'Elon Musk is not the President,' says Trump amid backlash over Tesla CEO's political influence

US President-elect Donald Trump set the record straight after he said that he would take charge in the office, not billionaire Elon Musk. “No, he’s not taking the presidency,” Trump told a conservative audience in Phoenix, Arizona. The remarks from the Republican firebrand came amid growing complaints that it is Musk who is running the show.

“You know, they’re on a new kick,” he said. “All the different hoaxes. The new one is that President Trump has ceded the presidency to Elon Musk. No, no, that’s not happening," he exclaimed. The complaint started growing after Musk and Trump’s criticism of the stopgap bill left Congress in a spiral, rushing them to form an alternative.

Trump: [Elon Musk] is not going to be president. That I can tell you. I’m safe. You know why? He can’t be. He wasn’t born in this country pic.twitter.com/YpgcGZ0jF4

— Acyn (@Acyn) December 22, 2024

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Before Trump assumed office, he tapped Musk to co-lead the Department of Government Efficiency, with biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramasway. It is pertinent to note that the Department, fondly called DOGE is not an official entity, but rather a small group of people working from the Washington offices of Musk’s SpaceX, will give recommendations to the government on how they could cut costs.

So is Musk the Prime Minister?

While the phrase “President Musk” was gaining attraction, GOP lawmaker Tony Gonzales compared the billionaire to a prime minister. “It’s kind of interesting,” Gonzales said during an interview on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.” “We have a president, we have a vice president, we have a speaker. It feels as if Elon Musk is our prime minister.”

Gonzales was one of the few lawmakers who voted against the final stopgap bill. The House Representative from Texas said that he met Musk a couple of times and emphasised that the tech mogul represents the voice of the people.

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President Elect Musk#VicePresidentTrump pic.twitter.com/1jHmF0I3rQ

— Voice of Reason (@raggapegs) December 21, 2024

“Well, unelected, but, I mean, he has a voice, and I think a lot of —large part of that voice is a reflection of the voice of the people,” Gonzales said. The remarks from the Congressman reflect that president or not, Musk will still have a strong influence in Trump administration 2.0.

With inputs from agencies.