World Governments Summit: live updates
US President Donald Trump's senior election campaign adviser says Elon Musk is doing what Americans want in his aggressive slash-and-burn strategy of public spending and red tape.
Jason Miller said the billionaire tycoon's assault on government agencies had been long overdue, despite widespread protest from public sector employees and some quarters of the media.
"It's a breath of fresh air that Elon has come in, you could say a bull in a china shop," he told The National at the World Governments Summit in Dubai.
Mr Miller said Mr Trump was "at his absolute best popularity right now, with Elon Musk helping him change the system".
He was speaking to a packed audience about the campaign tactics that helped Mr Trump win a second term in the White House, involving "simple and easy, deliverable soundbites".
Phrases such as "Drill, baby, drill," or "No tax on overtime pay" were popular slogans during the Trump presidential campaign, as well as methods such as "challenging traditional media on their ground" and "rejecting conventional wisdom", Mr Miller said. He called the President an "unstoppable force", despite being involved in two apparent assassination attempts, four indictments and several convictions.
"Everything that they challenged President Trump with he was able to overcome, because of his media strategy," he added.
Trump wants to bring peace to the Middle East
One of Mr Trump’s key claims is that he can bring peace to the Middle East, which he says his predecessor in the White House, Joe Biden, could not achieve.
But the US President has horrified many Arabs with claims that the US may seize Gaza and send the Palestinian people to live elsewhere.
“He wants to bring about peace to the Middle East. He wants to bring peace to Ukraine. He wants to bring peace all over the world,” Mr Miller said.
He highlighted the Abraham Accords, which saw the UAE and Bahrain establish ties with Israel, as an example of one of Mr Trump’s diplomatic successes during his first term.
“I would say never bet against President Trump. If he says that he’s going to help bring peace and stability around the world, then I think he’s going to be able to do it,” he said.
Mr Miller cited conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine during the Biden administration. “Under Joe Biden, we have had chaos and global disruption,” he said.
He added that Mr Trump won the Arab-American vote in the state of Michigan by promising to end the Palestine-Israel conflict.
Tariffs set to being markets turmoil
In his second term, Mr Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on a swathe of good entering the US, a decision that could bring turmoil to global markets.
“President Trump was so transparent about what he would do if he was elected, so everybody knew that he was going to push for tariffs,” Mr Miller said.
“I think it has helped him, as we saw in the first term, to bring about successful trade deals.”
Mr Trump also plans to revisit his trade deal with China, Mr Miller added, and anticipates making deals with the UK and EU, he said.
