"One of the things that incredibly frustrates [Elon Musk] is when he encounters paperwork requirements and regulatory slowdowns."

"He often comments about how he can build his rockets faster than federal bureaucrats can move paper from one side of their desk to the other. It just totally burns him up. And that's in part what has motivated him to get more involved in politics. He thinks it might give him the power to help defang them and to limit their power and to reduce what he considers to be redundant or ridiculous requirements to help wipe away some of this slowness that really frustrates him. And Musk was clear during the presidential campaign that he wanted to be named to a position in the future Trump government that would give him the power to help oversee significantly cutting back on federal regulations, federal employees, and federal spending.... And he would be sort of this superpowered czar, overseeing the reach of federal government operations and looking for ways to eliminate what he considers redundant federal regulations and cutting as much as $2 trillion in federal spending, which is a crazy and really unachievable goal, but that's what he says he wants to do."

From "Elon Musk Launches Into American Politics," the new episode of the NYT podcast, The Daily.

And here's the top news story at the NYT: "At Mar-a-Lago, 'Uncle' Elon Musk Puts His Imprint on the Trump Transition/He’s on the patio. He’s on the golf course. Everywhere Donald Trump looks, there is the world’s richest man" (free-access link).