A new news outlet is rising up to cover one of the most influential members of the incoming Donald Trump administration: Elon Musk.
Popular Information founder Judd Legum is launching “Musk Watch,” a website dedicated to the Tesla founder, X owner, and the co-head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The Substack will publish twice weekly, and it will focus on Musk, his companies, and his actions. Legum will work alongside reporter Caleb Ecarma, and he told NPR he hoped to hire more.
“I think that he has an unprecedented combination of wealth, of influence across major industries, and of political influence,” Legum said to the outlet. “We really don’t know what the implications of one person having so much influence over a breadth of different areas will be.”
The website is rooted in “adversarial journalism,” Legum told NPR, the same principle he founded Popular Information on. The progressive newsletter has generally focused on Trump, Republicans, and the spread of misinformation, and the Online News Association hailed the outlet as an example of how newsletters can be “a powerful vehicle to create change” in a 2020 award.
Musk has emerged as the most public figure of the incoming Trump administration, often appearing alongside the president-elect when speaking to world and tech leaders and weighing in on virtually every element of public policy.
Musk helped torpedo a year-end spending package House Speaker Mike Johnson negotiated with Democrats last year, threatening a government shutdown, and his employees have helped vet numerous people for Trump administration roles. At a pre-inauguration victory rally on Sunday, Trump brought Musk—not Vice President-elect JD Vance—on stage.
“He is not just a charlatan who says wild things and doesn’t follow through,” Legum told NPR. “He has accomplished a lot.”
Other outlets have fashioned roles around high-profile figures. The Information is currently seeking a reporter to cover “the world of Elon Musk” and his tech empire. Gannett’s largest newspaper, USA Today, hired reporters to cover Taylor Swift and Beyoncé during their respective imperial eras in 2023.
