President-elect Donald Trump has laughed at liberal fears about tech mogul Elon Musk's growing political influence, vowing that the space and Tesla guru will not become president.
Last week, Democrats called Musk “President Musk” and used his and Trump's egos to pit them against each other after he helped rouse political opposition to government funding measures. It seems like he's trying to make it happen.
“There are all these different hoaxes out there, but the new one is 'President Trump gave the presidency to Elon Musk,'” the 78-year-old Trump said Sunday at Turning Point Action in Phoenix, Arizona. appealed to the audience at America Fest. “No, no. That’s not happening.
“I'm safe. Do you know why? It can't be. He wasn't born in this country.”
Article 2 of the Constitution allows only natural-born citizens to become president. Mr. Musk was born in South Africa and became a U.S. citizen in 2002.
Since Trump's election victory, Musk, 53, has holed up at the president-elect's Mar-a-Lago, Florida, mansion for weeks, sitting in on key meetings with Trump and offering advice on policy decisions. Ta.
Democratic lawmakers are plotting to use the world's richest man's significant political clout to get under Trump's skin by suggesting the president-elect's influence has waned.
But President Trump on Sunday didn't take the bait, instead praising Musk and pointing out that the SpaceX founder's company captured the Starship super-heavy-lift rocket at Starbase in October. spoke loudly.
The president-elect also praised Musk for helping him win Pennsylvania and providing internet access to storm-ravaged North Carolina through Starlink, the company he founded.
“Elon has done a great job. Isn't it great to have smart people you can trust? Don't we want that? He's done a great job,” Trump said. Ta.
“He's a great guy and we want to get him.”
President Trump tapped Musk to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), along with biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. Despite its name, DOGE is not actually a government department.
Mr. Musk last week publicly denounced a compromise to prevent a government shutdown, angering Democrats and even some Republicans.
The billionaire sparked protests by slamming a series of provisions in the more than 1,500-page bill in an X post to his 208.7 million followers.
President Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance have since made public their opposition to the quick fix, sending House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) back to square one.
In the end, the House passed a bill that would slash spending to keep the government's lights on through mid-March.
Mr Johnson also downplayed concerns about Mr Musk.
“I love Elon. He's a force multiplier for us,” Johnson said. A customer recently told me The stop at Target was captured on video.
