President-elect Donald Trump found a powerful ally in Elon Musk, the tech mogul who infused his 2024 campaign with a quarter of a billion dollars. But Trump might be getting tired of Musk’s seemingly constant presence, according to New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman.
Haberman said on Monday’s episode of the podcast On with Kara Swisher that Musk’s political rise hasn’t surprised her, as “Trump equates wealth with intelligence” — hence the two men’s bromance. But, she said, Musk likely hasn’t realised yet that Trump “is a one-ring circus.”
“And Trump does complain a bit to people about how Musk is around a lot,” she continued. “Jonathan Swan and I reported recently with Ryan Mac that Musk has been staying at this cottage near Mar-a-Lago that rents typically for more than $2,000 a night.”
Haberman, Swan and Mac reported last week that Musk has been staying at Banyan Cottage a few hundred feet from Trump’s main residence at the Florida resort, and that he has been sitting in on phone calls with foreign leaders and attending personnel meetings for Trump’s incoming administration.
Haberman said on Monday that Musk has “really parked himself in Trump’s face,” but joked that it’s unlikely the Tesla CEO will “move into the Lincoln Bedroom” with the president-elect.
“I think he’s going to try to have as much proximity to Trump as possible,” Haberman added. “That requires being given an office on the White House campus, either in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is adjacent to the White House, or the West Wing proper.”
She ultimately wagered that Musk won’t have an office on campus, however.
Trump announced plans in November to nominate Musk as co-director of the Department of Government Efficiency, a federal advisory group aimed at slashing supposedly wasteful government spending.
Musk promoted Trump during his presidential run on X (formerly Twitter), the platform that he acquired for $44 billion in 2022. He later joined Trump on the campaign trail, prompting concern from Democrats about his influential position and earning the trending nickname “President Musk” on X.
“It definitely bothers him,” Haberman said Monday about Trump. “The ‘President Musk’ line was always going to be a way to get him. And I mean, Trump’s not a wind-up toy, but there certainly are very specific things that can [anger] him. And that was one of them.”
The headlines about “President Musk” certainly seemed to pique Trump, who is not known for his generosity in sharing the spotlight. Last month, he dismissed the idea that he’s taken a back seat to Musk as one of his adversaries’ “hoaxes.”
