It was only a matter of time before Donald Trump’s massive ego led him to respond to the murmurs around Washington, D.C. On Sunday, he made it clear to activists at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest conference in Phoenix that he wasn’t “ceding power” to Elon Musk.
“No, he’s not going to be president, that I can tell you,” Trump said. “And I’m safe. You know why he can’t be? He wasn’t born in this country.”
The U.S. Constitution doesn’t allow for foreign-born citizens to become president. Musk, the world’s richest man, was born in South Africa.
But he’s certainly made his presence known in the weeks since his favored candidate won re-election. Trump appointed Musk co-chair of the Department of Government Efficiency, a non-Cabinet level position that was formed to drastically reduce federal spending.
Musk also played an outsized role in recent budget discussions to keep the government operating. The owner of X, formerly Twitter, posted his opposition to the original spending agreement more than 100 times, sending Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson back to the drawing board as they sought to approve an emergency spending measure. Democrats jokingly referred to the Tesla founder as “President Musk.”
A deal was eventually reached mere hours before a shutdown would’ve commenced.
While some in the GOP, like U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, welcomed Musk’s interference, other Republicans chafed at the tech billionaire’s imposition.
“This is a leadership challenge that Mike Johnson has to define himself with. Are you going to get the right input from the right people to get this bill passed?” said Georgia congressman Rich McCormick last week.
“Because, quite frankly, you can’t do it in a vacuum. And it doesn’t matter because, quite frankly, last time I checked, Elon Musk doesn’t have a vote in Congress,” McCormick added.
Musk spent more than $250 million helping Trump get elected. As one commenter on Instagram said, “He bought the election, Donnie. It’s time to pay up.”
Some implied that the two billionaires would eventually bump heads. The president-elect is not one to be upstaged.
“Trump will implode if we keep calling Elon President Musk and him VP Trump. His ego can not take such disrespect. Y’all must do it every chance you get,” one user wrote. “Their fallout is going to be epic,” another person chimed in.
However, Musk has been careful to remain a Trump fanboy, championing every move or statement made by the president-elect.
On Sunday, Trump reiterated his claim that Panama charges excessive fees to the U.S. for the use of the canal, and if that continues, America will retake the canal it built in 1914. When Panama’s president said the canal belongs to his country and is not negotiable, Trump responded on X, “We’ll see about that.”
Musk responded with laughing emojis, posting on X, “2025 is gonna be so lit.”
He also responded to critics of his unchecked power, saying the “unelected federal bureaucracy has grown to become an unconstitutional fourth branch of government.”
“We must fix this!” Musk wrote.
Speaking at the Turning Point conference, Donald Trump Jr. downplayed any talk of a rift between his father and Musk.
“You see what the media is trying to do to break up the relationship that my father has with Elon,” he said. “They’re trying to cause that schism to prevent these guys from doing what they’re going to do best, and we cannot allow that.”
Republican Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin said Musk has every right to state his opinions on social media, telling NBC News, “He’s still a private citizen. He’s no different than anyone else.”
