Musk Moves Back Into Trump Orbit

Watch on YouTube ↗  |  January 12, 2026 at 21:42  |  5:30  |  Bloomberg Markets
Speakers
Lanhee Chen — Stanford University Hoover Institution Fellow
Jeannie Shann Zaino — Bloomberg Politics Contributor; Democracy Visiting Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School's Ash Center
Joe Mathieu — Host, Bloomberg Radio

Summary

Bloomberg's Balance of Power political panel discusses Elon Musk's re-emergence in President Trump's orbit, including his planned appearance with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The panel weighs whether Musk is back in the administration's inner circle and what his role means for politics and Pentagon procurement. They also discuss the defense industrial base, defense budget pressures, and a possible Starlink deployment in Iran.

  • Musk appears closer to Trump again and is set to appear with Defense Secretary Hegseth.
  • Panelists debate whether Musk's influence is back in the administration.
  • The Pentagon event is expected to focus on defense manufacturing and procurement bureaucracy.
  • Trump has requested a large defense budget increase, but Pentagon audits remain an issue.
  • Lanhee Chen frames the event as a signal of continued expansion of the U.S. defense industrial base.
  • The panel notes a possible Starlink deployment in Iran for anti-government protesters.
  • No direct public-market trade recommendations were made.
Ideas
Lanhee Chen Stanford University Hoover Institution Fellow 4:43
Defense industrial base expansion may continue.
Lanhee Chen argues that the Texas event with Elon Musk and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signals the Defense Department will keep directing attention to procurement and the continued expansion of the American defense industrial base, including leadership in technology for kinetic and 21st-century technological warfare, making the U.S. defense industrial base a policy-driven sector to watch.
U.S. defense industrial base MED
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This Bloomberg Markets video, published January 12, 2026, features Lanhee Chen discussing U.S. defense industrial base. 1 trade idea extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.

Speakers: Lanhee Chen  · Tickers: U.S. defense industrial base