Elon Musk has lashed out at what he called “legacy media puppets” for attempting to sow discord between him and President-elect Donald Trump. His criticism comes in response to claims that Musk wields significant influence over Trump, particularly after a series of failed budget negotiations on Capitol Hill.
Democrats have raised questions about Musk’s role in government affairs, with some suggesting that he holds more sway over the Republican Party than Trump himself. The controversy began when Musk reportedly encouraged Trump to oppose an initial 1,500-page spending bill crafted by House Speaker Mike Johnson, a move that ultimately contributed to its failure, according to Mediaite.
A second bill, which had Musk and Trump’s support, also failed to pass, leaving lawmakers scrambling to avoid a government shutdown. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) stoked the debate with a post on X (formerly Twitter), dubbing Musk the “shadow president.” She wrote, “It’s clear who’s in charge, and it’s not President-elect Donald Trump.
Shadow President Elon Musk spent all day railing against Republicans’ CR, succeeded in killing the bill, and then Trump decided to follow his lead,” attaching an edited image of Musk in the Oval Office. Musk fired back, responding to a reshared post by X user Lulu Cheng Meservey.
“That is exactly the goal,” Musk wrote. “The political & legacy media puppets all got their new instructions yesterday and are now parroting the same message to drive a wedge between @realDonaldTrump and me. They will fail.”
The debate extended to The View, where co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin speculated that tensions between Trump and Musk might soon arise due to their dominant personalities. “They both want to be powerful and the people in charge, and I’m not convinced that this alliance is going to be super long-lasting. There’s going to be friction between Elon and Trump,” Griffin said.
Whoopi Goldberg humorously suggested Musk might believe he’s president, quipping, “Maybe he got a promotion of some sort that none of us knew about.” Despite the drama, the government narrowly avoided a shutdown after passing a third spending bill in the early hours of Saturday. Musk’s criticism of media narratives resonated with his supporters, with one user on X writing, “There is no way they can come between you and Trump.
There is too much at stake. They will fail.” Another added, “Divide and conquer won’t work anymore.” The controversy underscores Musk’s increasing involvement in political discourse, raising questions about his influence in shaping U.S. policy decisions.