Far-right allies of President-elect Donald Trump are continuing to stoke a raging feud with “shadow president” Elon Musk after the billionaire defended visas for highly skilled foreign workers.
The blowup is starting to annoy not only the likes of longtime ally Steve Bannon, but Trump himself, Mediaite reported. “100 percent Trump is annoyed,” a source who worked on Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign told Mediaite. “There’s a Chinese saying: ‘two tigers cannot live on one mountaintop.’”
Musk has quickly gone from tech innovator to Trump’s top donor and most influential supporter. After spending a whopping $250 million to help the 78-year-old get back into office, Musk has become one of Trump’s closest allies and was also tapped to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). His proximity to Trump is more than ideological however. For the last two months, the Tesla founder has been renting one of the cottages on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property, just a few hundred feet away from Trump’s home, The New York Times reported Monday.
The living arrangement has given Musk incredibly close access to the president-elect. Musk has spent hours in Trump’s office at Mar-a-Lago, joined phone calls with foreign leaders and sat in on personnel meetings, The Times reported. Musk is so involved that some of Trump’s allies believe Musk is emerging as a “shadow president,” sources told Mediaite. To a man who has suggested he was anointed by God, such questioning of his rule would likely get under his skin.
“There was likely an allure to it in the beginning but it seemed like it could go ugly,” another Trump insider said of the alliance between the president-elect and Musk. “Trump is Trump. I think it’s just the way Trump is. Someone that is around that much and having influence would be a bother.”
In response to Musk’s growing influence, Trump maintained that he was the one in charge.
“No, he’s not going to be president, that I can tell you,” Trump said at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest on Sunday. “And I’m safe. You know why he can’t be? He wasn’t born in this country.”
Though Trump has vehemently downplayed Musk’s role, the billionaire’s influence in Republican politics is hard to ignore. Earlier this month, Musk helped derail a bipartisan government spending bill, posting over 100 times against the legislation and urging Republicans to shut down the government rather than pass it. Shortly after, Trump also lambasted the bill, forcing House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to draft a new version. Musk’s stance sparked criticism and speculation on both sides of the political spectrum.
“The U.S. Congress this week came to an agreement to fund our government. Elon Musk, who became $200 BILLION richer since Trump was elected, objected. Are Republicans beholden to the American people? Or President Musk? This is oligarchy at work,” wrote Sen. Bernie Sanders I-Vt., in a social media post.
“We have a president, we have a vice-president, we have a speaker. It feels like as if Elon Musk is our prime minister,” said Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas in an interview on CBS.
The world’s richest man is not only causing concern among Congressional Republicans, but MAGA pundits as well. Last week, Musk and his DOGE co-chair Vivek Ramaswamy ignited a GOP civil war when they publicly supported reforming the country’s H1B visa program, arguing that skilled immigrant workers are essential to innovating America’s technology and building. The comments sparked outrage among MAGA’s immigration hardliners, including Steve Bannon, who said there isn’t a “civil war” over immigrants because Musk is “not tough enough.”
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“We haven’t fought these battles over years and years and years to allow American citizens of every race, ethnicity, religion, be gutted by the sociopathic overlords in Silicon Valley,” Bannon said on his show “War Room” on Monday.
Musk shot back at MAGA, telling critics to “take a big step back and F*** YOURSELF in the face,” and slammed Americans’ abilities to work in tech. Bannon then called Musk a “toddler.”
Despite the outrage from his most loyal base, Trump once again sided with the tech bros. In an interview with The New York Post, the president-elect said he has “always believed” in the H1B program, despite having signed an executive order to restrict access to H1B visas during his first term.
Two days later, MAGA influencer Laura Loomer weighed in on the controversy, slamming Musk for his influence over not only Trump’s base, but Trump himself. In an interview with right wing political commentator Eric Bolling, Loomer cited Musk’s control over the world’s largest social platform, X, and his ability to demonetize anybody he disagrees with.
“I mean, essentially, what is happening — and I love President Trump, I’m not saying that President Trump is bought and paid for — but it sounds like people are scared of crossing the king, the king of the world, Elon Musk, the monarch. Okay?”
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