Elon Musk is working for Trump as a "special government employee," a White House official said, cementing his controversial role in the administration but sidestepping some typical federal employee disclosure rules.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Musk has a government email address and office space at the White House.
The maximum term of a "special government employee" is 130 days. It's unclear how rules on ethics protocols and financial disclosure standards for U.S. government employees will apply to Musk, whose rocket company SpaceX has billions of dollars in contracts with the U.S. government.
Musk's job is unpaid, the White House official said. Under federal guidelines, he is unlikely to be required to file a public financial disclosure report. The official did not provide further details, saying only that Musk was following the law.
On Sunday night local time, Trump expressed his approval of Musk's work in an interview with reporters after returning to Washington from a weekend in Florida.
"I think Elon does a great job. He's a huge cost-cutter," Trump said. "Sometimes we disagree and we don't go where he wants to go. But I think he does a great job."