

The famous image of Mr Musk carrying a sink was taken when he walked into the Twitter headquarters after purchasing it in 2022.

The picture was superimposed over the Oval Office.

The post attracted over 1.2 million likes in just a few hours, while Mr Musk also informed users that the platform had broken records for traffic on election day.

Musk’s support has seen X turned into an unofficial mouthpiece for the Republicans.

He also spent the last weeks before election day running a get-out-the-vote effort in the battleground states, which included a daily giveaway of $1m to voters in those states.

The giveaway was the subject of a legal challenge but a judge later ruled they could go ahead.

Trump paid tribute to Mr Musk for several minutes in his victory speech at the Palm Beach Convention Centre, in Florida, calling him a “star” and a “wonderful” guy.

The fangirling has sparked speculation that Mr Musk will be rewarded with a place in the president-elect’s new administration.

Trump has already suggested the tech boss could be given a role in his new cabinet around cost-cutting or government efficiency.

Mr Musk has referred to the potential effort as the “Department of Government Efficiency,” or DOGE, the name of a meme and cryptocurrency that he has popularised.

After weeks of vigorous campaigning and alarm-ringing, the billionaire Donald Trump supporter has boldly declared the US Election is over.

Musk’s $20bn election payday

Mr Musk’s bet big on Donald Trump has already paid off handsomely.

He may have spent $181 million of his own money on the Trump campaign including with a daily cheque giveaway of $US1 million. But he is now almost $20 billion more wealthy then he was on Tuesday.

That’s because of his investment in carmaker Tesla, the shares of which skyrocketed by 13 per cent on Wednesday in New York.

CNN reported that with Mr Musk holding 411 million shares in Tesla, the worth of his investment has now gone up by $US13bn ($19.78bn).

That equals an 11,000 per cent return.

Mr Musk’s wealth also comes from his Space X rocket and satellite company. A key way that has made money is through its military contracts with the government under Joe Biden.

Donald Trump was spotted talking to Elon Musk and Dana White as the votes rolled in.

Donald Trump and Elon Musk.

Mr Musk has shared thousands of pro-Trump messages in recent months and has also promoted conspiracy theories and misinformation around key election issues as well as the Democratic Party and its candidates.

Mr Musk drew strong criticism after he took over Twitter in 2022 paying $44 billion for the social media platform.

He changed the name to X and sacked 80 per cent of employees.

As votes rolled in on Wednesday night Mr Musk was pictured speaking closely with Mr Trump and UFC boss Dana White.

Mr Musk has previously said he would take a job in Mr Trump’s administration.

“I look forward to serving America if the opportunity arises,” Musk posted, adding, “No pay, no title, no recognition is needed.”

Mr Musk first raised the idea with Trump during an interview on X in August, during which he offered assistance in removing so-called bureaucratic waste at the federal level.

Mr Musk has long been an outspoken advocate for deregulation, often pushing back against government oversight while simultaneously facing a string of lawsuits and investigations into his business practices, including allegations of labour law violations and animal welfare concerns.

But it hasn’t always been this peachy between the two billionaires.

Trump once referred to Musk as a “bullshit artist,” while Musk countered by suggesting Trump was too old to run for president.

Originally published as ‘Let that sink in’: Elon Musk in meme-posting overdrive as Donald Trump wins US election