In a recent Thursday, journalists who broke in the White House information room saw an unknown person in a rotating seat for new media.
It is occupied by John Stoll, who had recently been appointed head of the news on X, the social platform owned by Elon Musk.
“As you all know – you are all in X – it’s the home of hundreds of millions of users, a large body of independent journalists and news organizations in geographical areas and political spectra,” said Karoline Leavitt, secretary of the White House, by importing. He then directed Mr. Stoll to ask the first question.
The White House’s decision to grant X a position of power and visibility alongside the news organizations was a growing number of privileges landed by the Social Media Society, as Mr Musk became ubiquitous to President Trump.
From the elections, the platform has become a source of information about the administration, as Mr Musk provides real -time updates about the profitability of the Ministry of Government and the objectives of federal cost reduction in more than 219 million fans. In February, at least twelve government agencies, including the internal revenue service and the defense service, new X accounts focused on Doge to seek advice on federal waste and fraud. Users looking for an audience with Mr Musk have more and more flock to the website in the hope of catching his ear.
The placement of X as a strong government’s mouth has helped to strengthen the platform, even when the company continues to fight. It has been confused to achieve revenue and advertising goals in recent months, according to internal emails seen by the New York Times. Faces regulatory control abroad. And on March 28, Mr Musk announced that he had sold X to the start of his artificial intelligence, Xai, combining a racing company with faster growth.
However, the increased visibility of X under Trump’s administration stands out – and had a lighting effect. Bankers have sold billions to the company’s excellent debt in recent weeks, with the help of investors’ optimism about Mr Musk’s alignment with Mr Trump. The main advertisers like Amazon and Apple have returned.
While it is not clear how long the new X dynamics will last and how much there is an immediate result of Mr Musk’s closeness with Mr Trump, recent successes are remarkable after years of business suffering.
“X is where everything happens in real time,” writes Linda Yaccarino, X chief executive on the platform last month. “Ideas and filters are forbidden with more truth and more voices.”
Mr Musk did not respond to a request for comments. X and the White House refused to comment.
Changes for X follow a a few months, during which Mr Musk became one of Mr Trump’s most important advisers, including the Government Guide to the Ministry of Government. From an office suite next to the White House, Mr. Musk, who also drives Tesla electric car manufacturer and Rocket Company SpaceX, has contributed to the regulation and establishment of political administration.
The X has encountered obstacles since Mr Musk bought it for $ 44 billion at the end of 2022. It rejects more than 80 % of staff and removed the rules of moderation of content that limited hate speech. Some advertisers have left, worried that their brands will appear next to offensive content.
In December, Fidelity, who invested in the acquisition of the company by Mr Musk, worth X at $ 12 billion.
But in February, X bankers were finally able to sell billions of debt dollars to investors. Months earlier, investors were negotiating to buy this debt with a loss of 10 % to 20 % for banks. “Some companies may be nervous to be considered to be on board the administration because they do not participate in X,” said Jo-Hellen Pozner, Associate Professor of Administration at the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University.
Still, X has faced constant races. In January, Mr Musk wrote in an email to employees that the revenue was “impressive” and that the company “just broke even”. Since the beginning of March, X had served ads of $ 91 million in the first quarter, said another message, well below the $ 153 million target.
“Time to sprint on the finish line is now,” the email said.
The agreement announced on March 28 by Mr Musk worth X to about $ 33 billion and tied up his estates to XAI, which was estimated at $ 80 billion.
“We do not feel much about what none of these companies are worth,” said Eric Talley, a professor at Columbia Law School specializing in corporate governance. “They almost have to get up and fall together.”
Mr Musk, who has long been in covering the media of himself and his companies, has placed X in recent months as a new media outlet, using his own news power to attract the projector to his platform.
“You are the media now,” he published on January 15, remodeling a video of himself in which he threw X as the future of citizens’ journalism. “Legacy Media is controlled by a handful of leaders’ leaders, so I encourage people to write things on the X platform,” he told the video.
As Mr Musk cut government expenses, the Doge initiative received X account and a gray verification signal for official government accounts. The account is now advertising the achievements of the initiative and pushes critics.
“It transforms X as a platform into government media, without any kind of restriction,” said David Kaye, a professor of law at the University of California, Irvine, who studies electronic speech.
In February, X also added Doge for government organizations, including Social Security Administration and the Securities and Exchange Commission. While organizations already have accounts in X, new Doge accounts have received the Gray checks usually intended for government services. They have served as costs for the cost cutting project, encouraging users to share information about federal waste.
Conservatives have found that X is an immediate pipeline in Mr Musk, allowing them to influence federal policy. He has responded to viral complaints about the government on the platform, and the cost -cut initiative has noted users’ concerns as “stable”.
Senator Joni Ernst, a Republican of Iowa, who has long focused on government cost cutting, describes herself in a November position as “top watchdoge” in the Senate. Mr Musk responded with two American emojis.
“Thank you for your many years of hard work for improving government efficiency! Super useful,” Mr Musk wrote in an exchange of December.
X created a head of news position to oversee the company’s partnerships with media companies that advertise or share their work on the platform and hired Mr Stoll, a former editor in the Wall Street Journal in January.
Shortly after taking over Mr Trump’s duties, the administration decided to move the White House’s press room. A prominent chair on the side of the press secretary will be entrusted to a journalist from the “new media”, a term that includes podcasters, influences and news -related content creators.
During Mr Stoll’s unique appearance in the press room so far, he said that his presence was a testimony to the “open spirit of the White House” but also for innovation “.
He then asked about the “confidence in the ability of this administration to go to the finger with Vladimir Putin”.
Ryan mac They contributed reports.
