Donald Trump lashed out this weekend at those referring to Elon Musk as “President Musk,” but the hosts of “Morning Joe” don’t think Trump is quite ready to fully dump the billionaire just yet. According to the MSNBC hosts, it’ll probably require a bigger hit to Trump’s ego.
During a rally on Sunday, Trump said “Elon’s done an amazing job, but 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.” And using that logic particularly amused host Jonathan Lemire.
“We know Donald Trump hates it when anyone challenges him for the spotlight. The fact that he had to address it over the weekend shows that clearly getting under his skin,” he said. “The fact that he had to point to the Constitution as an example of ‘Hey, no. Elon Musk actually can’t be president. He wasn’t born here’ shows you how much this is getting under his skin.”
That said, panelist Katty Kay doesn’t think this will be the thing to break Trump’s bond with Musk (and Musk’s financial backing).
“Trump still seems to need or want Elon around. I don’t know how long that lasts, but at the moment, that still seems to be the case,” Kay said. “He seems to appreciate the amount of money that Elon poured into states like Pennsylvania to get him reelected. And I don’t see Elon disappearing from the scene as quickly as some other people have suggested.”
Panelist Sam Stein agreed, arguing that isn’t sure Trump needs and wants Musk himself, but rather just his bank account. For Stein, the more likely breaking point comes if Musk actually starts having more influence and pulling attention in the media.
“The problem is, of course, is that if Elon starts stealing his thunder, the spotlight, and it becomes apparent that Elon is actually more powerful than Trump, that will not go over very well for the president elect, soon-to-be-president,” he said. “I think that’s when you start seeing friction between the two.
Lemire readily agreed, joking that “when the Time Magazine cover drops suggesting that Elon Musk is actually running the show,” that’ll be it. At that, Stein jumped back in, noting that Musk made sure to post on social media about Trump’s Time cover previously, saying he didn’t want the cover himself.
“DOGE would have been done before it began, had that occurred,” Lemire joked.
You can watch the full discussion from “Morning Joe” in the video above.”