United States President Donald Trump has rejected the idea that he has “handed the presidency” to billionaires. Elon Muskwho has played a major role in the presidential transition to the White House.
Trump made the comments in a speech in Arizona on Sunday, days after Tesla and its SpaceX owner stepped in with the president-elect to take action. reduce the cost of the budget discussion in Congress.
The event was the latest in Musk's growing role in the incoming Trump administration, prompting criticism from Democrats and within Trump's Republican Party.
Responding to these criticisms for the first time, Trump praised Musk, before adding: “And no, he's not taking the presidency.”
Mr Trump also called the idea that he had “handed over the presidency to Elon Musk” another “hoax” perpetrated by his critics.
In a statement later, Trump said there was no threat of Musk taking over the presidency because he would be prevented from doing so.
“You know why he can't be (president)?” Trump asked the crowd in Arizona. “He was not born in this country.”
South African-born Musk – the world's richest man according to Forbes Magazine – has been one of Trump's biggest supporters in the run-up to the election, endorsing the president-elect in July following an assassination attempt and throwing in $200m in cash. Political Action Committee (PAC) supporting Trump.
He has since been appointed by Trump to lead the Department of Public Works (DOGE), which is responsible for spending public money.
The so-called “department” has been recognized as an independent body, not an official government agency, and its results are unclear.
Budget action
Trump's comments come a day after US President Joe Biden's he signed into law the appropriations bill which prevents the government from shutting down.
The previous law, which members of both parties in Congress had previously discussed, fell apart in the past few days when Trump vetoed it.
The president-elect's biggest argument was that the bill did not raise the debt — a political fight Trump had hoped to avoid before taking office in January. Debt ceiling and the US borrowing limit, an interest rate set by Congress on how much money the government can borrow to cover the gap between its income and expenses.
Musk also took issue with the deal, which he criticized in a flood of tweets on the X social media platform he also owns. He has pledged to support hard-earned primary funding for lawmakers who supported the primary legislation.
House Speaker Mike Johnson later told US reporters that he had spoken by phone with Mr Trump and Mr Musk as the new bill was discussed.
The final bill – which supports the US government at its current level until March 14 – removed several provisions against Trump and Musk. However, the final version did not raise the debt ceiling amid opposition from a group of Republican lawmakers.
Speaking to CNN, Republican lawmaker Rich McCormick said Musk's intervention shows “he has the power and he's going to force us to do whatever he thinks is right for him.”
Some Republicans have been more in agreement, with Representative Tony Gonzales in an interview with CBS that “it feels like Elon Musk is our president”.
Speaking on CNN, Senator Bill Hagerty praised Musk's role in negotiating the bill, and pushed back that the billionaire was driving Trump's election.
'Very dangerous'
Beyond budget, Musk's always available With Trump taking office on January 20th, there have been several weeks of turmoil among Democrats.
The billionaire was on the call when Trump spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after winning the election. He also attended recent meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in New York.
The criticism was sparked by social media memes showing Trump pulling at Musk in various places.
Following last week's budget debate, several Democrats accused Musk of meddling to meet his own interests.
He also expressed his support for removing provisions in the original bill that would have restricted his businesses in China.
“It is extremely alarming that the House Republican leadership, encouraged by an unelected billionaire, abandoned a funding agreement that included an important step to protect American jobs and critical infrastructure,” representative Rosa DeLauro wrote in a letter to coalition leaders. on Friday.