“No, he won’t be president,” Donald Trump exclaimed Sunday night. “That’s not happening. »
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While Donald Trump still thinks his “first friend” Elon Musk is a “great guy,” he needs to make it clear that one person takes the lead.
“No, he will assume the presidency,” Trump said in a speech Sunday night. “That’s happening. “
The president-elect’s snarky remark comes as Democrats have sought to drive a wedge between the world’s richest man and the notoriously thin-skinned Trump by highlighting Musk’s growing influence and describing him as the “real president.” The taunts have only grown following last week’s chaos on Capitol Hill after Musk raged against House Republicans’ original spending bill, prompting lawmakers to race against the clock to strike another deal to prevent the government from shutting down.
“Elon Musk showed that he is the true leader of the Republican Party because for about four, five, six hours he tweeted non-stop opposing the deal that all parties negotiated and agreed to,” the president said. representing Brendan Boyle. (D-PA) told CNN over the weekend.
Democratic lawmaker Dan Goldman added that Trump is only “chief of staff” to “President Musk” at this time. At the same time, the anti-Trump organization The Lincoln Project released a video calling Trump Elon Musk’s “vice president. “
Although conservative media outlets have claimed that Trump and the Tesla CEO “are in sync,” and the new president’s team has called the concept of Musk driving the screen “ridiculous,” other Republicans maintain that the Tesla owner X (formerly Twitter) His influence is almost comparable to Trump’s.
Several MAGA lawmakers have suggested to Musk, who co-chairs the Trump administration’s Effectiveness Advisory Committee, replace Mike Johnson, whom he has humiliated over the government’s investment program, as speaker of the House. Additionally, Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) said Sunday morning that it “looks like” the leader of DOGE “is our minister. “
Toward the end of his lengthy speech at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest on Sunday night, Trump sent a message that while he considered Musk a “great guy,” his appointment has a limit.
“No, he’s not going to take over the presidency,” Trump joked before claiming that Democrats were in a “new push” regarding Musk. “All the other hoaxes, and the new one is, ‘President Trump has ceded the presidency to Elon Musk. ‘No, no, that’s not happening. “
He also made a point that regardless of how much influence people thought Musk had within the GOP and his incoming administration, there was one job that Musk absolutely couldn’t obtain.
“No, he will not be president, I can assure you of that,” Trump proclaimed. “And I’m safe. ” Do you know why? It cannot be. He was not born in this country. But fake news knows this.
Meanwhile, those who have been in Trump’s inner circle only to be pushed out in the end predict that Musk’s position by Trump’s side won’t last as there’s only so much spotlight to share.
“When you initially begin in that role, you have enormous influence,” former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said on Sunday. “And he loves having you around, and he loves listening to you, and you’re the best thing in the world. It will always decline. And that’s what happens. And you’ll see it. It will happen with Elon Musk, too.”
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