Albanese brushes off concerns over feud with Trump’s right-hand man Elon Musk

Last year Anthony Albanese picked a fight with ‘arrogant billionaire’ Elon Musk. Now that billionaire is one of the most powerful men in Donald Trump’s inner circle.

Anthony Albanese has brushed away concerns his feud with “arrogant billionaire” and Trump backer Elon Musk will jeopardise Canberra’s relationship with America — saying Australia will always act in its own interests.

Mr Musk, the controversial owner of social media platform X, electric car giant Tesla and satellite internet company Starlink, is set to have a leading role in the Trump Administration after bankrolling the new US President’s campaign.

President-elect Donald Trump has flagged putting Mr Musk in charge of a new government efficiency commission after effusively thanking him in his victory speech.

Elon Musk (second from right) was even included in a family photo after Trump’s win. Picture: X/@KaiTrumpGolfs

But Mr Musk has a complicated past with Australia after X refused to take down videos of an Australian stabbing, prompting Mr Albanese to label him an “arrogant billionaire”.

Mr Musk in turn described the Albanese Labor government as “fascists”.

On Friday, Mr Albanese dismissed questions about his past with Musk impacting diplomatic relationships with the US saying: “We will always advocate for Australia’s national interest,”

But experts said Mr Musk’s influence in Washington could not be undermined and Australia must tread carefully in dealing with the outspoken tech leader.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk speaks at a rally for former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump before the election. Picture: AFP

In photos after Mr Trump’s historic comeback, Mr Musk posed alongside his extensive family.

Australian Strategic Policy Institute senior analyst Dr Malcolm Davis said he expected the Albanese government would “moderate our tone” on both Mr Musk and the wider Trump administration, given the decisive nature of their victory over Kamala Harris.

“Not just about Musk, but the Trump Administration in particular, a lot of governments have said things in the past that they are now pulling back from,” he said.

“Now they’ve recognised Donald Trump has an overwhelming mandate from the US, we will moderate our tone to a degree.”

“The Albanese government would moderate their tone, they’ll move beyond some of the statements they’ve made in the past.”

Elon Musk called Anthony Albanese a fascist in a brutal tweet.

He cautioned Australia against picking a fight with Musk over content on X, despite the government bringing in laws to stamp out misinformation online.

“Musk will push back on any attempt by the Australian government to clamp down on X, it would be wrong for the government to clamp down on X,” he said.

Strategic Analysis Australia director Michael Shoebridge said the Albanese government should prepare for some “nasty collisions” with Mr Musk and the Trump government.

“We talk a lot about AUKUS but awkward is a good word to describe the Albanese-Trump relationship,” he said.

“Musk bought Twitter and turned it into X because he wanted to ensure absolute freedom of speech … there are going to be some nasty collisions … around things like the social media ban.

“It’s not just the Albanese government dealing with a tech billionaire, it’s dealing with an American tech billionaire who is laced within the next US government.”

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Originally published as Albanese brushes off concerns over feud with Trump’s right-hand man Elon Musk