Elon Musk’s near-constant presence at Mar-a-Lago since President-elect Trump’s victory has begun to wear on people in Trump’s inner circle, sources say.
“He’s behaving as if he’s a co-president and making sure everyone knows it,” one person says. https://t.co/pF4u8SXj5c
— NBC News (@NBCNews) November 13, 2024
Tech billionaire Elon Musk was handed a major win Tuesday evening when President-elect Donald Trump announced that the Tesla and SpaceX CEO would co-lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency” with Vivek Ramaswamy.
The announcement reinforces the closeness that Musk has managed to achieve with Trump, even after the election. But for some people in Trump’s orbit, Musk’s presence has felt overbearing.
Musk has been so aggressive in pushing his views about Trump’s second term that he’s stepping on the toes of Trump’s transition team and may be overstaying his welcome at Mar-a-Lago, according to two people familiar with the transition who have spent time at the Palm Beach, Florida, resort over the past week.
The sources said that Musk’s near-constant presence at Mar-a-Lago in the week since Election Day had begun to wear on people who’ve been in Trump’s inner circle longer than the tech billionaire and who see him as overstepping his role in the transition. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they’re not authorized to speak publicly.
“He’s behaving as if he’s a co-president and making sure everyone knows it,” one of the people said of Musk.
“And he’s sure taking lots of credit for the president’s victory. Bragging about America PAC and X to anyone who will listen. He’s trying to make President Trump feel indebted to him. And the president is indebted to no one,” this person added.
