Trump And Elon Musk's Bromance May Be Going Down In Flames Quicker Than We Thought

President-elect Donald Trump hasn't been inaugurated yet, but all signs point to him already being tired of his pal Elon Musk's constant presence. "Trump does complain a bit to people about how Musk is around a lot," The New York Times' Maggie Haberman said on the January 6, 2025, episode of the "On with Kara Swisher" podcast (via The Independent). Musk hung around Mar-A-Lago a bit too much after Trump's election win, so these comments shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. "Musk seems more willing to irritate Trump than a lot of other people have been and less concerned about what it might mean. It's a fraught relationship and has potential for becoming even more so," Haberman continued.

Musk donated more than $250 million to Trump's re-election campaign, causing him to be "sort of tied into various areas around Trump, which makes things more complicated," according to Haberman. Musk and Trump are further entangled because Trump appointed Musk, alongside Vivek Ramaswamy, to lead the Department Of Government Efficiency. However, Haberman doesn't anticipate Musk having free reign at the White House. "I don't anticipate that Musk is going to have an office in the West Wing," she said and purported that only Musk's money -– as he's the richest person alive -– is what's keeping him around so much.

Elon Musk has been by President-elect Donald Trump's side so much -– even more so than Vice President-elect JD Vance, it seems -– that some democrats have deemed him "President Musk," which Trump is not happy about. It "definitely bothers him," according to Maggie Haberman. Democrat representative Ami Bera pondered what's next for "President" Musk and President-elect Trump, saying, "What we learned from former President Trump is that he doesn't want to share the spotlight with anyone, so what does that look like?" (via The Hill).

Haberman wasn't the first source to point out Trump's frustrations with Musk. "100 percent Trump is annoyed. There's a Chinese saying: 'Two tigers cannot live on one mountaintop,'" a Trump insider told Mediaite in December 2024. Another source said, "Someone that is around that much and having influence would be a bother. I mean, [Musk] came in, gave a boatload of money, and wants to take over the place."

As he is always one to share how he feels, Trump addressed the chatter around Musk at an event in early December. "He's not going to be president, that I can tell you," Trump said (via Mediaite). While that's true -– and Trump himself pointed to Musk having been born in South Africa disqualifying him from running for the presidency -– nothing's currently stopping Musk's large influence on the Trump administration. Not even Trump himself.