In the last six months, Maya Musk, the mother of Elona Musk, has been in China, Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates, visits to come as foreign leaders are sending the effect on Trump’s administration.
Mrs. Musk, 76, traveled the world for years to model, spoke and promote her memoir. But lately it seems to be even more demand, especially outside the United States. And her celebrity has taken on greater meaning now that Mr. Musk has a significant impact on how billions of dollars of military spending and foreign help will be paid.
At the end of 2024, she visited China at least four times to support or model there seven brands, including makeup products, lower jackets and Massage devices. Her visits were promoted by state media, who in the past quoted her calling for improved connections between the United States and China.
In October, three weeks before the US presidential elections, she was following Forum about women In Kazakhstan, where she spoke about the success of her son, according to Kazinform, a state -owned news agency there.
And in January, a week before the second inauguration of Donald J. Trump, she was in Dubaispeaking at the Government’s conference on influencers with the former figure of Fox News Tucker Carlson. Her conversation was entitled: “How I raised three incredible children, including the richest man in the world”, according to Emirates State News Agency.
All of these trips were taken after Mr. Musk became an unwavering supporter of Mr. Trump’s campaign, and she entered American politics on several.
Several countries in which she recently appeared have concern for pressure in Washington.
Beijing opposes the newly announced American tariffs on his goods, and it seems that the leaders are seeing Mr. Musk, who is himself extensive business interests In China, as a potential ally. Kazakhstan hopes Trump’s administration will The ultimate restriction of trade. And the United Arab Emirates buy weapons from Washington and has spent hundreds of millions About lobbyists and donations by research tanks.
Mrs. Musk has long been intensively traveling for work, both within the United States and abroad. But her activities in China have intensified in recent months, which has been a review of her social media in the last four years of the New York Times. Last year, she supported five Chinese brands, while she traveled to China a year before to promote her book and for modeling, appearing in one ad.
The Times could not confirm how much Mrs. Musk had earned abroad in recent months. Although in her approval and speeches he often emphasizes the connection with the Lord male, there is no evidence that she has sought to influence the policy of the US government. Nor is there evidence that it has taken over the job associated with the Chinese government.
Mrs. Musk Agency, a creative art agency based in Los Angeles; Her manager, Anna Sherman; And the lawyer who recently worked for Mrs. Musk, Doreen Small, did not answer questions about her international engagement, including how much she earned to speak and approval of products. The five Chinese brands she approved last year did not answer the questions of how much she was paid.
Her activities increase the possibility that foreign government could see her as a guide to Mr. Musk, said Scott Amey, the main advisor of the project on the Government supervision, the guards group. “Fear,” he said, “would people use it to acquire one degree of separation from her son and two degrees of separation from the oval office?”
Mr. Musk is already imbued with ethical worries that come from his jobs like Spacex, which has billions of dollars in Pentagon contracts. “We do not need other potential conflict of interests that include his family to add to his long list that already exists,” said Mr. Amey.
The FBI usually studies foreign contacts of presidential advisers and members of their family before approved by security approval. Contacts from countries that are considered potential American opponents, such as China, usually receive more surveillance.
It is unclear whether Mrs. Musk or her contacts are checked. White house said her son “Special Government Employee”, A short -term advisor who is subject to the Federal Law on Ethics but has not revealed the status of security approval. Before joining the US government, he had SKIRIAN COMPETITION REQUESTIONS as a federal performer.
Mr. Musk and his lawyer, Alex Spiro, did not answer questions about their cleansing status or mother’s work abroad. On February 14, he said on February 14 that he had a “strictly secret approval for many years.”
It is noticeable that both Mr. Musk and his mother have interests in China, said Norman Eisen, a former White House Counselor in Obama’s Administration and founder of the State Democracy Fund, who is sue Mr. Musk and his team On behalf of the present and recently released federal workers. (For example, Mr. Musk, Tesla, makes half of its cars in China.)
But Mrs. Musk’s business trips to China and other countries deserve attention independently, Mr. Eisen said. “Considering the extremely strong role of Mr. Musk, who may be the only most influential person in the executive government, even beyond Trump himself, that side is a entangled cause of concern,” he said.
Mr. Musk often publicly appears with his mother, and before becoming a government advisor, he brought her to business meetings at X, a social media company he owns, according to the book “Limit”, Kate Conger and Ryan Mac, both journalists for The Times. Since the election has it accompanied by him to the social Events on Mr. Trump Mar-a-Lazla Florida’s estate and defended their son at Fox News.
Mrs. Musk, who was born in Canada, but grew up, Mr. Musk and his two younger brothers and sisters in South Africa, she has been model for decades. In recent years, however, her career has come in parallel with that Mr. Musk. Her ascent also reflected an an effort in fashion Work with models of different age groups and bodies.
Mrs. Musk, who has an apartment in New York, modeled on American and European brands, appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated Issuing swimwear 2022.
Recently developed a major monitoring in China, Where some of her success is attached to Mr. Musk’s mother, who has a star status there. Fans and business people carefully monitor development in his technological empire and become his biographies, hoping to gain insights.
The popularity of his mother in China comes in the midst of tightened relations with the United States, as a threat to even more tariffs and Other tensions hang the relationship.
She has signed copies of her memoir in which he writes about raising her three children as a single mother and surviving family abuse (which her ex -husband denied). She opened her accounts on the Chinese social media and collected 1.2 million followers on multiple platforms, where fans thank her for being a role model and asked questions about Mr. Musk.
Mrs. Musk visited more than a dozen Chinese cities, adorned the panings and the cover of the magazine, and is often invited to speak (in English) at events directed towards women there. Her image “carries an element of successful parenting, attracting a significant number of mothers among her followers,” said Yang Hu, an expert in the Chinese beauty industry with the EuroMonitor International, a market research company.
One of the Chinese advertising campaigns of Mrs. Musk is focused on being Mr. Musk’s mother. Ad, for a baby care line, shows her Encouraging disobedient children, in relation to the text, “does not set up a leading figure of our time by following the rules.”
Three days after the US presidential elections, she spoke about the incoming role of her son at the event in Shanghai to promote Mark Maracs, saying: “He will definitely work on efficiency, but he loves rockets and cars very much,” according to A ” haircut Published by the State Media.
At the New York Fashion Week in February, Mrs. Musk modeled on Chinese Mark Juzui. Before going to the runway, she told women’s clothes a day that he wants to explore work in new countries this year.
Eric Lipton contribute to reporting. Susan C. Beachy contribute to the research.
