Trump's Elon Musk Description Hints Their Dynamic Is Weirder Than We Thought

We all know that President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk got perhaps a little too close during the former's presidential campaign. Though their relationship was once thought to be a simple bromance, or maybe Trump was just keeping Musk around for his money, it seems they may be even closer than we thought.

In an interview with the New York Post published on February 8, 2025, Trump's praise for Musk began on a normal level. He noted he valued the Tesla CEO's brains and personality. "He's a different guy. A very good guy," President Trump said. "For one thing he's very intelligent." However, things only got stranger from there, and the President seemingly indicated their relationship could be more like that of a father and son. "He's sort of ... child-like," Trump continued. "He's a very good guy. Very smart guy. I always thought of him as a loner, a recluse [but] he's becoming very unreclusive. It's amazing. He feels this is one of the most important things you can do."

Though one could say President Donald Trump painted his friend, billionaire Elon Musk, as a child to make himself look more powerful or authoritative, Musk seemingly wears the mantle with pride. We can't forget all the times he was seen giddily glued to the commander in chief's side during his campaign and in more intimate settings, like when they had a cringeworthy sing-a-long that potentially scarred Barron during Thanksgiving 2024. His loyalty hasn't gone unnoticed, and Trump even awarded him a role in his Department of Government Efficiency.

Musk undeniably had some problems with his biological dad, Errol Musk, and some X, formerly known as Twitter, users weren't bashful about accusing Musk of latching onto Trump to be his surrogate father. "Isn't it obvious he's just trying to get the affection and approval of an older man to help his daddy issues?!" one X user wrote about Musk, using all-caps to get their point across. Some X users also pointed out the irony in their relationship, given President Trump and Elon once had a rockier dynamic. "Fascinating how times change," one X user wrote. "Elon Musk is posing with the Trumps at Mar-a-Lago. Used to be rivals on Twitter, now they're taking family photos together."

Regardless of how they or onlookers would categorize their bond, President Trump and Musk's relationship is, for sure, a weird one. Though their bromance is still going strong today, it seems President Trump may also be getting annoyed with Musk, whose obsession with his purported father figure is reportedly getting worse.