One of America’s most successful businessmen is closely collaborating with the country’s commander-in-chief—with huge consequences for our government and economy.

Elon Musk and President Donald Trump are the latest dynamic duo to showcase the role between private-sector CEO and America’s elected president. But they’re hardly alone in history.

Presidential historian and former senior White House aide Tevi Troy writes about the complex relationships between corporate leaders and U.S. presidents in his latest book, “The Power and the Money: The Epic Clashes Between Commanders in Chief and Titans of Industry.”

Troy spoke with The Daily Signal about the historical examples he’s studied and more recent events. Watch the full interview on YouTube or listen on “The Daily Signal Podcast.”

Less than a month into Trump’s second term, Troy already sees notable differences from Trump’s first term. He said Trump’s previous presidential experience is clearly shaping his leadership style and use of executive time.

“It really is a remarkable opening to a presidency and shows the contrast between someone who goes into the presidency not sure what they’re to do, which included Trump’s first term, but also Bill Clinton at the beginning of his administration, and then someone who comes in with experience who says, ‘I know exactly what I’m going to do and I’m going to do it,’” said Troy, who is a senior fellow at the Ronald Reagan Institute.

The presidential historian and author addressed the shifting dynamics between corporate America and the presidency, particularly with tech leaders like Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Sam Altman, and others who had front-row seats at Trump’s inauguration.

Troy explained that while these recent CEO moves toward Trump could be viewed as political opportunism, there’s more to the story.

“The other side is how hostile the Biden administration was to these entities. Joe Biden even said, ‘I don’t like Mark Zuckerberg,’” Troy said. “Elon Musk had a whole bunch of regulatory actions targeting his companies.”

Trump, meanwhile, appears to recognize that these corporate leaders—and their outsized role with artificial intelligence—will have far-reaching implications for American competitiveness.

“We need to encourage AI so that America is the leader in AI going forward,” Troy said, suggesting that America’s free-market system provides an advantage over competitors like China, whose AI development is “handcuffed by the censorship of the Chinese Communist Party.”

Troy’s book, “The Power and the Money,” examines the relationships between 18 different CEOs and multiple presidents, offering insights into how these dynamics have shaped American policy and business over the past 150 years.

For corporate leaders navigating today’s political landscape, Troy offered this advice: “CEOs need to increase their level of engagement in Washington, but decrease their level of partisanship. And that will allow them to be more influential over the course of multiple administrations.”

As for Trump’s next four years, Troy has already observed a more strategic approach to staffing and time management in his second term.

“Trump has a much more acute sense of presidential time and how limited it is and how you need to use it quickly or you don’t maximize its value,” Troy explained.

Troy praised Chief of Staff Susie Wiles for maintaining discipline within the White House.

“The chief of staff role is hugely important. Susie Wiles … really brooked no nonsense during the campaign. You didn’t hear a lot of leaks. You didn’t hear a lot of infighting,” he said, contrasting this with Trump’s first term when he had four different chiefs of staff in four years.

This might be most visible in Trump’s selection of staff, creating more cohesion at the White House and allowing him to move swiftly to implement his agenda.

“The staff seem to be much more loyal to him. The first time there were a lot of people with a lot of different ideological perspectives,” Troy said, referencing his previous book “Fight House: Rivalries in the White House from Truman to Trump.”

Troy is the author of several other books on the American presidency, including “Shall We Wake the President? Two Centuries of Disaster Management from the Oval Office,” “What Jefferson Read, Ike Watched, and Obama Tweeted: 200 Years of Popular Culture in the White House,” and “The Shifting Twenty-First-Century Presidency: Assessing the Implications for America and the World.”

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