I tend to believe the answer to both questions is no, and that all the President's tech advisory council is accomplishing is giving him something to boast about. It may also be benefiting the individual companies that sit on it to the point that they are willing to play along with Trump's agenda.
We don't have to like him, but he's there. He was elected. And God help him and us survive it. And if there's even a 2% chance Elon Musk or anyone else can make a difference, they should go for it.
The President is not all powerful, and is subject to both formal and informal constraints. Visible opposition (or even lack of visible support) can fairly directly contribute to the informal constraints, and increase political pressure on the institutions, particularly Congress, which exercise formal restraints. And, thus, definitely can help.
It's not tech specific. I think it has more finance CEOs than tech, even if we're fairly generous about who's a "tech CEO".
