Trump reportedly includes Elon Musk in phone meeting with foreign leader (again)

As the war in Iran begins its second month, it stands to reason that Donald Trump would have quite a bit to talk about during his latest phone meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. There was no obvious reason why the American president would include Elon Musk in the call, but according to The New York Timesthat’s precisely what happened:

Elon Musk participated in a phone call on Tuesday with President Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, an unusual appearance by a private citizen on a call between two heads of state during a wartime crisis. […]

It is unclear why Mr. Musk was on the call or whether he spoke. … The call, American and Indian officials have said, was about the escalating crisis in the Middle East, and in particular the Iranian military’s control of the Strait of Hormuz, which is critical for the shipping of oil and gas around the globe.

None of the relevant players responded to the Times’ request for comment, and the reporting has not been independently verified by MS NOW.

That said, if the account is accurate, it would suggest that the rift between the president and his top 2024 campaign donor has been resolved and that Musk is no longer on the outs with Team Trump.

But more important is the substantive element: Why in the world would the American president agree to let a private citizen join a sensitive call with a key foreign leader about an ongoing war?

More to the point, why would Trump do this again?

During the Republican’s pre-inaugural transition period, Trump did this quite a bit:

• When Trump met with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán at Mar-a-Lago, Musk participated in the conversation.
• When Trump spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Musk joined the phone call.
• When Trump traveled to Paris for the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral and spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron, Musk was there.
• When Trump spoke to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Musk was there, too.

About a year and a half later, it’s apparently happening again.

The New Republic noted“There is literally no rational justification for including the world’s richest man on a call between two national leaders during a global crisis.”

If Trump has a defense for such a move, I’m eager to hear it.

This post updates our related earlier coverage.

Steve Benen is a producer for “The Rachel Maddow Show,” the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He’s also the bestselling author of “Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans’ War on the Recent Past.”