Donald Trump news 2016: Tesla CEO Elon Musk joins Trump's advisory team

Georgia Gana Saturday, December 17, 2016

President-elect Donald Trump sits with PayPal co-founder and Facebook board member Peter Thiel, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Oracle CEO Safra Catz and Tesla CEO Elon Musk during a meeting with technology leaders at Trump Tower in New York, December 14, 2016. | Reuters/Shannon Stapleton

As the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20, 2017 draws near, Donald Trump continues to enlist more names to join his Strategic and Policy Forum, an advisory team that will help shape the next administration's policies. This week, Trump selected Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk as his newest strategic advisor.

Musk's addition is surprising given that the business magnate was previously critical of Trump and also strongly opposed his views on climate change. According to Recode, the nomination of ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as secretary of state could also prove to be detrimental to electric vehicle technology, a field that Musk is trying very hard to develop and advance with his Tesla vehicles.

Trump has stated that his advisory team will be composed of business leaders who are knowledgeable when it comes to economic growth and creating jobs. They will provide the 45th president of the United States with perspectives from the private sector.

"America has the most innovative and vibrant companies in the world, and the pioneering CEOs joining this Forum today are at the top of their fields. My administration is going to work together with the private sector to improve the business climate and make it attractive for firms to create new jobs across the United States from Silicon Valley to the heartland," Trump said in a statement on Wednesday, as reported by Forbes.

Aside from Musk, the business advisory team also includes General Motors CEO Mary Barra, JPMorgan Chase & Co CEO Jamie Dimon, The Walt Disney Company CEO Bog Iger, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi and Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, among others. Stephen Schwarzmann, CEO and co-founder of the Blackstone Group, will act as the Forum's chairman.

The Forum's first meeting is scheduled for some time in February 2017 and future gatherings are to be held on a frequent basis.

President Obama had also previously form his own advisory teams, the Economic Recovery Advisory Board during his first term and the President's Council On Jobs and Competitiveness in 2011.