During Donald Trump’s transition, it appeared that Elon Musk wouldn’t survive in Trumpworld much after the inauguration. Multiple leaks left the impression that Musk, the SpaceX and Tesla CEO and X owner who staked a fortune on reelecting the president, had already outlasted his welcome at Mar-a-Lago, like a houseguest who comes for the weekend, stays for a month, and decides to rearrange the furniture. Musk dropped in on one of Trump’s calls with a world leader; publicly lobbied to install billionaire Howard Lutnick as Treasury secretary; and feuded with Trump ally Steve Bannon over H-1B visas, later writing to critics of the program, “Take a big step back and FUCK YOURSELF in the face. I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend.” Republicans I spoke to at the time said it was inevitable that Musk’s meddling and outbursts would cause a blowup with Trump.
That still may happen. But since Trump was officially sworn in back on January 20, Musk has increased his influence in the White House to unfathomable levels, even as his behavior has at times been erratic. Musk is now leading the so-called Department of Government Efficiency as if there are no limits to his power. His band of teenage and 20-something programmers is burrowing into federal computer systems at breakneck speed, and it’s unclear if Trump has a full grasp on what Musk is doing. For instance, there were conflicting reports this week about whether DOGE staffers had read-write access to the Treasury Department’s vast payment system, which would allow Musk to potentially cancel disbursements he didn’t like. Musk has since plugged into the FAA, the Department of Education, and the Office of Personnel Management. According to one Trump ally, Musk is not fully briefing White House chief of staff Susie Wiles about his plans and the White House is effectively in the dark. A White House official disputed this: “The chief of staff is very much involved, and there is no daylight between Elon Musk and anyone in the administration about executing the president’s agenda.” (Musk did not immediately reply to a request for comment for this article.)
Meanwhile, Musk is using his X account like a personal White House pressroom podium to dominate the news cycle. In recent days, Musk has claimed to have “deleted” a division of the General Services Administration and to have fed USAID “into the wood chipper.” He’s also spread conspiracy theories, such as one falsely alleging that DOGE staffers discovered $84 million given to Chelsea Clinton by USAID. (Musk later deleted his tweet that promoted the claim.) Musk has even criticized his ostensible boss. On January 20, Musk undercut Trump’s announcement that the White House had secured a commitment from OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank for an investment of up to $500 billion to build data centers and AI infrastructure. “They don’t actually have the money,” Musk wrote on X a few hours after Trump revealed the plan. “SoftBank has well under $10B secured. I have that on good authority.”
“Elon made it about himself on the president’s day,” a prominent Trump ally said.
Why Trump has allowed Musk to accumulate so much power has vexed some Trump allies. Chief among them is Bannon. In early January, Bannon called Musk a “truly evil person” in a wide-ranging interview with Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera. One Republican close to the White House said Trump hasn’t turned on Musk because Trump’s and Musk’s goals are so far aligned.
“Trump is the king on the chessboard and Elon is a bishop. Sometimes the bishop takes the lead,” the Republican said. Plus, it’s useful for Trump if Musk takes political heat. “Trump can let the public hate Elon and Elon doesn’t care. So then Trump can come in and save a few programs and look like the restrained one. He can be ‘Trump the Merciful King.’”
But other Republicans I spoke to said Trump can’t––or won’t––challenge Musk because Trump understands Musk’s unprecedented power. Musk is reportedly worth nearly $400 billion and has more than 216 million followers on X. (Trump has less than half that follower count on X, plus an audience of 8.8 million on Truth Social.)
“How can he say no to Elon?” a former Trump campaign staffer said. “You think he wants to go to war with him?”
It’s ironic that Trump finds himself unable to control Musk, as Musk is doing to Trump what Trump did to the Republican Party. Trump gained control of the GOP by pushing the outer limits of what behavior the GOP would tolerate. Trump’s grip on the MAGA base eventually made it impossible for the establishment to rein him in. Musk has a similar psychic hold over his massive fan base, which gives him significant leverage over Trump. Trump also knows that Musk is willing to out-crazy him.
“Elon is autistic and that scares people. He’s unpredictable and prone to t