Elon Musk joins Donald Trump’s advisory council despite critical comments on President-elect

Tesla exec backed Hillary Clinton during election

Elon Musk has joined Donald Trump’s advisory council despite having dismissed Mr Trump as “not the right man for the job” during the election.

The President-elect’s transition team announced the appointment of the Tesla executive alongside Travis Kalanick, the chief executive of Uber, on Wednesday.

Musk’s appointment comes weeks after he warned the election is not “the finest moment in our democracy in general”.

He was unconcerned about how the billionaire business magnate’s ascension to the White House would affect Tesla, but told CNBC he believed Hillary Clinton’s economic and environmental policies were “the right ones”. Mr Trump was elected four days later.

“I feel a bit stronger that he is not the right guy,” he said later. “He doesn't seem to have the sort of character that reflects well on the United States.”

Musk and a number of Silicon Valley elites will meet with Mr Trump today to discuss how his administration will affect technology companies.

Kalanick, who joked about moving to China if Mr Trump did win the election, will not be in attendance because he is travelling. The session was co-organised by Mr Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Leading figures such as Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook and Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg are expected to attend the meeting at Trump Towers in New York. Ms Clinton enjoyed widespread support from Silicon Valley during her campaign, as did President Obama before her, and members have rallied against Mr Trump's anti-immigration comments.

More than 580 employees from technology companies including Twitter and Google have signed an open letter pledging not to help build the Muslim registry posited by Mr Trump during his campaign.

Their letter reads: “We are choosing to stand in solidarity with Muslim Americans, immigrants, and all people whose lives and livelihoods are threatened by the incoming administration’s proposed data collection policies. We refuse to build a database of people based on their Constitutionally-protected religious beliefs. We refuse to facilitate mass deportations of people the government believes to be undesirable.“