WATCH as Donald Trump delivers another warning jab to clingy Elon Musk, bristling that he “can’t be president” amid jokes about his inflated influence.
Trump hit back against claims he had “ceded the presidency” to the tech billionaire who has been at his side since the election victory.
The footage from AmericaFest shows Trump insisting: “No, he’s not going to be president, that I can tell you.
“And I’m safe, you know why?
“He can’t be, he wasn’t born in this country.”
Trump was forced to deny a “hoax” that Musk had taken the presidency after the X-owner helped the president-elect to scupper a budget bill negotiated in Congress.
Democrats have riled Trump by cracking jokes about “President Musk”.
The Democrat representative Brendan Boyle told CNN at the weekend: “On Wednesday morning, Elon Musk proved that he is the real leader of the Republican Party, because over the course of about four or five or six hours, he tweeted nonstop against the deal that had been negotiated and agreed to by all sides.”
Trump’s rebuttal came during a speech of over an hour at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest conference in Phoenix to a crowd of thousands of Republican activists.
This was his first large-scale rally-style event since the election, complete with pyrotechnics and chants of “Trump, Trump, Trump”.
But this is not the first time Trump has made a jibe about Elon’s lurking presence.
Last month, days after the election result, Trump joked he “couldn’t get Musk out of Mar-a-Lago,” his luxury Florida resort where Elon spent “nearly every day”.
Musk emerged as one of Trump’s most vocal supporters during the election campaign – an about-turn after previously donating to Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
One of his strategies involved dishing out huge cash prizes to voters who signed petitions relating to Republican causes.
After the victory, Trump gushed over his richest supporter, declaring: “We have a new star – a star is born, Elon.
“He is an amazing guy, we were sitting together tonight.”
The “super-genius” Tesla chief was rewarded with a role as co-head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) alongside Vivek Ramaswamy.
This is not a formal government position, and does not mean Musk will have a spot in the White House.
However, the billionaire has been dubbed the “secretary of cost-cutting” and has promised to slash inefficiency and red tape.
Trump’s public definition of Elon’s role was: “to pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies”.
Musk responded with: “This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people!”
Insiders have been venting for over a month that Musk is acting as “co-president” after he apparently took credit for the Republican clean sweep.
MAGA big-hitters have also been alarmed by the level of access and influence Musk has been enjoying.
He apparently sat in on Trump’s first post-election call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenksy.
He even wormed his way into a Trump family photo at the Palm Beach Mansion, and is referred to as “Uncle Elon” by Kai, Trump’s granddaughter.
Musk intervened last week to help Trump sabotage an end-of-year budget package, forcing it to be replaced.
