Elon Musk’s private security detail gets deputized by U.S. Marshals Service

Elon Musk speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC, at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, in Oxon Hill, Md. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

The U.S. Marshals Service has deputized members of Elon Musk’s private security detail, giving them certain rights and protections of federal law enforcement agents, three law enforcement officials familiar with the matter told CNN.

It was not immediately clear how many members of Musk’s security team were made special deputies.

Musk, the tech billionaire and ally of President Donald Trump, is not eligible to have a U.S. Secret Service detail – meaning members of his personal security detail were limited in what they could do in Washington, DC.

Now that members have been deputized, they have more rights and could be authorized to carry weapons on federal grounds. It also means that if something went awry with the detail, the Marshals Service could be held legally liable, one law enforcement source said.

CNN has reached out to the Justice Department and the U.S. Marshals Service for comment.

Some people close to Trump’s White House have been taken aback by the scale of security that has surrounded Musk since he became a regular presence in Trump’s orbit last year. The detail rivaled only that of the president himself, the sources observed.

Musk, who is running the new Department of Government Efficiency, has become increasingly concerned with his security since Trump took office a month ago and has told those around him that the level of death threats against him has increased, according to a person with direct knowledge of his comments.

He hinted at those concerns during an interview at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday, saying on stage: “I don’t actually have a death wish.”

“It’s not enormous,” Musk said of his security detail. “Maybe it should be bigger.”

The Marshals Service has the power deputize a wide swath of people at their own discretion, including Justice Department employees, law enforcement officials and employees of private security companies. The deputization, which typically comes from the deputy attorney general, lasts for one year, according to a Justice Department manual.

The Marshals Service has deputized security details before, including that of Dr. Anthony Fauci. The Marshals deputized officers from the office of the inspector general at the Department of Health and Human Services to serve as Fauci’s security because of an increase in threats to his personal safety.

But law enforcement sources told CNN that deputizing private security is unusual, particularly because those individuals are not current members of law enforcement. One source described the move as “rare.”

By Hannah Rabinowitz and Whitney Wild. CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Steve Contorno and Josh Campbell contributed to this report.