As President-elect Donald Trump makes frantic choices to fill his new administration’s cabinet, lobbying for key positions continues behind closed doors and sometimes publicly.

Now billionaire and key Trump ally Elon Musk is calling for more direct public involvement in decision-making for at least one top position: Treasury Department head.

Musk, whom Trump appointed to co-chair a commission tasked with improving government spending efficiency, posted on the ” .

Musk then used the remainder of his term to become the first participant in his proposed public survey. He endorsed Howard Lutnick, CEO of financial services company Cantor Fitzgerald and co-chairman of Trump’s transition team, over hedge fund manager Scott Bessent ahead of Inauguration Day on January 20, 2025.

Musk said in his post that “Bessent is the usual choice, whereas @howardlutnick will actually implement the change.”

“Business as usual is bankrupting America, so we need change,” he said.

Both Lutnick and Bessent have been mentioned as possible candidates to lead the Treasury Department. Bessent is seen as a more traditional, business-friendly choice. While he is skeptical of cryptocurrency, Lutnick suggests it could be used to pay people’s taxes.

Shortly thereafter, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. also supported Lutnick, writing on his own X account: “Bitcoin is the currency of freedom for middle-class Americans, a hedge against inflation. .”

“Bitcoin will have no stronger advocate than Howard Lutnik,” he wrote, misspelling Lutnick’s last name.

Trump has already announced several picks in recent days, including his pick of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for Secretary of State and former Florida Rep. Marco Rubio for attorney general. Matt Gaetz.

The Treasury is the most important gap to fill; But the president-elect has yet to announce his picks for other roles, including heads of the Departments of Education and Labor, and several leading prospects are vying to improve their standing with Trump. .

Separately, Trump said he has selected Will Scharf, a member of his legal team and former federal prosecutor, to be the president’s assistant and White House staff secretary.

The announcement came as Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson was at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, this weekend and met with the president-elect. Trump was also set to attend the UFC heavyweight title fight between Stipe Miocic and Jon Jones at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.

Apart from a day trip to Washington this week for a nearly two-hour meeting with President Joe Biden and to address House Republicans separately, Trump has spent time since his Election Day victory at Mar-a-Lago, which hosts galas and conservatives is going through. events throughout the week,

A return to Madison Square Garden means revisiting the place where a comedian caused mayhem at a Trump rally last month by comparing Puerto Rico to a “floating island of garbage.” But Trump continues to enjoy his visits to New York, where he has lived for decades.

Trump has also been close to Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White for more than two decades.

White hosted a UFC fight at the Trump Taj Mahal, a former casino-hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in 2001, and Trump has frequently attended UFC matches since then — including during the 2024 campaign. Trump has recently been involved in fights with fellow celebrities, including White, musician Kid Rock and former Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson.

In 2018, during Trump’s first term, he and White starred in a UFC video in which the then-president was referred to as “Warrior in Chief.”

As Trump has strengthened his grip on the national Republican Party over the past decade, White’s personal political profile has grown exponentially. White spoke at the 2016 and 2020 Republican conventions and when the party met in Milwaukee last July. He also addressed the crowd at Trump’s victory party in Florida in the early morning hours after Election Day.

“This is what happens when the machine comes after you,” White said. “What you’ve seen over the last few years is something like this: I couldn’t stop him. It continues to progress. “He doesn’t give up.”