President-elect Donald Trump is setting the file straight: He’s calling the pictures, not Elon Musk.
“No, he’s not going to be president, that I can tell you,” Trump stated with fun at Turning Level USA’s AmericaFest in Phoenix on Sunday, his first main speech following the November election. “And I’m safe. You know why? He can’t be. He wasn’t born in this country.”
The president-elect made the tongue-in-cheek remark whereas praising South African-born Musk as a “great guy.” Musk, together with tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, is about to guide the Division of Authorities Effectivity, an company with the objective of shrinking the dimensions of presidency and slicing spending.
Trump’s feedback got here as Democrats have sought to make use of Musk, the world’s richest particular person, as a foil, accusing him of undermining the incoming president.
Simply days earlier than, Trump — together with Musk — intervened in Home Republicans’ preliminary authorities spending package deal, resulting in chaos as Congress raced in opposition to the clock to keep away from a authorities shutdown.
Some congressional Democrats raised considerations about Musk’s affect over congressional Republicans, and have taunted Trump by alleging that Musk is the one in cost. The Lincoln Challenge, an anti-Trump group, put out a video calling Trump “vice president” to “President Musk.”
Republicans have sought to downplay any rift between the 2, with Trump’s group dismissing these claims as “ridiculous.” Amid the spending invoice debacle final week, Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s incoming White Home press secretary, stated, “President Trump is the leader of the Republican Party. Full stop.”
“All the different hoaxes, and the new one is, ‘President Trump has ceded the presidency to Elon Musk,’” Trump stated to the gang on Sunday. “No, no. That’s not happening.”
Musk has been flexing his political muscle tissues in current months, together with pouring greater than $260 million into the 2024 election in assist of Republicans. Final week, he stated that he’s planning to fund average major challengers to incumbent Democrats. Some Republicans have floated him as the subsequent decide for speaker of the Home in current days, as Speaker Mike Johnson’s future seems shaky.
The Musk feedback got here towards the top of Trump’s hour-plus-long victory lap of a speech, the place he touted profitable the favored vote, praised his “all-star” Cupboard picks and outlined targets for his upcoming time period.
Trump’s speech was just like these he delivered on the marketing campaign path over the 2024 cycle. He made daring claims about decreasing taxes, taking again the Panama Canal and vowed to not rename navy bases, a nod to his plans to finish “woke” ideology within the navy.
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