President-elect Donald Trump has lashed out at “first boyfriend” Elon Musk, as critics question who is really calling the shots between the close-knit pair as the 78-year-old prepares to return to the White House.
It comes after Republicans had to scramble late last week to avoid a government shutdown after the tech billionaire and president-elect criticized the first bill under negotiation, undermining it.
It led to a series of digs from Democrats and Trump critics who began derisively referring to Trump’s close ally as “President Musk.”
During a more than hour-long speech at conservative Turning Point USA’s annual AmericaFest conference in Phoenix on Sunday, Trump said that even if Musk wanted to become president, he couldn’t.
“No, he’s not going to be president, I can tell you that,” Trump told the crowd.
‘And I’m safe. Do you know why he can’t be? He was not born in this country,” he continued.
To become president, the U.S. Constitution requires someone to be a natural-born citizen. But Musk was born in South Africa.
President-elect Donald Trump claimed Musk ‘won’t be president’ because he was born in South Africa, as his critics question who is really in charge of the Republican Party
The world’s richest man spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars helping the Republican president-elect win a second term and has since maintained a near-permanent presence at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.
After Musk criticized the bipartisan spending deal last week to undermine it, Republicans floated another GOP-only proposal that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) of Representatives) called the ‘Musk-Johnson’ deal.
In the House of Representatives, Democratic lawmakers have blasted “President Musk” for throwing Congress into turmoil in the eleventh hour before the government shutdown deadline.
Online, Trump critics have seized on “President Musk” and ridiculed Trump with memes showing Musk sitting in the Oval Office with Trump behind him and other images suggesting it is the billionaire who is actually in charge.
As lawmakers tried to reach a funding deal with the government, Musk angrily tweeted objections to the original bill, which ran more than 1,500 pages. Trump eventually said he was against it too before it sank.
Trump will speak at Turning Point USA’s annual AmericaFest in Phoenix on December 22
Musk stands behind Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance during the Army-Navy matchup on December 14
Trump with Musk at a campaign event in Butler, PA on October 5, 2024
After Democrats labeled the Republican Party’s replacement a “Musk-Johnson” deal, the billionaire even agreed tried to distance himself.
He posted that he credited Trump, Vance and Speaker Mike Johnson for the GOP spending deal, which also collapsed before a final agreement was reached.
But Musk, who Trump who signed on to co-head a new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is consistently seen as the president-elect after spending $277 million on the 2024 elections.
He hovered behind him at the Army-Navy football game earlier this month, sat next to him during Thanksgiving in Florida and was spotted during his visits to Capitol Hill and New York City.
Following the Republican battle to prevent a government shutdown after Musk and Trump rejected the original deal, Republican lawmakers rushed this weekend to defend the tech billionaire’s meddling.
Republican Texas Congressman Tony Gonzales compared Musk to an unelected prime minister when asked about the role he plays.
‘We have a president, we have a vice president, we have a speaker. I feel like Elon Musk is our prime minister,” Gonzales told CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday.
He said he even spoke with Musk a few times over the course of the week and argued that while Musk was never elected, he does have a voice.
“I think a lot of that voice is a reflection of the voice of the people,” he asserted.