Responding to a narrative that has been gaining traction, Donald Trump has rejected the notion that he has “ceded the presidency” to billionaire Elon Musk, who has taken an outsized role in the US President-elect’s transition into the White House.
Trump made the comments during a speech in Arizona, days after Musk intervened alongside the President-elect to scuttle a budget bill negotiated in Congress.
The incident was the latest in which Musk has taken an atypically large role in the incoming Trump administration, prompting criticism from Democrats and from within Trump’s own Republican party.
Speaking to a news agency, Republican lawmaker Rich McCormick said that Musk’s intervention showed “he has influence and he’ll put pressure on us to do whatever he thinks the right thing is for him.”
Representative Tony Gonzales said in an interview that it “feels like Elon Musk is our Prime Minister.”
Multiple Democrats spoke of “President Musk” as the country wobbled on the brink of a government shutdown last week.
Directly addressing those criticisms for the first time, Trump praised Musk, before adding, “And no, he’s not taking the presidency.”
Trump further called the suggestion that he has “ceded the presidency to Elon Musk” another “hoax” pushed by his political opponents.
Later, Trump noted that there is no risk of Musk officially taking over as President because he would be constitutionally barred from doing so. “You know why he can’t be [president]? He wasn’t born in this country,” he stated.
The South African-born Musk – the world’s richest person according to Forbes Magazine – became one of Trump’s biggest supporters in the run-up to the election, endorsing the President-elect in July following an assassination attempt and pumping an estimated $200m into a Political Action Committee (PAC) supporting Trump.
He has since been tapped by Trump to lead a proposed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), tasked with taking a slash-and-burn approach to federal government spending.
The so-called “department” has been billed as an independent advisory panel, not an official government agency, and its purview remains undefined.
Trump’s comments followed after outgoing US President Joe Biden signed into law a funding bill that averts a government shutdown.
The previous bill negotiated by members of both parties in Congress was torpedoed days earlier when Trump came out in opposition.
The President-elect’s main contention was that the bill did not raise the debt ceiling – a political fight Trump hoped to avoid before taking office in January.
The debt ceiling is the US’s borrowing limit, a cap imposed by Congress on how much money the government can borrow to cover the gap between its revenue and spending.
Musk had also come out in opposition to the deal, which he criticised in a flood of tweets on the X social media platform that he also owns. He pledged to financially support primary challenges to lawmakers who supported the original legislation.
The final bill – which funds the US government at the current rate through March 14, 2025, – gutted several provisions opposed by Trump and Musk.
However, the final version did not raise the debt ceiling amid opposition from a cadre of Republican lawmakers.
Speaking to a news agency, Senator Bill Hagerty praised Musk’s role in negotiating the bill, while pushing back on the notion that the billionaire was driving Trump’s decisions.
A Reason For Disquiet
Beyond the budget deal, Musk’s regular presence alongside Trump before he takes office on January 20, 2025, has for weeks caused disquiet among Democrats.
The billionaire was on the call when Trump spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy following his election victory.
He has also been present for recent meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in New York.
Following last week’s budget negotiations, several Democrats accused Musk of intervening to serve his own interests.
Whether it’s Musk’s role in shaping policy, his influence over the President-elect’s decisions, or his sheer media presence, the line between business mogul and political kingmaker is becoming ever more blurred.
Musk’s influence over the Trump administration has already drawn comparisons to that of a shadow cabinet, an informal but powerful force steering the ship of state from behind the scenes.
As this new era of political influence unfolds, it’s clear that Musk’s role is one to watch.
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