As Uber CEO Travis Kalanick backs away from working with President Trump after a week of customer criticism, SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk is doubling down.
On Friday, the White House hosted the first meeting of President Trump's Economic Strategic and Policy Forum since the president was sworn in. Musk tweeted the following day that, thanks to the concerns he raised, Friday's White House meeting "went from not mentioning the travel ban to having it be first and foremost. He also took time to discuss issues related to climate change.
In addition, I again raised climate. I believe this is doing good, so will remain on council & keep at it. Doing otherwise would be wrong.
- Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 4, 2017
Ever since President Trump announced an executive order on January 28 restricting immigration from certain countries and putting a four-month pause on accepting refugees into the U.S., many Silicon Valley CEOs have been vocal in their criticism of it. That includes Musk, who is still facing calls for him to resign from the White House's business forum. "Advisory councils simply provide advice and attending does not mean that I agree with actions by the administration," he said in defense of his involvement.
On Sunday, Musk reiterated that he believed business leaders need to do more to engage with Trump:
Activists should be pushing for more moderates to advise President, not fewer. How could having only extremists advise him possibly be good?
-- Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 5, 2017
Currently, the White House's Economic Strategic and Policy Forum consists of Musk and 16 other executives, including Mary Barra, the CEO of General Motors, Indra Nooyi, CEO of Pepsi, and Jamie Dimon, the CEO and president of JP Morgan Chase.