ILLUSTRATION: CELINA PEREIRA; GETTY IMAGES Elon Musk worked arguably harder than any other Trump ally to put him back into the White House, spending hundreds of millions of dollars on his campaign and financing a controversial network of canvassers to prompt people to vote. He faced legal action for offering people the chance to win $1 million for registering to vote in the key swing state of Pennsylvania. The close friendship has not been tempered by the fact that Trump is pro-oil and thinks EVs are overhyped. So far, it's too soon to see whether that political gamble may have paid off for Musk's businesses. Tesla stock (Musk's only listed company) was up by just over 12 percent in pre-market trading on Wednesday morning. Musk's financial bet will pay off if he secures an expected advisory role in Trump's government. The warm words exchanged between the men, who allegedly spent election night together, have escalated to Trump calling Musk a genius and an “amazing guy” on stage during his victory speech. Online, Musk even attempted to revive his rather literal joke from the Twitter takeover era involving a sink as a prop, posting a picture of himself badly photoshopped into the oval office, carrying the washbasin. “Let that sink in,” he said on X. “America is a nation of builders,” Elon Musk said late last night. “Soon, you will be free to build.” Morgan Meaker