Elon Musk just got more involved with Trump's administration

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Elon Musk

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Elon Musk is getting closer to the Trump administration.

The SpaceX and Tesla CEO was selected to join President Donald Trump's Manufacturing Jobs Initiative, CNBC reported Friday. This is the second committee Musk has joined under Trump as he is also part of the President's economic advisory board.

On Monday, Musk attended a meeting in the White House about Trump's manufacturing agenda along with executives like Ford CEO Mark Fields.

Trump said at the Monday meeting that he will cut taxes and regulations by 75% to encourage businesses to manufacture their products in the US. He also reiterated a threat to impose a significant border tax for those who build manufacturing facilities outside the country.

Musk is relatively aligned with Trump when it comes to manufacturing. He is building a massive battery plant, the Gigafactory, in Sparks, Nevada that is expected to employ 6,500 people when it is completed in 2020.

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However, Musk is also interested in building a second Gigafactory in Europe, the location of which has not been determined yet.

Still, it's becoming increasingly clear that Musk is edging closer to Trump. He even surprisingly endorsed Rex Tillerson, the former CEO of Exxon Mobil, for Secretary of State earlier this week.

Musk may be aiming to use the access for leverage going forward. For example, he reportedly pushed for a carbon tax at Monday's meeting, but was met with little to no support.

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